Punjab Government, in compliance of new transport policy, is all set to launch bus tracking system in Punjab Roadways and PUNBUS.
“Punjab Roadways and Punjab State Bus Stand Management Company (PUNBUS) are installing vehicle tracking system in its buses and developing passenger information system for passenger,” said the state Transport Minister Razia Sultana while reviewing the performance of bus tracking system at monitoring and control room of Punjab Roadways and PUNBUS.
She said that the project is being implemented in 1,800 buses at a total cost of Rs 5.8 crore to be operated for five years out of which 50 per cent of capital cost is being given by the Central Government.
The Minister said that the central monitoring and control room is being established in Punjab Roadways and PUNBUS head office where live tracking of buses will be monitored in real time. “This is Punjab Government’s first step in installation of vehicle tracking system in passenger transport vehicle of the state as per the new transport policy,” she said.
She said that pilot phase for deployment of GPS devices in 110 buses has been completed in Jalandhar-I and Jalandhar-II depot. This system will now be installed in all 18 depots of Punjab Roadways and PUNBUS.
Implementation of this project will be completed by May 2020, and the project is to be extended to buses of PRTC and private stage carriage buses in the near future.
The Minister, divulging upon the benefits of the project, said that when this project is fully implemented, a panic button will be provided in all buses in collaboration with Punjab Police for passenger safety especially women.
“Likewise, central control room is being established at Chandigarh for monitoring and control of buses. Events like over-speeding, harsh braking, harsh acceleration, stopping at unauthorised stop, stoppage of more than 25 minutes at authorised Dhaba’s buses going via bypass, flyover, route deviation, early and late departure, missing of scheduled kms etc will be monitored in real time in control room and also at depot level and alerts will also be sent through SMS,” she said.
The Minister said that Management Information System like driver behavior, conductor behavior, bus utilisation, staff utilisation, late or early running of buses, record of kilometers etc. will be maintained.
“By implementation of this system, Transport Department has taken a step ahead towards safety of passenger specially women in its buses. Passengers will be able to check or track their buses position along with estimated time of arrival (ETA) or estimated time of departure (ETD) of individual bus stands with the help of mobile application,” she added.