One of the prominent features bus travel is the blowing of the whistle by the bus conductor, with each bus conductor pefecting their own style of using the whistle. Very soon however, commuters travelling on public buses in Tamil Nadu, will hear a digital sound in place of the whistle they are now used to hearing.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been forcing transport authorities to minimise physical interaction, and migrate to digital payments. Now, in order to avoid the use of whistles -- through which the virus could potentially spread -- transport authorities have switched to wireless alarms.
The State Transport Corporation in Villupuram has distributed sensor-based wireless alarms for more than five buses, and these are being used on a trial basis in some routes towards Salem and Namakkal.
A senior official of STC Villupuram said, as the COVID-19 virus mainly spreads through the mouth and nose and the wearing of masks has become mandatory, the conductors were finding it difficult to use the whistle. So it was proposed to use remote-controlled alarm bells instead of the whistle. In this system, the conductor would have the switch and the wireless alarm bell would be placed in the driver cabin. Whenever the conductor wants to stop the bus he/she would press the switch and the buzzer in the driver cabin would sound out.
The remote-controlled alarm bell system is being tried out on a trial basis in a few buses and has been getting positive reviews from the bus crew.
The official said the wireless alarm comes with a switch and a battery-powered bell that could be charged using a mobile phone charger. The switch of the alarm bell uses a small battery.