Testing of digital boards displaying details of bus services completed at 18 locations

The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) has been taking several steps on the digital ticketing front —launching electronic ticketing, integrated ticketing application, and successfully upgrading the Chennai bus app.

The latest project is the successful testing of the digital display boards providing real time data of buses arriving at the bus stops.  

The MTC had initiated the digital display boards project last year in several bus stops such as Egmore, Chintadripet, Central railway station, DMS, and Anna Square.

Though the MTC has established time table for the buses, due to the complexity of hundreds of routes, commuters are unaware of real time data of buses buses arriving at the stops, which would sometimes come in bunches.

However the installation of global positioning system (GPS) machines in the entire fleet of 3,400 buses in phases along the successful implementation of the intelligent transport software, and the launch of a modern Command and Control Centre building, has helped in the commuters to locate their buses in the mobile phones through the Chennai bus app. 

A senior official said that the passenger information project was initiated last year with the testing of the GPS-enabled digital display boards having been successfully completed. Soon, the bus arrival information through digital display boards would be launched and expanded in phases throughout the city, he added. 

The light emitting diode (LED) boards, linked to the online server of the bus app, located at the command and control centre of the MTC headquarters, would be providing real time data for the commuters not using the app. 

The senior official said the LED boards would display information such as the estimated time of arrival, estimated time of departure, bus route number, destinations, speed, and also alerts in case of any accidents.

At present the MTC has installed these boards in more than 18 bus stops and has plans to install the boards in a total of 616 locations, including 500 bus stops, and 71 main terminals. 

S. Elwyn, a resident of Perambur, said the city has nearly 2,500 bus stops and urged that at least 50% of all stops get the digital display boards.