Monday, October 28, 2024

Enhancing City Public Road Transport with Advanced Technology

 As an infrequent user of public transport, the inconveniences I experience during my travels inspired me to pen this article. Common issues such as long waits for buses, difficulty in finding seats, and overcrowded conditions make journeys tiresome. It's high time the government adopts a mix of advanced technologies like IoT (Internet of Things), AI (Artificial Intelligence), NFC (Near Field Communication), and Machine Learning to make daily commutes more comfortable.

Passenger Module


Intent to Travel: Passengers can use this module to inform the transport corporation of their travel plans (destination, number of people). The corporation will read the user's location and accordingly plan the fleet services and provide Bus registration number and expected arrival time. A partial amount will be withdrawn from the passenger's wallet to ensure accountability.

Bus Tracking module: The passenger's then can track the status of bus and plan their commute to bus stand accordingly.

Ready for Pickup: Upon reaching the bus stand, passengers should confirm their arrival through this module. The corporation will verify the passenger's location using IoT and provide a QR code ticket and bus registration number. At this point, half the fare will be deducted from the passenger's wallet.

Transport Corporation Module

Reservation Module: Upon receiving a request from the passenger through the Intent to Travel module, the corporation can use machine learning to prepare a fleet service chart. They can set a minimum number of passengers required for a bus to start from the base stand and fill passengers from subsequent stands. The algorithm should rework the chart in case of no-show passengers and alert the remaining passengers if necessary.

Passenger Alert Module: As the bus nears the stand, an AI agent should call the passengers to alert them to be ready to board.

Ticket Scanning Module: Conductors equipped with QR scanners will scan the ticket shown by passengers, and the bus fare will be deducted from the passenger's wallet. After a specific wait duration, the bus will depart. If any passenger misses the bus, they will be informed by AI agents. Machine learning will rework the chart via the reservation module and analyze passenger behavior to impose penalties for repeated no-shows.

Help Desk Module: There could be tourist who are new to city ,who may not have this app in their mobile, for such users they can approach the agent at the stand for assist.

Driver Health Module: This module will monitor drivers' time and distance driven and their vitals. Drivers will be replaced based on set health standards. Continuous inputs will be analyzed to implement any necessary course corrections for better driver health.

This is a preliminary attempt to define a system that addresses problems faced by both corporations and passengers using technology. There may be practical scenarios I missed, but the goal is to improve the public transport experience.

Do let me know your thoughts and if there are similar applications available elsewhere. I would be excited to see such technology adopted in my city, encouraging people like me to use public transport more often.

4 comments:

  1. It would be good if you have added government modules and technology modules

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  2. Firstly, we need to fill basic infrastructure gaps, set people mindset to use public transport. Citing few solutions I have seen.

    1) Proper feeder service for Metro trains that includes Mono rail until metro station. This is now complemented by Mini buses run ny Govt. But no idea how many know this and where we can check the timings of the same. Case study: KL, Malaysia.

    2) No info displays showing expected time for buses. I have seen those functional in KL, Malaysia.

    3) Small innovations go far at times. In high floor buses, there are 3 steps one way. In low floor buses there is only 1 step. Approx 50 passengers save 4 steps counts to couple Minutes!!! Dedicated pathway for buses can be a good idea. Case study: Gujarat.

    4) Share autos from Metro to residential areas, cabs from IT parks to metro station etc., Info being handy is the key. Tracking info in buses if available is not put to use.

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  3. What is there in travel and below the best technology to be implemented in each sector you wish. Quote that. Current government module is not there. Technology module is also not there. Technology module should discuss about equipments required which is not there. Clarity is lagging in this article.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bus is there from all metro stations, cab facility is there,wifi etc.

    ReplyDelete