Bengaluru: Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is turning to technology to make its buses move safely on the city’s increasingly crowded roads and, at the same time, get a clearer picture of how passengers use its services. The corporation has floated tenders for two new systems — advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in 50 diesel buses and automatic passenger-counting (APC) systems in another 30 buses.The two systems aim to address different challenges. While ADAS will act as an additional safety layer for drivers, APC will help BMTC understand passenger movement and analyse ridership patterns on its buses.Under the ADAS project, cameras and sensors will continuously monitor the road and driver. A forward-facing camera will warn the driver about possible collisions and lane departures, and alert them to maintain a safe distance from the vehicle ahead and pedestrians. Two side cameras will monitor areas alongside the bus and help address blind spots.An inward-facing driver monitoring system will watch for signs of fatigue and distraction, including drowsiness, mobile phone use and smoking. When an unsafe situation is detected, the system will issue audio-visual alerts in Kannada and English.A BMTC source said installation of ADAS in 50 buses is planned as a trial to study the system before further decisions are taken. “The system detects vulnerable road users and blind spots, helping prevent frontal and turning collisions. It also alerts when the driver is distracted. With 50 buses, we plan to conduct a trial, study its performance and work on the technical specifications before taking further decisions,” the source said.BMTC has around 7,000 buses, including nearly 1,700 electric buses. The official said in future, when more e-buses are inducted, ADAS could be made part of the bus specifications.The APC system is also planned on a trial basis. It will be installed in 30 buses and use ceiling-mounted stereovision cameras at passenger doors. The cameras create a 3D view of the counting zone and automatically count passengers entering and leaving the bus. BMTC has mandated at least 95% counting accuracy during commissioning. APC data will be compared with ETM (electronic ticketing machine) passenger data, including students and pass holders, helping the corporation build more reliable passenger estimates.The official said the APC system would help BMTC monitor passenger occupancy, check buses through line-checking staff and track passenger movement in real time. “Integration with validators and ETMs will help us know how many passengers have purchased tickets and how many have not. Such a system has been introduced in Pune,” the official said.
