As part of its modernisation, the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation will incorporate the latest GPS-GPRS technology for its Vehicle Tracking System (VTS) to be installed in 3,500 buses.
VTS will not only keep track of the movement of the vehicle but will also help in accident detection and reporting, apart from helping the traffic controllers and managers at different bus stations to ensure effective management of arrivals and departures of buses.
‘’It will greatly benefit the passengers also as they will be having real-time information about the movement of buses and will have ETA (estimated time of arrival) of the respective bus at respective place, so that they can plan their travelling accordingly,’’ said RV Jayanth, chief engineer (IT division) of APSRTC.
Speaking to Express, he said the system will help in bunching of buses and track the speed of the buses. ‘’In other words, the controllers at the headquarters and bus stations can track whether the bus is travelling at prescribed speed limits, where it made unauthorised stops, where it skipped bus stations, where it is supposed to go, whether there were any problems with the bus like mechanical failure or any accident,’’ he explained.
VTS will track where and when the bus moved or stopped, calculate the speed and the distance and arrive at the ETA which will be displayed on the electronic display boards in buses and at bus stations.
As part of the system, a GPS device, a GPS antenna and a GPRS device will be installed in buses in a place where it has least chances of being effected by external factors. The GPS will calculate the latitudinal and longitudinal position every 30 seconds continuously while the GPRS will relay the information to the control room and coordination points.
‘’It will be similar to a black box in an aircraft, recording every movement of the bus, speed and stops made. In other words, it will be an effective monitoring tool for the conduct of drivers and conductors. In fact, APSRTC had tachographs installed in buses about 30 years ago to keep track of the speed and movement of the vehicles,’’ said M Ravinder, executive director.
Apart from the VTS, the buses will also have CC cameras as a security feature. ‘’The process of installing VTS is in progress and is expected to be completed in three months. The pilot run will be conducted in September in city buses,’’ Jayanth said.