Page 26 - TT mag April 2024 Digital Edition

PUBLIC TRANSPORT
GIVEN THE HIGH
PENETRATION OF
MOBILE PHONES TODAY,
WE CAN USE THAT AS
A PLATFORM TO MAKE
LIVE TRACKING AND
TICKETING AVAILABLE
TO EVERYONE.
MOBILE PHONES
HELP SOLVE FOR
QUICK DISTRIBUTION
COMPARED TO CARDS
AND HENCE COULD
PROVE VERY POWERFUL.
TICKETING SYSTEMS
USING CARDS AND
MOBILE BOTH COULD
HELP US MOVE TO A
COMPLETELY CASHLESS
EXPERIENCE.
– Vinayak Bhavnani
26 TRAFFICINFRATECH / April 2024 / www.trafficinfratech.com
stations providing ETA and ETD of spot detection cameras required
buses based on live tracking. This when large buses have to make a
reduces waiting time and helps turn on city roads and 360-degree
commuters with their journey, cameras used during reversing
said Ramachandran. According vehicles. There is also a plan to
to Bhavnani, while these provide introduce pay collection in some
city buses where people can pay in
more accurate information
compared to timetables, this any mode including QR code and
information is often available at RFID for their tickets, said Jain.
bus stops after the passenger has Providing bus service to
arrived there. Ideally, passengers unplanned city development
should be equipped with the
can be challenging as 100%
information even before they route coverage is not possible.
come to the bus stop. Multimodal transport is important
“To enable passenger feedback, for end-to-end travel and all sectors,
including the organised (metros),
a robust complaints redressal partially organised (buses) and
system has been established
along with a set of SOPs to unorganised (autorickshaws) need
address commuter concerns to be brought under the purview of
and suggestions on improving synchronised planning. Currently
they are all working in silos. There
services by BMTC through easily is a need for a transport stack that
accessible channels”, explained
Ramachandran. Bhavnani said captures the complete journey to
aid commuters and city planners,
passengers could share their Kumar said. The battery in EV
feedback via apps made available buses has finite power and one
by the service provider, surveys,
on-ground collection and social cannot accurately predict charge vs
distance travelled. Existing systems
media platforms. need to be polished with AI
Moving forward, innovations in algorithms and machine learning
the offing include developing blind layers, he concluded. TT