IIT-M develops localised solution for MTC commuters

According to the officials, the new MTC buses will have an inbuilt GPS-enabled system as part of the Intelligent Transport System. The current buses on the road cannot be fitted with the GPS as there are no provisions for it.

“We have developed complete solutions including the prediction of bus arrivals and tracking of bus movements across the city. The system is user-friendly which anyone can use to find a solution for all their transportation problems pertaining to public buses,” Gitakrishnan Ramadurai, an associate professor of IIT-Madras said.

“We always look up for the global practices to resolve any problems related to the transportation system. It cannot be expected to work here for a simple reason that our system is plagued with different set of problems,” he added.

The premier institution has developed standard chips and algorithms which can be adopted by any bus corporations across the country. For the pilot project, the researchers studied 200 GPS-enabled MTC buses plying in and around Guindy to develop a complete solution. 

“Around 30 projects are currently being carried out by the research scholars based in this institution. The technology requires a huge investment to adapt initially,” he noted.

However, sources said that the transport body is working on the modalities to implement the technology, to benefit the commuters. A top official from the MTC, said, “The technology will soon be adopted in all the MTC buses. We cannot set a time-frame as we are waiting for the government order to proceed further.”