MTC to soon launch upgraded version of Chennai Bus app

The Hindu

4 days ago

The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) will be launching a new and upgraded version of the Chennai Bus app in one month, and final testing work for this, is under progress. The Chennai Bus app was launched to help bus commuters get real time data of the arrival and departure of the buses in the hundreds of routes being operated in the city.
A senior official of the MTC said the present Chennai Bus app would be replaced with an advanced 2.0 version making it even more efficient and convenient for commuters to identify their designated buses in real time via mobile phones. The upgraded version would be available on both the Android and iOS platforms.
At present a number of commuters have been complaining about the schedule going awry with some of the buses, despite being installed with GPS, but not reflecting in either the route or the bus movement on the app. To overcome this issue the MTC which had launched the bus application earlier in the Chalo Bus app before migrating to the Chennai bus app in 2022 on the Android platform which was finally released in the iOS platform in 2024.
As part of the modernisation effort the MTC has computerised the scheduling of buses in depots, relaying of bus data in the app in real time and was creating infrastructure facilities by installing digital display boards in important bus stops for commuters to know the arrivals and departures of the buses.
S. Rajasekar, a social activist from Ambattur, complained that some buses in every fleet of MTC were not trackable on Chalo or the Chennai Bus app even though all buses have GPS trackers installed. Also some of the small buses, which were launched recently, are not showing in the app, he added.
To overcome this particular issue the MTC is going for installing new high quality GPS machines in the entire fleet of 3,400 buses by replacing the old GPS machines, which have accuracy issues, causing the buses to not shown in the app in real time. The GPS machines were installed by the company involved in creating the Chalo bus app.
T. Murugan, who uses the Chennai bus app, also urges the MTC to allow purchasing of tickets through the app similar to the UTS app of southern Railway through QR code system.
To help commuters waiting at the bus stands by providing details of buses arriving and departing, the MTC has started installing light emitting diode (LED) boards at the bus stands. The LED boards which will be linked to the online server of the bus app will be providing real time data for the commuters not having the app.
The senior MTC official said the LED boards would display information such as the estimated time of arrival, estimated time of departure, bus route number, destinations, speed and also alert any accidents. At present the MTC has installed in more than 18 places of important bus stops including Chintadripet, Broadway, Central and Nungambakkam. The MTC has plans to install LED boards in a total of 616 locations comprising 500 bus stops and in 71 main terminals.