The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will install Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) technology in 50 buses under a pilot project intended to improve passenger and road safety by monitoring driver behaviour and warning of potential hazards in real time.
BMTC has recently called a tender for the pilot, under which the selected agency will install, operate and maintain the complete system for two years from the date of Go-Live. The corporation will use a rental model rather than purchasing the equipment outright, with the successful bidder paid an all-inclusive monthly charge for each bus.
The proposed ADAS installation will include a road-facing camera, a driver-facing Driver Monitoring System camera, two side cameras, sensors, an on-board controller and edge-computing unit, storage, software, connectivity and other equipment. The system will also include a backend, central dashboard, hosting, licences, maintenance, repairs, replacements and technical support.
According to BMTC officials, the technology will be capable of detecting driver drowsiness, distraction, mobile-phone use and smoking. The road-facing system will identify risks including forward collisions, lane departures and possible pedestrian collisions. When a safety event is detected, the system is expected to issue a real-time warning to the driver.
A senior BMTC official said the project would “enhance passenger and road safety by monitoring driver alertness and behaviour, and by providing real-time driving-assistance warnings”. The system will also be integrated with a central backend and dashboard, allowing BMTC officials to monitor safety events and access information generated by the equipment installed in the buses.
The tender provides for integration with BMTC’s existing systems through application programming interfaces wherever the required interfaces and data are made available by the corporation. This will allow safety-related information from the pilot buses to be accessed through BMTC’s operational technology systems, subject to the integration arrangements specified in the tender.
BMTC had previously seen similar ADAS technology installed in 10 buses in 2023. However, a senior official clarified that the earlier installation was part of a corporate social responsibility initiative by a private company and was not a BMTC project. The buses had been provided to the company for the installation.
The current initiative is the first time BMTC is taking up ADAS as its own pilot project. Officials said the corporation would assess the system’s effectiveness after the pilot before deciding whether to expand its deployment to more buses. The tender’s two-year operations and maintenance period will therefore cover the performance of the technology as well as the support required to keep the installations operational.
