Black Box for RTC buses

• GPS system installed in 5 buses as a pilot project
• Helps navigate traffic
• SMS updates to track buses

APSRTC is all set to use state-of-the-art Global Positioning System (GPS). Now its buses can be tracked, reasons for delay can be ascertained, can evade traffic jams and more. VTS is a huge success in Delhi and the officials are confident of success in the city as well. As of now five buses have been installed with the GPS and by March 2015 all the long-distance buses will be fitted with the system

Uppal to Hitec City Metro Express bus is scheduled to leave Uppal at 8am. Sriram was waiting for this bus at Lakdi-ka- Pul. It was past nine and the bus hasn’t reached yet. Sriram then had to take a private vehicle and leave for office. Because of frequent delays, APSRTC is losing lakhs everyday. APSRTC officials say when the GPS system is installed, the passengers can know the status of the bus through SMS.

Yadaiah is a driver with APSRTC; his usual route is Patancheru to Uppal. There was a traffic jam at JNTU; a senior official calls him and advises him to change the route. This is possible with GPS system.

For the past two years APSRTC officials are mulling over the implementation of the GPS system and this has taken a proper shape in the last few weeks. A signalling room was set up at the Bus Bhavan and the officials are now linking the registration numbers of the buses to the GPS.

A Koteswara Rao, executive director, APSRTC Greater Hyderabad Zone, told the Hyderabad Hans, “As part of modernisation, we are incorporating the latest GPS-GPRS technology for our Vehicle Tracking System (VTS). It will be installed in all the special buses viz, Express, Deluxe and AC by the next financial year ending March 31, 2015. We have already installed GPS system in 5 buses in route 127 K (Koti to Kondapur) and 222 P (Koti to Patancheru) and are likely to introduce in 50 more buses on priority routes in the next three months as a trial run.”

Koteswara Rao said that VTS would not only keep track of the movement of the vehicle but would 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. “It will benefit the passengers as they get to know the real-time information about the movement of buses and will have ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) of the respective bus at respective places, so that they can plan their travel accordingly,” he added.

VTS helps the controllers at the headquarters and bus stations to track whether the bus is travelling at prescribed speed limits, where it made unauthorised stops, where it skipped bus stations, where it was supposed to go, whether there were any problems with the bus like mechanical failure or any accident.

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 affected 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 and also an effective monitoring tool for the body language and conduct of drivers and conductors.