MVD set to track transport vehicles

Transport vehicles, including the 15,000-odd private buses and inter-State vehicles carrying inflammable petroleum products plying through the roads of the State, will be monitored on a real-time basis soon by the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD).

The GPS-based vehicle tracking system with camera facilities is to be rolled out initially for educational institution buses. “We are planning to launch it in August after the educational institutions reopen after Onam,” Transport Commissioner K. Padmakumar told The Hindu on Friday.

A master control room for tracking transport vehicles for enforcement has been set up at Trans Towers at Vazhuthacaud here where the Transport Commissionerate functions. A total of 17 mini-control rooms, in the offices of all the Regional Transport Officers (RTOs) in all the 14 district headquarters, areo ready for tracking the vehicles.

The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) has executed the ₹6.42-crore work for the MVD after it was selected as the technical consultant-cum-service provider by the government. The application had been rolled out successfully by C-DAC after developing roadmap platforms.

The map data of the 3-lakh-km road network was procured by C-DAC from Map my India at a cost of ₹1.27 crore as it provides accuracy of 10 metres, tile version, and the swiftness needed.

New software

The software of the MVD had been changed at a cost of ₹47.50 lakh to implement the GPS-based vehicle monitoring system, Joint Transport Commissioner Rajeev Puthalath said. The owners of the transport vehicles will have to purchase the vehicle- tracking gadget. A dozen manufacturers will be shortlisted by the MVD, based on those who meet the prescribed standards set by C-DAC.

The vehicle-tracking unit installed in each vehicle and the 20-second pulse generated from it will be tagged and certified by the MVD. The inputs will first reach the common database here and then will be handed over to the RTOs for monitoring.

With the facility going live, the Joint Transport Commissioner said the MVD would be able to know the location, speed, and direction of the vehicles. Time enforcement, a vexed issue for private buses, can be further tightened. Through geofencing, speeding can be checked and speed restrictions enforced in front of schools and hospitals.