Now commuters can track buses

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 23

Bus commuters in the national capital can now have access to real-time datasets, including estimated time of arrival at any bus stop, position of the vehicle, alert and diversion messages etc., free of cost.

Open Transit Data (OTD) platform launched on Friday will provide transit data of around 1,700 buses operated under the Delhi government’s cluster scheme for the time-being and the data of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and DMRC metro feeder buses is likely to be added soon.

Designed by Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology here with the support of DIMTS and DTC, the OTD portal (www.otd.delhi.gov.in) will provide multi-modal transport feed in future, said Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot.

Through this, the government aims to promote transparency and data-driven operations while providing real-time data such as geo-coordinates of all bus stops, route maps, timetables as well as the real-time GPS feeds of bus locations, which will be updated every 10 seconds.

With this new initiative, the government also hopes to promote collaboration and co-creation of innovative and inclusive transport solutions with enterprises, third-party developers and researchers.

All these datasets are being provided in a machine-readable and globally-accepted transit data standard called the General Transit Feed Specification.

Gahlot said, “Delhi government is making rapid strides in making the city’s public transportation system world class and the launch of OTD portal is a major step in that direction. Our team has closely studied similar initiatives by Singapore and London and we are committed to providing a similar quality of service and transparency of our transit data. Eventually, this initiative will provide a lot of useful information at the finger tips of citizens and encourage more and more people to switch to public transport, thereby impacting pollution.”

The portal will also enable the government in installing real-time Passenger Information Systems (PIS) or display boards at bus stops and terminals to let bus commuters know of arrival time of various buses.

The data will also be a resource for city planners to analyse the trend of commute in the capital helping them in taking informed decisions regarding transit needs and demands.