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Public Transport and Information Technology

Inkey, July 19, 2024 290 Views

Public transport forms the blood vessels of a city with its citizens forming the precious life blood. They transport their precious cargo just like blood vessels in a body keeping the city alive and thriving. Any kind of disruption brings the city to a painful and grinding halt. While proper processes and experience can and has kept these going, integrating information technology can enhance this experience manyfold reducing human effort and eliminating human error. Where can information technology help? 

Real time information and tracking

It would be very convenient for the passengers if they can know where their buses or trains are at any given moment. This would ensure that they never miss their buses or trains, reducing that one point of stress from their journey. 

In another instance, the people who are supposed to pick the passengers up would also know where the passengers are, making sure that they arrive on time, so the passengers don’t have to wait. This would also allow easing the surge in traffic which usually happens when a train arrives. 

Optimized route and scheduling

The people in charge of the vehicles can come to know which routes are busy at any given time and reroute the vehicles around those routes. Not only would this ensure the passengers arrive on time, but also ensure that the traffic congestion eases quickly if not eliminated entirely. 

In case of natural disasters like floods for example, the people in charge can stop the services temporarily thereby ensuring public safety. 

Integrated payment system

A digital payment system has been already integrated to some extent in India. Using the Unified Payments Interface or UPI, the passengers just scan a QR code to pay for their tickets. The process is fast, secure and very convenient for everyone involved. This also eliminates the need to carry small change often needed when paying for tickets. If this is replicated on a wider scale, it would make payment easier and quicker and remove the need to carry cash.

Thus, we can conclude that information technology can make just about everything much more efficient making passenger journey more comfortable and efficient and allowing the people in charge to provide better service and increase the overall efficiency.

Do provide your views in the comments below. Especially if you think there are more ways information technology can make things better for public transport.