No monitoring makes KSRTC a lax service

Thiruvananthapuram: A study says the decision of the KSRTC to discontinue the practice of fitting tachographs for monitoring timings and speed has reduced the punctuality of its services. This practice was abandoned as it was expensive.

A tachograph is a device fitted to a vehicle that automatically records its speed and distance, together with the driver's activity, selected from a choice of modes. The drive mode is activated automatically when the vehicle is in motion.

The study conducted by Thomas Mathew under the internship programme of the Kerala State Planning Board, however, said that new and sophisticated technology was available now at affordable costs.

The study pointed out that buses with Global Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) would help in navigation and accurate tracking as they send real-time updates about the buses in every 15 seconds.

The KSRTC is planning three major initiatives under its new IT implementation plans - GPS based bus tracking of buses, real time information on ticket sales and passenger information system.

The study pointed out that the number of breakdowns per lakh km in KSRTC was around six while that of neighbouring Karnataka SRTC and Banglore MTC was less than one. Though, there are only 172 buses per 10 lakh population in the state, the fleet utilisation as of March 2012 is only 82.7 per cent when the national average is 90.4 per cent.