In recent years, Odisha has done some commendable works when it comes to ensuring road safety, through various technological advances and a better transportation system for the public. From using technology for investigating road safety to the launching of E-buses, the state, which was once struggling to reduce the number of road accidents, is now showing the path to others. This has been made possible under the leadership of Transport Commissioner Arun Bothra, IPS, who is also the Managing Director of the Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT).
Indian Masterminds talked to Joint Commissioner, Road Safety, Odisha, Sanjay Biswal, to get more details about the apps for accident investigation and the famous MO Bus initiative.
MO BUS INITIATIVE
Mo Bus services were rolled out as a part of state government-owned Capital Region Urban Transport’s ‘City Bus Modernisation’ program in 2018. The idea behind it was to ensure transformation of the urban public transport scenario through the use of smart technology, establishing service benchmarks, and customer satisfaction. With a fleet of 200 buses, MO Bus emerged as brand in a short span of time.
Recently, 25 E-buses have been added to the existing fleet of Mo Bus to give a push to clean mobility in the public transport system. “The electric buses will help reduce pollution levels. Introduction of Zero Emission E-Buses, which will ply under the brand name of Mo Bus, will together promote Green Mobility and pave way for a sustainable future in Odisha Capital region,” said Mr. Biswal.
These MO Buses feature various technology-driven systems like free Wi-Fi, CCTV surveillance, GPS, public information display system and on-board announcement facility. Passengers are provided with newspapers on their ride along with other services, and they can also avail information regarding locations of the bus and minimise their waiting time through the ‘Mo Bus’ mobile app on smartphones.
This initiative has been awarded nationally as well as on international platforms. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs conferred it the Best City Bus Service Project. The United Nations also appreciated the project and recognised its role in “promoting gender-responsive public services to achieve the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).
INTEGRATED ROAD ACCIDENT DATABASE
Not confining to improving urban mobility, the state government has also been complying with technology for the investigation of road accidents. In 90% of cases, the reason for the accident is said to be negligence of the driver which is not correct on various fronts. To know the real reasons and do analysis of accidents, a scientific database is required. For this, an App called Integrated Road Accident Database (IRAD) was launched in August 2021 in five districts as pilot. Today, all the 35 RTOs and 30 districts are using this.
Explaining it, Mr. Biswal said, “Finding the correct reasons is important so that measures could be taken to stop accidents and save lives. Until recently, the investigation officers were manually collecting data to even identify the spot of the accident. With the help of the app, this can be done in a more scientific and correct way. For example, we need the latitude and longitude of the area to find the spot of accident. In the app, one can enter the real-time data along with GPS and other information. The app then identifies the exact spot. Eventually, it leads to identification of real reasons of the accident.”
Till now, only 1000 plus cases have been entered on the app. The department is focusing on 100% entry of cases so that pertinent measures can be taken based on the findings.
