1

BUS

TRANSIT

INFORMATION

SYSTEM

FOR

CHANDIGARH

USING G.I.S.
by L. Vijay Sambandhan and Nakul Manocha Final Year Civil Engineering Students
Punjab Engineering College Chandigarh
INTRODUCTION
In

m od ern

metrop ol ita ns ,

w ell- d ev elop ed

p ub lic

tra ns p orta tion s ys tem is b uilt up to p rov id e the p ub lic w ith

conv enient m ov em ents a round the city. H ow ev er, it is fa r
from

enoug h

to

only

b uild

up

p ub lic

tra ns p orta tion

s ys te m . P rov id ing a n eas y a nd conv enient acces s of the

s e rv ice inform a tion to pa ss eng ers is of g rea t im p orta nce .
Wi th p rop er inform a ti on held , p as s eng ers ca n m ak e their
d e cis ion reg a rd ing route in a m uch eff icien t ma nner and
the n

ta k e

full

ad va nta g es

of

the

p ub lic

tra ns p orta tion

s e rv ices .
T ra d itiona l

org a niza tion

method s

of

tra nsp orta tion

inform a ti on, s uch a s tex t a nd ma p , a re ra ther lim ited to

p rov id e s uita b le info rm a tion to p as s eng ers . Pa p er- b as e d
m ap s ca nnot hold a ll p ub lic tra ff ic routes tog ether w ith
the ir inform a tion for their lim ited sp a ce, a nd tex t- ba s e d
inform a ti on

a re

ra ther

a mb ig uous

in

s how ing

sp a tia l

inform a ti on w ithout the s up p ort of ma ps . Org a nized in

the s e m ethod s , inform a tion req uired b y pa ss eng ers is not
s ub s ta ntia l for route d ecis ion.
G ISs p erm it the us er to fi lter throug h my ria d da ta to
d is cov er the ex a ct se t of a ttrib utes tha t w ill a ns w er a
q ue s tion( Rog er

A rend ,1990) .

Thus

a ny

s ys tem

tha t

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB ENGINEERING COLLEGE, CHANDIGARH

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p e rm its

ma na g ing

s toring ,

ana ly zing

and

d is p lay ing

g e og ra p hic info rm a tion is a G IS.G IS conv erts the ex is ting

s pa tia l d a ta in a rela tiona l da ta ba s e ,thus form ing the
b rid g e b etw een

s pa tia l a nd rela tiona l d a ta .G IS com p ris e

of an integ ra ted set of ha rd w a re a nd s oftw a re tools . It is

ca pa b le of p erform ing com p lex sp a tia l a nd other q uerie s
us ing SQL s y ntax . G IS ha s four m a jor sub s ys tem s
o A Data Input Subsystem
o A Data Storage and Retrieval Subsystem
o A Data Manipulation and Analysis Subsystem
o A Data Output and Display Subsystem
Chandigarh is a beautiful small city (10 x 10 km), capital of Haryana
and Punjab, divided into grid

system comprising of more than 50

sectors. It has 100 schools,25 colleges, 50 Government offices, 40

banks,15 hospitals and other numerous places of tourist importance
such as gardens , museums ,art galleries, places of worships etc. and
having bus as the only means of mass transit system. So it becomes
necessary to have a comprehensive as well as accurate information
system for the benefit of the newly arrived commuter, apart from
Chandigarh administration, being the beneficiary. In this monograph,
an attempt has been made to provide all these information & data
spatially as well as non spatially along with the existing bus-routes of
all the buses running across the city and nearby areas in vector form
with suitable scales. Further, various presentations , user defined
queries and other related information of tourist interest will be
displayed in front of commuters just by clicking on the desired feature
.Also, the provision of network analysis can easily help passengers to
find optimum routes and corresponding bus-service.

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB ENGINEERING COLLEGE, CHANDIGARH

OBJECTIVES

To g enera te a com p rehens iv e a nd ex ha us tiv e d isp la y

of Bus Routes a nd other rela ted inform a ti on i.e. fa re
a nd b us tim ing s .

To ex ecute us er d efi ned q ueries to d eterm ine the

m os t s uita b le b us route on the ba s is of the com m ute r
needs

s uch

as

cons id ering

ob lig a tory

p oints ,

s top pa g es , d is ta nce etc.

In

ad d ition

g iv ing

inform a tio n

g eo- referred

Sy s tem

deta ils ,

of

C ha nd iga rh

loca tion,

Im p orta nt

Touris t P la ces , Ad m inis tra tiv e Build i ng s , la nd ma rk s

etc.

Dig ita l C om p rehens iv e Ma p of C ha nd iga rh.

