The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) plans to develop an artificial intelligence-based bus management system with IIT Kanpur’s AIRAWAT Research Foundation, aiming to organise bus operations, automate workforce and ticketing processes, and improve the use of its growing fleet.
The proposed system will use AI and machine learning to prepare bus duty charts, manage employee salaries, process complaints and monitor ticketing operations, according to officials cited in a report by Jagran. A meeting was held to discuss the proposed collaboration and its implementation aspects.
The new platform is expected to cover both CNG and cluster buses, which are currently being operated through older software systems. It will include arrangements for issuing and tracking electronic ticketing machines (ETMs), assigning them to buses and staff, and monitoring their use at depots.
Under the proposed system, ETMs would be linked to the bus, driver and conductor according to the depot and duty assigned. The system would maintain records of the machines’ return, condition and usage. It would also integrate ticket revenue data to enable monitoring and reconciliation, reducing dependence on manual processes.
The platform is also expected to support operational changes during the day. If the traffic police make real-time changes to a route, the system would be able to prepare a revised bus schedule. The report did not specify the technology architecture, deployment timeline or the number of routes and depots that would initially be covered.
Electric-bus operations are another proposed application. AI would be used to improve charging management and support more effective deployment of available electric buses. This is significant for a fleet that already includes a large electric-bus component, although the report does not provide details of the charging data or operational parameters that would be used by the system.
DTC currently has around 6,269 buses, including approximately 4,500 electric buses, operating from 52 depots, according to the report. The corporation therefore needs to coordinate buses, drivers, conductors, ticketing equipment, depots and charging facilities across a large operational network.
The proposed digital system comes as Delhi targets a substantial expansion of its public bus network. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has stated a goal of increasing the city’s bus fleet to 14,000 and the number of bus depots to 90 by 2028-29. The planned expansion would increase the volume of operational data and coordination required by the transport authority.
For passengers, the proposed changes could affect the consistency of bus schedules, route adjustments and service management. However, the report does not establish when the system will become operational, whether it will be introduced in phases or how its performance will be assessed.
The next steps are expected to involve further discussions between DTC and IIT Kanpur’s AIRAWAT Research Foundation on the scope and design of the collaboration. No formal launch date for the AI-based management system was reported.
