New York Will Use Drones To Monitor Bus Activities Real-time

Illustration of the use of drones for bus monitoring (photo: dock. Pixabay)

JAKARTA Last August, the New York police revealed plans to use drones to monitor crime. Now, drones will also be used to monitor bus activity in the city.

This plan comes from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a company developed by the government for the benefit of the state. New York City has more than 6,000 buses operating every day making it difficult to monitor.

Therefore, MTA will utilize technologies such as drones to monitor thousands of buses in New York. Later, the drone can create a real-time bus location map to increase operational efficiency while improving the tracking system.

The Department of Buses in MTA has issued the Information Government (RFI) to the drone provider on how the technology can be used as a real-time bus tracking device. The RFI submission is open until 18 December.

It is not yet known who the selected vendor will be. However, MTA has revealed the estimated schedule for the trial, which is early next year. If the testing phase operates, the residents of New York City may see drones operating efficiently in the air.

Many support this plan and say that drones can assist the government in advancing urban public transportation. However, there are also those who are worried about this plan, such as the Transportation Workers Union (TWU) in the city.

Union leaders, citing from DroneDJ, argue that this initiative is only unnecessary spending. Instead of spending money for drone purposes, the TWU leader stated that drone project funding is better used to solve more pressing issues.