Bangalore: GPS has been installed in over 200 BMTC buses of Yelahanka depot. They were operational yesterday and are being monitored at the control room in Shanthinagar.
The GPS enables the control room to track the speed and location of the busses on a city map. The Control room is manned by 20 BMTC employees who work round the clock in shifts. The idea of monitoring is to ensure that speed limits are maintained, bus stands are not skipped and rash driving is avoided. It refreshes the status of the buses every 10 seconds.
The idea is not to punish but to reform.Erring drivers are first warned verbally. If they continue erring, their routes are changed. Action is taken only when there is evidence. However, drivers are not suspended. Kumar Pushkar, Director (IT), BMTC, said, “The objective is not to punish, but reform them. Our drivers are not machines.”
Yelahanka depot had a very bad performance and was an ideal candidate for the pilot project. t.
On Monday, he said, panic buttons were pressed (by error) thrice in the control room, 594 cases of speeding (buses moving at above 50 km/hr) and 49 cases of ‘harsh’ braking, which implied rash driving.
Mr. Pushkar said September is “crucial” to BMTC as it is testing the Intelligent Transport Solution (ITS) and scale it up in October.
The GPS mapping, provided by Trimax Infrastructure Ltd, is part of the Intelligent Transport System, which will cover the entire BMTC by the first week of December. BMTC is paying Rs. 69.16 crore in 60 equal instalments of Rs, 1.16 crore for the ITS.
