MVD mulls app for dynamic bus-scheduling to prevent reckless driving in Greater Kochi

The development follows repeated directions from the Kerala High Court to the MVD and the police to prevent reckless driving and dangerous overtaking by buses in the city.

The Motor Vehicles department (MVD) has mulled an app to prepare a dynamic bus-scheduling system for the 500-odd private city buses that operate in the Greater Kochi area.

The development follows repeated directions from the Kerala High Court to the MVD and the police to prevent reckless driving and dangerous overtaking by buses.

“The MVD also took note of a direction issued by the Kochi Metropolitan Transport Authority [KMTA] earlier this month to the Ernakulam Regional Transport Authority [RTA], chaired by the District Collector, to increase the running time allotted to city buses from the present 2.5 minutes per km,” said a senior official of the department.

The KMTA meeting, headed by Transport Minister C.P. John, had observed that the running time fixed four decades ago was insufficient, considering the manifold increase in the number of vehicles and worsening congestion on roads and at junctions.

“Following the directives issued by the High Court and KMTA, the RTA board, headed by the Collector and comprising top MVD and police officials, would meet shortly to decide on the dynamic bus-scheduling system, which will reschedule bus timings based on live traffic feeds. In addition, it has been decided to constitute a special committee comprising motor vehicle inspectors to identify ways to streamline bus services and end reckless driving. This would help rationalise bus timings and extend bus services to routes where there is demand,” the official added.

Reiterating the need for such a dynamic system to keep tabs on buses and ensure their optimal utilisation, Navas K.M., a bus operator, said it would help create a win-win situation for passengers and bus operators. The data from the ‘Kerala Buses’ app could be used for this. The RTA must, on a priority basis, reallocate the existing schedules so that buses get more time to cover a kilometre. Steps must also be taken to ensure that the timings of private and KSRTC buses do not overlap, Mr. Navas said.