Rs160 crore transport push: how one AI trial convinced Nagpur’s civic body

Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) transport department is running at a steep loss on its bus operations, and the numbers approved by the transport committee this week show why. Ticket sales brought in Rs 8.32 crore in April and Rs 8.28 crore in May, while expenditure over the same two months stood at Rs 20.95 crore and Rs 20.52 crore, respectively, a gap the committee is now trying to close with a Rs 160-crore transport fund it cleared at Tuesday’s meeting.

Part of the case for that spending rested on the results of a smaller pilot: an artificial intelligence system tested on five Aapli Buses that counted passengers boarding and alighting with 97% accuracy. “The data generated through the trial was 97% accurate and will help the department improve operational efficiency and boost revenue,” said transport committee chairperson Mangala Khekre, who pushed the finding as evidence the department can plan revenue and routes more precisely going forward.

On the back of that result, the committee approved a Project Advisory Committee to oversee a broader implementation of the AI system, effectively turning a five-bus test into department policy.

The committee also moved to control costs elsewhere in the fleet, clearing a plan to convert 150 midi buses and 45 minibuses to CNG. Khekre said the entire conversion cost would be borne by the bus operator under a five-year agreement, meaning no direct financial burden on NMC itself.

Revenue-side reform featured too: NMC will issue a fresh tender for maintenance and advertising rights on its bus shelters, after the existing contractor failed to grow the civic body’s revenue despite operating under the same rates for roughly a decade. The committee separately approved operating 91 buses across seven routes in the Nagpur Metropolitan Region Development Authority area.

[Source: Times of India] Image: Wikimedia Commons/by Rsrikanth05