Recently, the Thane Municipal Transport (TMT) said it will use AI to improve its bus service. Speaking to TrafficInfraTech, TMT’s Deputy Manager Sunil Jadhav, the brain behind BEST’s brilliant app, Chalo, says AI can help us think on our feet.
AI’s Intelligent Traffic Management system (ITMS) can control scheduling, passenger load, dynamic timetable,” says Jadhav. But there are some factors beyond the control of even AI. This system allows managers to dynamically track live bottlenecks, optimize congested routes in real time, and immediately redirect active buses to high-demand corridors like Ghodbunder Road where commuters face the
longest delays.
However, at the Ghodbunder Road, where the density of traffic is so heavy no amount of technology can help. “Once a bus is out on the road and for some reason, it is caught in a jam, it cannot be pulled out. It has to reach its logical conclusion and that happens only when it reaches its final destination,” adds Jadhav.
The use of AI power to help reduce the strain could mean a few dynamic changes, like shifting of timetables to suit the needs of the hour thereby rescheduling buses when a particular route is overcrowded. Further there are running on some routes with virtually no patronage. AI can help redirect those resources to where it is urgently needed.
“In the evening peak hours, buses take up to 30 minutes to move from Gavdevi temple to the Station Area Traffic Improvement System (SATIS) on Thane Railway station, a distance of less than 500 metres,” Jadhav informs.
Every minute hordes of passengers, alighting from local trains, add to the crush on rush on SATIS deck just outside the Thane Station. And, if the passengers do not get their buses, it adds to the chaos.
Also, AI cannot relocate a seated passenger. “Just because AI suggests to us, we cannot ask passengers, especially those already seated comfortably, to vacate and take the best available buses for faster movement,” says Jadhav.
Artificial Intelligence could be a great boon for Municipal Transport systems, but it is a long way away from sorting some of the logistical problems that a city can throw up.”
Jadhav, who was with the BEST earlier, says even Mumbai public transport system did not use AI. Thane could
be the first among the Mumbai Metropolitan Region to use AI for its mass transport system.
He nevertheless as a word of caution: AI comes with a warning, that it cannot rectify extreme failures. If there is major bottleneck due to emergency situations, it will have to be endured.
The bus fleets not equipped with the system to help AI is a challenge. Of the entire fleet, 123 buses are from Olectra which come factory-fitted with telematics, GPS, Controller Area Network (CAN) bus data. ITMS can work its magic to gather vital data like real-time battery, location and passenger load among others.
But 113 buses cannot be live-tracked because they do not have the technology. “Therefore, the budget was presented with the idea that majority of the fleet in the coming years could be live tracked,” stated Jadhav. TMT also has 150 buses with Vehicle tracking System (VTS).
TMT has already secured a pipeline for 100 air-conditioned electric buses under the central government’s PM-eBus Sewa Scheme, while actively running the tendering process for an additional 160 AC e-buses funded by the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). This targeted injection of over 250 eco-friendly vehicles is designed to progressively replace aging diesel models and drastically reduce daily waiting times for Thane’s booming commuter population.
