The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Tracking buses at the touch of a button

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 26, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tracking buses at the touch of a button

R.K. Radhakrishnan

Pilot project to be launched in Chennai next month

CHENNAI: Is it possible to know a few minutes in advance when the bus reaches your stop? Or the location of a State-run bus that left Tiruchi?

It should be possible given the fact that one gets similar information on trains over phone and now, the Internet.

Next month, a pilot project will start in Chennai to help people who use the public transportation system. Fifty city buses and an equal number of State Express Transport Corporation buses will be fitted with tracking devices to help fleet managers know their exact location.

Initially, the vehicle tracking system will be located at Koyambedu and 100 buses operating out of the bus terminus will be tracked.

The aim of the consortium, led by the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore and its stakeholders such as Ashok Leyland, HCL and Harita, is to demonstrate the scalability and viability of telematics on public transport networks.

Simple equipment

"Essentially the equipment is only a GPS device and a cell phone. For each bus, the equipment will cost about Rs. 25,000," says Sajid Mubashir, Director, Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC).

Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of the International Mobility Engineering Congress and Exposition 2005, organised by the Society of Automobile Engineers India, Dr. Mubashir said once the promised finances from the industry became available, `Vehicle Tracking and Control System,' would be on stream.

Dr. Mubashir is confident that costs will come down once fleet owners are convinced about the utility of the system.

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