Travellers using the services of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) can expect good things in 2017. The corporation, which had been working on a data sharing policy to enable real-time updates to be shared with app developers and researchers, is prepared to roll out sharing by the end of January, officials said. This makes KSRTC the first government-run transport corporations in India to develop an open source platform.
The idea of a data sharing policy came after several app developers, educational institutes as well as online ticket booking websites approached KSRTC with a request to release data on their vehicle movement, live schedules, and other relevant information.
As of now, the data can only be procured via a lengthy process, which defeats the purpose of asking for live data. “Only static data was available without permission, which does not help app developers who are looking to provide live updates to their users,” said Rajender Kumar Kataria, Managing Director, KSRTC.
This was one of the main reasons for the data sharing policy to be mooted. “Start-ups and other companies can harness the data to devise new services, which boost our ridership. The draft report titled ‘Open Transport Data Assessment-Mysore’ has been prepared. The board cleared the policy on December 29 and we are going for a final round of vetting before rolling out the scheme by January end,” Mr. Kataria said.
How it works
Users can access data on an intermediate server, which will be updated every 10 seconds by KSRTC. An online form accepting the terms of use can be filled for most information while certain data streams will require the issuance of an ID and password combination. This arrangement is yet to be announced.
However, the development of apps that try to access KSRTC’s servers or Application Program Interface (API) will not be permitted.
Wide ranging benefits
Besides the obvious benefits to passengers, educational institutions in the field of mobility will also benefit from the data as it would help them complete studies and make predictions on the use of public transport in the State. A few institutions have come forward and expressed interest in crunching this data, Mr. Kataria said.
