Ahmedabad BRTS update

After Ahmedabad Janmarg Limited (AJL) finalised and awarded bus procurement and maintenance bids, bids calling for installation of IT-enabled services (ITES) are expected in a week.The process of finalising the bid documents for ITES in BRTS is in the stage of documentation and will be up for grabs by the end of the week. AJL — the governing body for BRTS in the city — will call for various services for ITES. These will include, GPS or automatic vehicle location information systems, hardware for on board announcements, display systems at bus stop and within buses, RFID services and smart cards for prepaid ticketing.Besides, surveillance and security systems that will be installed at some of the bus stops will become operational on the 12.5-km stretch between RTO and Pirana. BRTS will have its central control room that will process real time data of the position of buses on the route and passengers will come to know about the exact time when the next bus would arrive at the stop. AJL officials said that SMS information for regular passengers will also be introduced, once the system stabilises within six months of being made operational.One of the key features of the ITES package will be installation of CCTV cameras at bus stops. Apart from security concerns, cameras will help BRTS maintain the threeminute deadline for every bus, especially during peak traffic hours in the day. The special cameras will send video feeds to the BRTS control room telling the operator exact number of people waiting for a bus at a particular station. The operator will then immediately inform the central depot to deploy one of the 10 standby buses.