The Hindu : Front Page : MTC to try out GPS on two routes

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Sunday, Aug 12, 2007
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MTC to try out GPS on two routes

Karthik Subramanian

— Photo: Karunakaran

PRO-COMMUTER MOVE: MTC officials have started putting up electronic display boards at select bus stands in Chennai for a trial run of the global positioning system in its buses.

CHENNAI: The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) will begin trial run of a global positioning system for buses on two routes, 21G (Tambaram - Broadway) and 70 (Tambaram - Avadi).

On Saturday, MTC officials set up electronic display boards along the routes. Commuters waiting at bus stands will be able to see the arrival time of the next bus on the board. Thirty-four MTC buses will be covered in the initial phase.

The technology, if successful, will be replicated in various government transport corporations throughout the country.

The global positioning system has been in the works for nearly three years now. The Ministry of Heavy Industries funded the project to the tune of Rs.3 crore. It is the result of a collaboration between the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore, and vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland.

The system combines GPS tracking and inter-vehicle communication systems to coordinate movement during bus operations. All the buses will have antennae, which will constantly emit signals. They will be monitored by a control room. Digitised maps from the data of the Global Informatics database of the Survey of India will be used for real-time tracking.

A senior MTC official says the control room will be situated on the Ashok Leyland premises for the time being. The MTC headquarters will have a ‘router’ for information flow.

The real-time tracking can also prepare MTC for emergencies and vehicle breakdowns.

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