Karnataka is in the process of implementing the Intelligent Transport System for monitoring and tracking city buses on a real time basis in the historical city of Mysore. The government has floated global tenders to select the agency for implementing the project, part funded by the World Bank, a senior government official said.
“We are in the process of selecting an agency to provide software, hardware, GPS devices, maintain and operate the system on a real-time basis. The system will help us track the precise location of a bus during its scheduled trip and find out if it is plying on time or behind schedule, so that we can plan the next trip,” Gaurav Gupta, managing director, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), said.
He told Business Standard, Mysore city was selected for implementing this project under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) two years ago and a pilot project was done to study the feasibility of the project.
Now, the project is being taken up on a comprehensive manner at an estimated cost of Rs 21 crore, of which Rs 7 crore is in the form of a grant from the World Bank, while the rest is provided by the state government. The selected agency would provide the software, hardware, GPS devices that will be installed on the bus and communication network. The system will also provide information on the movement and location of the buses on a real-time basis to passengers at bus terminals and bus shelters across the city.
“Normally, once the bus leaves the depot we will not know where it is on the way. With the help of the intelligent transport system we can track down the location of a bus and this will help us manage our fleet with the help of the software,” Gupta said.
Presently, around 400 buses ply in Mysore every day. Under the system, all buses will be monitored. The government has completed a pilot and now the project will be implemented comprehensively in the city, he said. “We have reached the last part of the tendering process and will complete it in the next one month and the successful bidder will get a year’s time to implement the system,” Gupta said.
He said a team of officials from the World Bank visited Mysore many times and froze specifications of the project.
They will also monitor and inspect the progress of the project closely until it is implemented and launched.
Based on the success of the project, a similar system will be implemented in Bangalore city too, he added.
