KSRTC bets big on intelligent transport system

The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation’s (KSRTC) will install video cameras in its buses and introduce electronic ticketing machines—besides introducing Intelligent Transport System—under Phase II of its expansion, which will cover more than 2,000 buses.

Phase I, taken up at a cost of `20 crore and scheduled to be launched by August, will cover 500 buses and 105 bus stops in Mysore. GPS and real-time passenger information systems (PIS) are installed in these buses. KSRTC MD Manjunath Prasad said: “Initially, while planning expansion, we stopped at PIS. However, for Phase II, we will be incorporating a lot more features into the system.”

During Phase II, various features will be integrated into the already existing ones. Electronic ticketing machines will be one of them. The KSRTC is also planning to install video cameras in buses to ensure passengers’ safety.
“Cameras will give us live feed of the number of available seats in the bus and problems, if any. It will help us manage the buses better and plug leakages through pilferage,” Prasad said.

While these two features will help passengers the most, a third will integrate fuel consumption data into the system, helping the KSRTC ensure higher mileage. “This feature will tell us the distance travelled and fuel consumed each minute. We will be able to know if fuel is consumed while the bus is not moving or it is because of the driver’s behaviour. We can correct these mistakes by retraining the driver, check for problems on a real-time basis and improve mileage,” he said.

The tenders for Phase II will be called in a few days. “We hope to install ITS on these buses and have a functioning system in six months,” Prasad said.

During Phase II—which will be completed in about 18 months—ITS will be installed in KSRTC’s entire fleet of over 8,000 buses. The KSRTC expects the cost of Phase II and III to be lesser than that of Phase I.

“ITS is fast developing and many products and features are available in the market. We will be able to do Phase II at `15 crore. This is only an estimate and the final cost will be based on the tenders,” he said.