Surojit D’Rozario, System Administrator-I, KMRCL
Enterprises in the transportation industry are increasingly turning to information technology (IT) solutions to bring in efficiency in their operations. These solutions have enabled them to meet signalling requirements, maintain passenger records and track vehicles on a real-time basis. Officials from leading enterprises in this space discuss their IT strategies, deployment challenges and future plans…
What role are IT and telecom solutions playing in the transportation industry? How are enterprises in the sector undertaking digitalisation?
Improvements in communication technologies have made a significant impact on the urban public transport industry. To this end, automatic data collection solutions including automatic fare collection (AFC) systems, automatic vehicle location systems, automatic passenger counting systems, advanced passenger information systems, and electronic fare payment and ticketing systems have become an essential part of the transportation industry. This is because these solutions help in providing ubiquitous connectivity and controlled services. Further, they help in ensuring the availability of information for service and operations planning, and measuring the resultant service quality delivered to passengers. Seamless mobility between various transportation systems has become possible due to the integration of these services through a common mobility backbone. Organisations in the transportation industry have adopted IT and telecom solutions and integrated them at the core of their services. Application-based taxi services like Ola and Uber as well as state transportation buses are now being tracked on a real-time basis. We have progressed from physical queues to online platforms for booking tickets for almost all types of transportation services. While the impact of these solutions has already become apparent in many transportation systems, there is still potential for a much deeper impact in the future.
What are some of the IT, telecom, enterprise and mobility solutions used by your organisation? How have they helped in enhancing business performance and efficiency?
We plan to soon establish a completely computerised state-of-the-art ticketing system for Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL). The existing AFC system would be integrated with our website for online recharging of metro cards. We also plan to implement an AFC system using different fare mediums to meet the operational requirements of KMRCL. This system would be capable of integrating with other modes of transportation available in the city. The fare mechanism would also comply with the National Common Mobility Card system being implemented in India. The main objective of this initiative is to have a single medium for fare collection by various operators such as the North-South Metro, suburban railways and buses. KMRCL’s corporate office would also be equipped with the best enterprise resource planning (ERP)-based solution to manage the financial needs of the organisation.
What are the challenges faced in managing IT and telecom infrastructure, and deploying new technologies?
The biggest challenge faced by organisations in the metro rail domain relates to the adoption and deployment of latest technologies as the gestation period of metro rail projects is generally three to four years. Therefore, it is difficult to keep pace with the ever-changing technologies, ranging from train control systems to fare collection systems.
What is the scope of big data analytics, cloud and IoT technologies in the transportation industry? Is your company using/planning to use any of these technologies?
Big data analytics plays an important role in mass transit systems. The role varies from analysing data at the design stage to predicting the peak load at various stations and fine-tuning the frequency of services to optimise the load per trip.
What are the key IT and telecom trends that the transportation industry is likely to witness going forward?
Technology will continue to improve operations in the industry and offer ample opportunities to develop and apply ambitious models to improve the performance of public transport systems. Further, public transport systems may be able to take advantage of improved information and better communication between operating personnel, agency managers and passengers. We would also witness seamless integration of all forms of transportation services. Personal devices like mobile phones would replace smart cards and paper tickets. Going forward, real-time tracking and artificial intelligence-enabled networks will make travel smoother and faster.
