‘One Delhi’ app to reflect live bus locations later this week

The mobile app, first launched in 2019, has been developed by the Delhi government in collaboration with Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Delhi, and aims to help commuters navigate public transport systems in the city.

The newly revamped One Delhi app, launched by the state government on Wednesday, will be updated by the end of this week to provide users with realtime updates on the live location of all buses, officials said on Sunday.

Once updated, the app will allow users to search for the live location of 7,300 buses on at least 500 bus routes across the Capital and locate their nearest bus stop accordingly. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

At present, while details of buses are displayed on the map, a user is unable to see their movements live and can only see an estimated time of their arrival at different bus stops. Following the update, users will be able to see exactly where each bus is at any given time, similar to cab-aggregator applications, and can track the arrival of a bus at a bus-stop in realtime.

“The feature has already been tested and will be added to the One Delhi app soon. Each bus has a GPS tracker, which connects to the One Delhi app. Seeing the movement of each bus on the map in realtime will allow users to gauge or know exactly when it will reach their bus stop,” a transport department official said, adding that GPS data will be updated every 30 seconds.

The mobile app, first launched in 2019, has been developed by the Delhi government in collaboration with Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Delhi, and aims to help commuters navigate public transport systems in the city.

Once updated, the app will allow users to search for the live location of 7,300 buses on at least 500 bus routes across the Capital and locate their nearest bus stop accordingly.

Ashish Kundra, commissioner, transport department, clarified that while users can see buses move along routes on the app even now, their locations are updated at intervals of 10 to 20 seconds. “On the app at present, a bus location refreshed after a brief interval as opposed to realtime movement. The next update will change that and make the movement of buses more dynamic and you can track it every few metres,” he said.

Other features on the app include the ability to buy e-tickets or a daily pass for buses at A 10% discount.Women passengers can also get their free pink tickets via the application, allowing the government to generate a database of the tickets purchased each day.

The app also displays electric vehicle chargers and battery swapping stations nearby. There is a feedback or grievance portal for users to lodge complaints with regard to the conduct of the driver, the conducter, the marshall, speeding, general cleanliness or problems at the bus stop.

“This is just the beginning; the government’s larger plan is to enable multimodal transportation to be tracked and facilitated through the application. It will incorporate buses, taxes, autos and cycles under one roof in the long run,” the transport department official quoted above said.

An IIIT Delhi official said the next feature on the One Delhi app will look to analyse user data and automatically show details of buses going to locations most frequently visited or searched by a user. “At present, while one may have to individually search for routes or buses, the next feature aims to automatically display preferred routes and buses and their timings. This will be based on the user’s travel history and the search history,” the IIIT Delhi official said.

Jasmine Shah, chairperson of Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC), the state government thinktank, said the project is complex and requires the involvement of multiple agencies. “We are glad DDC could support the entire end-to-end process from the conceptualisation to the implementation of this app. The launch of the One Delhi app also reflects the commitment of the Delhi government to set new benchmarks in public transport and in its efforts to fight Delhi’s air pollution,” he said.