Kolkata: The state Transport department is gearing up to launch a pilot project for the recently-announced bus tracking system. Initially, the project will cover 12 government-operated bus routes, with plans to incorporate private buses operating on these selected routes.
On Tuesday, a meeting was held, chaired by the additional chief secretary of the IT&E department, with the secretary of the Transport department, senior officials and representatives from the West Bengal Police Directorate and Kolkata Police in attendance. Private bus operators’ associations were also invited to participate in the pilot project. “Twelve routes have been selected for the pilot project of the bus tracking system. The system will allow passengers, bus owners and authorities to track buses in real time.
If a bus is found to be involved in rash driving, speeding, or deviating from its scheduled route, alerts will be sent to both the driver and the owner and to the relevant authorities,” an official from the Transport department explained. The twelve routes selected for the pilot include AC-39, AC-50A, AC-37A, V-1, S-10, S-23A, AC-2, AC-43, AC-40, AC-23A, EB-12 and S-66. Private bus operators have been asked to consider including their buses which follow similar routes. “We aim to launch the pilot project within the next month,” the official added.
Previously, Transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty announced plans to integrate real time bus tracking into the Yatri Sathi app.
The new feature, ‘Where is My Bus,’ is expected to launch within three months and will allow passengers to track both government and private buses. Buses will be tracked via a separate application used by the drivers.
During Tuesday’s meeting, presentations were made to explain how the app-based tracking system would work. It was also confirmed that hands-on training would be
provided to bus staff, covering how drivers will download the application, scan the QR code, and operate the system. Video tutorials will also be made available to assist with the training process.