Public transport vehicles in Bihar to have location tracking devices

• 30 Jul 2022

Why in news?

• On July 28, 2022, the Transport Department of Bihar issued an order to install Vehicle Location Tracking Devices (VLTDs) and emergency buttons in public transport vehicles.

Key Point

• The Transport Department of Bihar has made it mandatory following a directive from the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Along with this, instructions have also been issued to install panic buttons in school buses for the safety of school students.
• As per the order issued by the Transport Department, it has become mandatory to install VLTD and emergency buttons in all public transport trains registered before January, 2019.
• By August, it will also be made mandatory for all private buses to have VLTD and emergency buttons.
• Three agencies have been selected for this equipment to be installed in the trains for the safety of women.
• It may be recalled that the transport department had inaugurated the Command and Control Centre a few months ago, from where all the trains of public transport (bus, cab, taxi) will be monitored.
• If women or girls travelling in public vehicles press the emergency button in view of the danger, an alarm will sound in the control and command center, after which the police will immediately reach for help.
• Apart from this, the Command and Control Centre will also receive alerts if emergency alerts, over speeds and equipment is tampered with or broken. With the help of this, the command and control center will also get real-time information of the location of the vehicle. Vehicle owners can also find out the real-time status of their vehicles with the help of this software.