Delhi’s buses enter the digital age

Days of endless wait for a bus on your route are over. In three months from now, the expected time of arrival of the next bus will be available on your phone or through the Internet.

Days of endless wait for a bus on your route are over. In three months from now, the expected time of arrival of the next bus will be available on your phone or through the Internet.

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All local buses in Delhi, run by Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) as well as by private operators, will be installed with global positioning system (GPS) devices.

While the GPS system will help DTC manage its fleet through a tracking and monitoring system, bus commuters will have real time information on buses.

Bus timings and routes will be displayed on light emitting diode, or LED, display boards installed at each bus stop as well as in each bus.

The GPS system will come with a special sensor, which will generate a report on the functioning of each bus, a senior transport department official said.

The official who wished to remain unidentified as he is not authorised to speak to media said the GPS system is running successfully in more than 100 buses plying on four routes on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Delhi.

It will now be extended to 650 routes in the Capital, he said.

While a private company will rent out on a monthly basis the GPS equipment to the transport department, Delhi Integrated Multi-Model Transit System (DIMTS), the joint venture of Delhi Government and Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation, will manage the back-end control and overall management.

The transport department has been trying to install this system for the past many years. The department had finalised the contract with another GPS service provider. But the company cancelled the contract after recession hit the market.

This time the transport department has kept the advertising part of the contract.