The State-owned Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will be the first to introduce GPS in transport vehicles plying in the State.
Over 200 buses in Thiruvananthapuram central and city depot will be the first to be equipped with GPS, a top official of the KSRTC told The Hindu . The KSRTC will install the GPS in other buses in the 6,000-odd fleet in a phased manner, he said.
The introduction of GPS is part of the technology upgrade being worked out by the management to streamline services and tide over the financial crisis gripping the utility. Besides tracking the stage carriers, the official said the operations wing would be able to avoid bunching of services.
The speed, idling time, and breakdown, if any, and the exact km covered in each trip and schedule can be know on real time basis, he said.
The GPS mounted on the bus would receive the longitude and latitude coordinates from a satellite through a process of triangulation. This information would be sent across to the control station through wireless communication. Those in the control room could monitor the vehicle on the route map and see where it is stationed, whether it is running on schedule, and the buses in a particular sector.
The corporation is also exploring the possibility of linking the GPS to the passenger information system (PIS) to benefit commuters travelling in the buses and those at the bus stations, he said.
The project being executed through Keltron will be formally launched by Minister for Transport Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan here on Tuesday.
News: The Hindu
