Local bus fleet of Chandigarh Transport Undertaking to go smart by August 15

In August last year, a trial run on 100 buses on 14 routes was launched by the UT administrator, VP Singh Badnore

All local buses of the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) are set to go smart with the UT transport department’s Intelligent Transport System (ITS) ready for launch by August 15.

For additional security of passengers, particularly women commuters, a panic button will be available to solicit urgent help from the police and ambulance, if needed. Drivers will have a direct line of communication with the control room. (HT FILE PHOTO)

The World Bank-sponsored project, costing the administration around ₹25 crore, aims to modernise the transport system and attract more passengers to the public transport.

“All the preparations have been done and we are planning to launch the full-fledged ITS on the entire CTU fleet of local buses by August 15,” said Uma Shankar Gupta, director, transport. Currently, the system is being tested on the entire CTU fleet of 358 buses.

In August last year, a trial run on 100 buses on 14 routes was launched by the UT administrator, VP Singh Badnore.

Slew of security features introduced

A slew of security features will be introduced in the buses. There will be four cameras inside each bus to monitor the behaviour of the crew and passengers. At a time, the central command and control centre will be able to live monitor 24 buses through these cameras.

For additional security of passengers, particularly women commuters, a panic button will be available to solicit urgent help from the police and ambulance, if needed. Drivers will have a direct line of communication with the control room.

The ITS will also allow live-tracking of the buses through a global positioning system (GPS), and the department authorities and commuters will be able to determine the exact bus locations.

There will be a digital display of the bus timings at each bus queue shelter. Passenger information display screens have also been installed at different locations including the Inter-State Bus Terminals (ISBT) in Sectors 17 and 43, the railway station, and some bus queue shelters.

For integrating all ITS services, including monitoring and tracking, a SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system or central command and control centre has been set up at the Sector-43 ISBT.

“In case a bus is late or not sticking to a designated route, or if it jumps a light or speeds, the ITS will alert the officials concerned so that immediate corrective measures can be taken. In the long-run, it will allow the department to rationalise the bus routes in line with passenger traffic,” said Gupta.

Rates of smart card-based bus passes fixed

As the initial step towards launching the ITS, the transport department on Monday fixed the rates of smart cards, which will be shortly rolled out.

Initially 10,000 smart cards will be issued free of cost, and only printing charges will be taken. Thereafter, ₹100 will be levied for buying a smart card. The minimum recharge will be of ₹100, up to a maximum of ₹4,900 with a cap at ₹5,000.

For both the existing passes and the new smart card-based passes, the facilitation charges or printing cost per card basis (excluding the cost of smart card) will be ₹30 (inclusive of GST). For issuance of an anonymous smart card, the charges will be ₹20. For recharges or for any other operation for personalised and anonymous smart cards, the charges will be ₹10. Online recharges through a portal will be free of cost.