BENGALURU: Nearly a year after BMTC launched the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) to help commuters track movement of buses real time, bus shelters in the city still don’t have Passenger Information System (PIS) display boards.
The GPS-enabled PIS display that is commonly found in most metros help passengers track arrivals and departures of buses and provides schedules to various destinations. The display boards will also be of help to tourists visiting the city.
For instance, KSRTC has installed 193 PIS display boards under ITS in bus shelters, bus stations and tourist places in Mysuru. The PIS gives information in Kannada and English. KSRTC’s ‘Mitra’ is also the country’s first ITS with a mobile app.
BMTC officials say they track around 6,000 GPS-enabled buses and have installed PIS digital boards at all Traffic Transit Management Centre (TTMC) and major bus terminals in the city.
A senior BMTC official said, “All bus shelters are maintained by BBMP or private agencies entrusted by the civic body, so they can take the initiative to install PIS display boards. We are ready to share the arrival/departure data of bus.”
BBMP officials, however, said installation of PIS boards is the responsibility of BMTC. “We don’t have any funds to install PIS boards at bus shelters,” a BBMP official said.
BMTC officials said passengers can also track buses using its mobile app, but this will only help those with a smartphone.
“I don’t have a clue about the timing of BMTC buses so I always take a taxi or an auto. If they already have the data of the buses on the road, then why are they not installing display boards at bus shelters? It’s unfair to give information on buses only to those who have smartphones,” says Rashmi K, a regular BMTC commuter.
In 2007, BMTC planned to install PIS boards at 80 bus stops along five routes, including Kempegowda Bus Station (KBS) to Kadugodi, KBS to Electronics City, KBS to JP Nagar 6th Phase, Shivajinagar to ITPL and Central Silk Board to Hebbal. PIS boards at bus shelters enroute theAirport were also planned. But all proposals still remain on paper.