
PMPML buses to have AI-enabled cams by July
Pune: The
Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited
(PMPML) has planned to install artificial intelligence (AI) enabled CCTV cameras in all its buses, senior officials told TOI.
With this step, PMPML becomes one among the first public transport bodies in the country to have AI cameras on its fleet.
"A study to check the feasibility about the project was on and the results have been positive. Now we will float tenders. Within a month, we expect all the buses to have four such cameras each. The buses will include PMPML-owned and the ones operated by the private contractors," Nitin Narvekar, the joint managing director with the transport body, told TOI.
The official said the purpose of installing these cameras was to ensure safety and to enhance the services.
"One of the cameras will be placed in the driver's cabin and will focus mainly on the driver, his activities and his way of driving. There are complaints off and on about the casual attitude of drivers when on the job. The camera will record the same and relay pictures and videos to us at the control room," Narvekar said.
Two other cameras will come up above the BRT doors of the buses on either side while the last camera will be at the back of the bus.
"The AI cameras will do a head count of passengers at every stage during the trip. By this, we can calculate the total earning from that trip and find out if the numbers are matching or not. There have been instances of ticketless passengers in the bus and because of which the conductor cannot keep a tab always," the official pointed out.
"Presently we have a rough idea on the number of females and males each bus carries. The ratio is 60:40 (males vs females).
However, with these cameras, the PMPML would know the exact ratio on the routes. It would help us plan better, especially where the female passengers are high," the official added further.
Commuters said basics needed to be catered to first. "I have no problem with the cameras, but when will the PMPML first control the breakdowns and ensure that buses ply on the right time? For commuters, these two issues are the most important," Siddharth Walkar, a Shivaji Road resident and frequent commuter said.
FOR ROBUST SAFETY WHILE TRAVEL
The PMPML plans to deploy artificial intelligence-enabled cameras on all the buses under it
Each bus will have 4 such cameras to ensure secure travel experience
The cameras will record the driver's behavior, any misbehave ticketless passengers and count the passengers
It will help the transport utility in matching daily earning, route optimization and planning
A study to check the feasibility about the project was on and the results have been positive. Now we will float tenders. Within a month, we expect all the buses to have four such cameras each. The buses will include PMPML-owned and the ones operated by the private contractors
Nitin Narvekar | joint managing director of PMPML

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Time of India
34 minutes ago
- Time of India
Musk's Starlink finally gets government licence to launch satcom services
NEW DELH: A local factory for Tesla's electric cars may be some time away, but 's satellite communications venture Starlink has finally received a go-ahead from govt to launch services in the country. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Starlink got approval for three licences - Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS), Commercial Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT), and Internet Service Provider (ISP) - which will enable the company launch a slew of satellite-based communication services in India, ranging from consumer to enterprise internet solutions. TOI was the first to report in its June 4 editions that the govt has decided to approve Starlink's licence applications, which had been pending for the past three-four years, after the company agreed to abide by security and other requisite conditions. Starlink, which becomes the third telecom company to receive the GMPCS licence after Bharti group-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio SES, is expected to get trial spectrum over the coming weeks. However, the company is not likely to launch consumer and enterprise services any time soon, since none of the satcom licence holders have been allotted spectrum yet. Recommendations regarding the method of administrative allocation of satcom spectrum, as well as the charges, have been submitted by regulator Trai to govt, but no final decision has been taken on the matter. Starlink will also have to put the ground infrastructure within India to correspond with its satellites and enable communication services. "This will take months to build, and will require approvals from security agencies," sources said. Starlink operates a constellation of Low-Earth Orbit satellites that are positioned around 550 km above the earth and closer than traditional geostationary satellites.


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
YouTube down: Thousands globally facing issues with streaming videos
Thousands of users globally are currently experiencing issues with YouTube. Users have reported facing issues with loading videos from both the app and website. The problem is reportedly affecting streaming videos via both the YouTube app and website. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now According to outage tracking site DownDetector, thousands of users across regions, including the US, UK, and Indian, have complained of facing issues with the Google-owned video streaming platform. In the US, over 5,000 reports concerning the platform's accessibility were registered on Downdetector. Meanwhile, in the UK and India, over 1800 and 360 users have raised complaints with YouTube, respectively. The majority of these reports specifically cited issues with video streaming on the website. How the YouTube outage is affecting users In the US, 79% and 3% of users complained facing issues with the website and the app, respectively. 18% of users reported problems with streaming videos on the platform. In the UK, 78% and 2% of users faced problems with the YouTube website and app, respectively, while 20% raised issues about being unable to stream videos on the platform. Meanwhile, in India, 68% and 5% of YouTube users faced issues with the website and the app, respectively, while 27% faced problems with streaming videos. A map on Downdetector also showed that the latest YouTube outage is affecting users all across the US, UK and India. Several users also took to the social media platform X to report facing issues with the video streaming apps. Here are screenshots of some of those posts:


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Starlink becomes latest entrant to get a satcom licence in India
Starlink has become the latest entrant to get a satcom licence in India, becoming the third player after Eutelsat-OneWeb and Jio-SES combine to offer commercial services in India. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued the Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) permit to the Elon Musk-owned company and trial spectrum too will be issued to it in coming days. Once the spectrum is allocated, the company has to demonstrate all the compliances to the government, including the security conditions. The US major, however, needs to get the approval from space regulator Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe). The company had already provided all the details needed to get this clearance, but the nod is yet to be given. The launch of commercial services depends on the company successfully demonstrating the compliance of security conditions. The DoT is finalising the pricing and rules for satcom spectrum allocation after receiving recommendations from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). The regulator had recommended administrative allocation of satcom spectrum for a fee pegged at 4% of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) to be assigned for five years. Satcom companies offering services in urban areas would have to shell out Rs 500 per subscriber annually, but nothing for rural users. However, there won't be any upfront charge or allocation price for satellite spectrum. The telcos have termed the prices as unjustifiably low but the calls for a reconsideration have been rejected by the regulator.