JOIN US Moving one step closer to its poll promise of providing free internet across Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party government on Wednesday launched free Wi-Fi services in six DTC buses.
The buses with the Wi-Fi facility will run on six different routes and the details on using the service will be pasted on the back of each seat.
The project will run on trial basis till January 15, following which the government will float a tender for the same for the entire Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) fleet, Transport Minister Gopal Rai said.
Till January 15, the commuter will be able to use the service for 10 minutes at a speed of 1 mbps after requesting a One Time Password (OTP) on his phone.
The six buses will also have three CCTVs – at the rear and back and one facing towards the driver – each and Global Positioning System (GPS) installed for women safety.
The routes are, ISBT-Airport bus service (DL1PC 9946), Mudrika Sewa (DL1PC 8705), Outer Mudrika (DL10C 7451), route number 120 (DL10C 0348), route number 764 (DL1PC 3205) and route number 781 (DL1PC 3206).
The government has tied up with Airtel, Reliance, and Bhumi Entek which have been given two buses each. The companies will submit a ‘Proof of Concept’ after January 15, following which a tender will be floated. The minister said that entire Delhi will be provided free Wi-Fi service by March next year.
While the CCTVs will provide live feed from the bus, the GPS will monitor the real time location. The data from both will be stored by respective DTC depots and DIMTS in case of cluster buses.
“We had promised free Wi-Fi and complete safety for women in the city. This is the first step towards fulfilling that. The feed from the CCTVs will be shared with the police and other agencies, as and when required,” Rai said.
He also urged the commuters to share their feedback via email at aamaadmiwifi@gmail.com or on twitter using #aamaadmiwifi as the handle.
Rai also launched a Whatsapp number (8130344141), in case commuters face any problem in using Wi-Fi or if they want to lodge any complaint against the bus driver, conductor or report any other incident.
The government had earlier installed CCTV cameras in 200 cluster buses. However, Rai said that from now on, the three services – Wi-Fi, CCTVs, and GPS – will be installed in the buses together to make the project cost-effective.