BMTC`s satellite tracking system goes off-track

At a time when navigation toolmakers are busy speaking of the global positioning system (GPS) technology and its future in the Indian market, the state-owned Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has some sour news to share.

It has posted a loss of Rs 1.42 crore after its experiments with the on-line and off-line tracking of buses over GPS failed — a pointer to how the marriage of technology and commerce can go terribly wrong because of a lack of foresight and faulty planning.

According to the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)-2007, the BMTC failed with GPS because it had not made a thorough analysis of the limitations of the system before implementing the technology.

The BMTC implemented the off-line vehicle tracking system using GPS in March 1999 in technical collaboration with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to monitor trip operations of buses hired from private operators and automatically calculating hire charges according to the kilometre covered on a daily basis. GPS units were installed on 200 buses.

But data collection turned out to be a cumbersome process, as it required personnel to physically go to each bus and download the data.

“In the absence of the provision for automatic generation of reports, a large number of staff was required to analyse data and prepare reports, which took two-three days. Such delayed information was far from useful as it was not available on a real-time basis for taking corrective action,” the CAG stated. In 2003, the BMTC decided to scrap the off-line system, resulting in the wastage of Rs 79.50 lakh.

Subsequently, the BMTC switched over to on-line vehicle tracking system designed to track the movement of a bus via satellite through the radio frequency signals from the on-bus transmitter unit. The captured data was to be sent to the control centre using GSM technology at an interval of 10 seconds.

The BMTC issued a letter of intent in February 2004 in favour of Arya Omnitalk Wireless Solutions Limited (AOTWSL), Bangalore, for installing on-line GPS technology on 2,000 buses at the rate of Rs 1,102 per bus per month for a period of five years. But the implementation of technology was easier said than done.

The CAG explained: “The GPS tracking facility was reported to have inherent limitations like a loss of connectivity due to selective availability of satellite constellation; buses not being in the direct and unobstructed line of sight with the satellite as large parts of the travel paths had dense tree covers, flyovers and bridges; between a cluster of high-rise buildings or while buses were parked under a shelter.”

Apart for these, technical problems like jamming of communication lines due to overload and cellular service not being available in the mofussil areas had resulted in disruption in service.

“Tracking data had not been continuos on many occasions and there were many gaps in the trip data,” the CAG said.

Moreover, the BMTC had filed to fix a time-frame for ensuring timely intimation of schedules and trips to the service provider of the on-line tracking system.

As a result, the tracked data could not be linked to schedules online and monitoring of deviations in operations could not be done on a real-time basis, the CAG observed and added that the failure to utilise the technology has cost the exchequer Rs 62.78 lakh so far.

BMTC officials, who did not want to be named, said: “We were the first state transport corporation in the country to experiment with GPS technology. It has taught us many lessons and we are improving upon the system.”