Buses transport the most precious & priceless human life on an everyday basis. Buses are an integral mode of transportation and they are broadly classified based on their purpose and usage on the Indian road as

          -Intra-city Public transport buses

          -Inter-city public transport buses

          -Employee Transit buses

          -Educational Institution buses 

Each of these buses require different driving dynamics and each of these drivers face different challenges from traffic, length of journey and terrain.

The bus drivers transporting these many human lives need to follow the advanced safety and defensive driving techniques. The simulator is curated based on the specific needs/challenges faced by the profile of these drivers. 

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         - INTRA CITY PUBLIC TRANSPORT BUSES – A city bus driver transports passengers in a predefined route stopping in designated points, within a time duration. 

To move ahead in a city traffic, there are multiple actions to coordinate - Signals, unruly traffic, pedestrians, animals, improper road infrastructure and multiple stops leading to continuous usage of ABC and gear. The vehicle is mostly engaged in a low gear resulting in a very high APM*.

 

Higher APM* leads to a stressed out frame of mind which directly impacts the swiftness of the reflex and a slight delay in reflex can cause a major accident.

 

Training mainly focuses on altering the driving behavior with defensive driving practices and also to train the reflex on various potential accident scenarios.

 

 

          -INTER CITY PUBLIC TRANSPORT BUSES – An inter-city or an inter-state bus driver has to transport passengers through a long journey route, traveling through both city and highway terrains at all times of the day and night. 

 

The bus is always engaged in high gear for most part of the journey and the driver seldom faces peak traffic in a highway terrain owing to which his APM is optimal. Although there is a time duration for this journey, the stress and subsequent body fatigue occurs due to the length of the journey with limited stops especially during night driving where the driver and conductor are only awake. 

 

Highway driving for long distances causes a monotony to set in the journey. A dangerous result is the lessening of quick reaction senses in case of a potential accident causing situation. A highway driver has an alarmingly low TTR of hardly less than 3 seconds within which he should have made a safe action. This TTR becomes even lower based on climatic conditions and terrain difficulties. This kind of bus simulator training module will incorporate the above challenges to the near real potential and aim to help drivers become self-aware of tackling such situations sensibly and safely
 

          -EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION TRANSPORT BUSES – Time is a major point of focus for the drivers plying the school and college transit buses. These drivers have a fixed route, fixed stop and are timed to drive on roads during peak office time traffic in the mornings.

Their evening drop drives are also rushed out as they face an innate stress to also be back home in time.

Students’ movement and conversations are major distractions and the driver faces these many challenges. Drivers of these buses face all types of roads – streets, colonies, main roads, highways sometimes and even service lanes during the span of one journey.

Simulator training for this profile of drivers majorly concentrates on preparing for distracted driving, maneuvering different roads all while being under time pressure.

 

           -EMPLOYEE TRANSIT BUSES – It is an established fact as a rule from corporates and multinational companies that employee wellbeing and safety is paramount as the damage control regulations are very expensive. Over and above the fact that time bound driving is important, these drivers face a major responsibility towards the employee’s safety and will be held accountable by the organization.

The number of trips is high for these drivers and fatigue affects their alertness as one of the concerning factors, considering that they face the variegated traffic challenges of both highways and city in a single trip.

 

 *APM - Action per minute
*TTR - Time to react