KSRTC sees big opportunity in telematics, automation

The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is seeing immense potential in automation and telematics being integrated into its fleet of buses, in a bid to make public transportation more seamless and innovative.

KSRTC, which has 24,000 buses in its fleet, including ordinary vehicles all the way up to state-of-the-art multi-axle machines. The corporation has installed telematic solutions in 2,400 buses already, and roughly, around 1,500-2,000 buses in entire state of Karnataka, are being replaced across the four sub-corporations.

“In India, public transportation must be encouraged. Cities are coming up, along with rapid growth, and we must not miss introducing good innovations and public transport to people. Innovations in safety, comfort and reliability must be developed,” KSRTC Managing Director Rajendra Kataria told the gathering at the fifth international conference and exhibition ‘Telematics India 2015’ in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

“KSRTC is open to change, and introducing new technologies. In fact, we are fitting telematics on all our buses, including the ordinary ones. We have taken a decision that no bus will be left without telematics,” Kataria told Deccan Herald, on the sidelines. Telematics refers to the use of wireless devices and ‘black box’ technologies to transmit data in real time back to an organisation.