Launch of Garudan, smart bus punching system in Greater Kochi area, held up indefinitely

The launch of Garudan — an AI-ready smart bus punching, compliance monitoring and road-safety enforcement system in the Greater Kochi area has been indefinitely held up, due to delay in fine tuning technical issues and the bus operators allegedly being on different pages on mobilising funds to operate and maintain the system.

The smart punching system that was aimed at curbing reckless driving and over speeding by private buses in the city and its suburbs, was slated to be launched in August as a joint initiative of Kochi City Traffic Police and the Kochi City Bus Monitoring Committee. The body comprises of the operators of approximately 1,500 city and mofussil private buses that operate in the city, suburban towns and nearby districts.

“Under the project, a network of radio-frequency identification (RFID)-based smart bus-punching stations was to be readied at a dozen strategic locations in the Greater Kochi area, to digitally monitor bus operations, route compliance, and schedule adherence in real time. The real time punching by scanning of the QR code at each such station by bus crew, was to be compared to actual bus movements against approved schedules and operational parameters, enabling route-wise and bus-wise monitoring. This would help detect delays, early departures, missed punches, route violations, and the skipping of trips,” said a senior traffic police official who is associated with the initiative.

The smart punching stations project was to have RFID-based punching devices, surveillance support, server infrastructure, centralised monitoring dashboards and automated alerts. These were to provide digital evidence to the Kerala Police, the Motor Vehicles’ Department, the District Road Safety Council and the other agencies concerned. Its aim was to usher in improved reliability of public transport buses by adherence to time schedule and safe driving, while at the same time holding bus operators and crew accountable for unsafe driving practices and the unhealthy competition between buses, he added.

While the system was to be operated by the bus operators’ association, the police was to supervise it.

The secretary of the bus monitoring committee Navas K.M., who is also a bus owner, attributed the reckless driving by a section of bus operators to the withdrawal of time-punching cabins from different parts of the city about 15 years ago.

“In the proposed smart punching system, bus crew could either tap the QR code or swipe their card at the punching devices that would shortly be installed at Vyttila, Menaka, Kaloor, Ravipuram, Edapally, Kalamassery, Madavana, Vypin, Pettah, Thevara, Thopumpady and at Tripunithura,” he said.

In the proposed system, buses that arrived early at a punching station were to remit fine, it is learnt.

A bus operator attributed the delay in launching the system to a dispute over a sum of ₹3.8 lakh that remained in the account of the previous bus monitoring committee. “The balance ₹10 lakh needed for the project is expected to be raised as CSR funds. The amount is needed for the operation and maintenance of the smart punching units at the different locations.” he said.