Surat to get vehicle messaging system

In yet another first to its credit, the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has decided to acquire a multi-purpose vehicle messaging system (VMS).

VMS is a system that displays messages and instructs vehicle drivers about the movement of traffic. It can also be used to display civic messages, such as those related to the polio vaccination drive, clean city campaign, tax campaign, and several others.

"In the first phase, we have planned to acquire eight or nine VMS equipment, which would be installed at Ring Road, and at other key points in the city for displaying various messages," Nitin Vaidya, executive engineer, traffic cell, SMC, said.

"To the best of our knowledge, SMC will be the first municipal corporation in the country to acquire this system.

The use of the VMS is quite popular in developed nations, especially on the highways," he said.

According to Vaidya, the biggest benefit of acquiring the VMS is that information can be passed very quickly time. "In this age of communication, quick flow of information is extremely important. VMS will be operated by a central computer system. It can relay messages within seconds, and thus save a lot of time, which would be of great use during natural calamities such as floods, or emergencies such as epidemics," he said.

"VMS will also help check the spread of false information. In mouth publicity, there is always a possibility of mistakes or intentional distortions, which could lead to a lot of problems during various festivals. The VMS will help us in providing the right information to the people, and that too in very quick time," Vaidya said.

The VMS is also be equipped with the facility of displaying messages in one, two or more languages. Different messages can be replayed using the system. The messages can also be changed at any given point of time.

"We plan to acquire eight or nine VMS equipment initially. We have received tenders from two firms, whom we intend to call for a demonstration in the coming days. Based on the price and other merits, we will acquire the equipment," Vaidya said.

Once it acquires the VMS equipment, SMC would approach Hutch or any other cellular service provider for providing the messaging service. The corporation will have to spend between Rs 15 lakh to 20 lakh for acquiring the VMS equipment, which according to Vaidya, is not a very big amount if one considers the multiple benefits of the system.