The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) is planning to install GPS after Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) stepping out of the project.
R S Minhas, spokesperson for the State Bus Authority said, “The GPS will be monitored by our own team. We have already started a pilot project on 200 buses and the results are excellent.”
He further added that as part of the pilot project, GPS devices have been bundled with CCTV cameras in 200 buses, and the feed is being monitored at two depots, Rajghat and Sarojini Nagar.
DTC is also planning to come out with a tender for extending the pilot project to its entire fleet. “The operational control centre (OCC) will be outsourced to a third party which will monitor and track data. Daily reports will be generated, and the data will be directly accessible to DTC,” a government official said. Currently, DTC has 4,705 buses, and GPS with CCTVs will be installed in all of these.
Installing GPS has many benefits, including the improvement of schedules of bus services. One of the senior officials said, “With GPS, we can not only monitor the buses but also improve our services. The data is also critical to launch our passenger information system.”
DTC has been trying to launch the passenger information system (PIS) for a long time now. However, with the unavailability of GPS data, it hasn’t been able to do the same. In addition to it, DTC officials are also relying on the GPS and CCTV footage to ensure that enforcement becomes stricter.
Currently, there are less than 15 per cent of such buses having functional GPS devices installed. Only 10-15 per cent of the 3,800 low floor buses have GPS. It is not being monitored in a proper manner since the agency in charge of the OCC, DIMTS, was served with a showcause notice almost a year ago.