METHODOLOGIES
A. INPUT REQUIREMENTS

M a p of C ha nd ig a rh ( Sca le: 1:20,00 0)

Bus Tra ns it Sy s tem Deta ils

Routes

of

ex is ting

b us es

a nd

their

s top p ag es

Up to d a te Fa re Sla b

Bus Tim ing s Interv a ls

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB ENGINEERING COLLEGE, CHANDIGARH

L oca tion of Bus Stop s and Bus Sta nds

Other rela ted la nd m a rks

Inform a ti on Reg a rd ing Im p orta nt P la ces of

C ha nd ig a rh and nea rb y a rea s .

B. R ES OU R C ES US ED

S pa tia l Da ta

M a p of C ha nd ig a rh of 1:2000 0 Sca le

Surv ey for b us s top loca tions

L a t/L ong of four rota ries soug ht us ing

G P S for the p urp os e of Geocod ing of the
im a g e

N on- s pa ti a l Da ta

Bus

route

d eta ils

ob ta ined

from

C TU

off ice

Inform a ti on

of

C ha nd ig a rh

ob ta ine d

from C ha nd ig a rh Inform a tion C enter a nd

ex is ting litera ture

S of twa re U s ed

G IS Pa ck a g es :

A utoC A D Ma p 2000i &

M a p Info 4.5

DBM S: M S Ex cel

Docum enta tio n P urp os e: Off ice xp

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB ENGINEERING COLLEGE, CHANDIGARH

Ha rdwa re U s ed

P IV 1.6 G H z

256 M B RAM

C. DETAI LS

S ca nni ng
Sca nning of C ha nd ig a rh ma p a t 1:20,0 00

s ca le

Geopos i ti oni ng
.G eop os ition ing of the im a g e wa s d one in
M a p Info us ing the L a t/L ong of

the cente r

of four ma jor rota ries sp rea d ov er the city

ob ta ined b y G eop os itio ning Sys tem ( G P S) .

Vec tori za ti on

Dig iti za tion

w as

d one

us ing

M ap - info

4.5. Va rious fea tures of the city were

ca p tured as
Point

fea tures :

s chools colleg es b us s top s touris ts

p la ces ,

ad m inis tra tiv e

b uild ing s ,

p la ces of w ors hip , hos p ita ls , b a nks ,

thea tres , m us eum and a rt ga lleries .
L ine

fea tures :

roa d s , b us routes , b ound a ry of the

city.

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB ENGINEERING COLLEGE, CHANDIGARH

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Poly g on

fea tures :

s ectors , g a rd ens , wa ter b od ies a nd

fores ts .

C lea n up wa s d one in A uto CA D Ma p

2000 i

for

the

rela tiv e

eas e

a nd

eff iciency as com p a red to Ma p - Info 4.5.

N on- s pa ti a l Da ta ba s e Crea ti on
Non- s pa tia l d a ta b as e wa s crea ted in M S

E x cel. The da ta b as e w as crea ted s uch tha t it

s a tis fi es a ll the rules of the third norm a l form
of a rela tiona l da ta ba s e.

DATABASE STRUCTURE

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB ENGINEERING COLLEGE, CHANDIGARH

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SCHOOLS

COLLEGES

GOVT. OFFICES IMP

LANDMARKS
NAME

NAME

NAME

NAME

BUSSTOP_NO

BUSSTOP_NO BUSSTOP_NO

BUSSTOP_NO

STATE/UT/CENTR
AL

BUS STOPS

BUS ROUTES

SERIAL_NUMBER

BUS_ROUTE_NO

NAME

ROAD_NO

ROAD_NO

ID
ROAD

Geocodi ng
G eocod ing ,

of

the

crea ted in M s ex cel

non- s pa tia l

d a ta b as e

wa s d one us ing Ma p -

Inf o.

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB ENGINEERING COLLEGE, CHANDIGARH

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R ES U LTS AN D DISC U SS IO N
Afte r s ca nning v ectoriza t ion da ta b as e crea tion a nd
G e ocod ing w as ca rried out a nd a ll lay ers m a p wa s
g e ne ra ted fi g ( 1) .

Fig ( 1)
H ere the inform a ti on ca n be ob ta ined in tw o w a ys

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB ENGINEERING COLLEGE, CHANDIGARH

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o Jus t by click i ng on the d es ired fea ture on the ma p .
o Deta iled inform a ti on ca n b e ob ta ined b y zoom ing in to
the req uired s ca le.
In fi g ( 1) a n ov erv iew of the city is s how n w hich d is p la y s
the e ntire roa d , sectors , a nd other m a jor la ndm a rk s .
In fi g ( 2) w hich is ob ta ined b y zoom ing in a t a certa in a rea
of

the d is p la y show n fi g ( 1) we ca n see a new enha nce d

w ind ow s how ing d eta iled inform a tion of the fea tures ly ing
in tha t a rea .

Fig ( 2)

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB ENGINEERING COLLEGE, CHANDIGARH

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In the p res ent s ys tem w e ca n ex ecute num erous

q uerie s

w hich w ill b e of g rea t utility to the com m uter. Som e of the

m a jor q ueries ha v e b een enlis ted .

Que ry to s how a nd lis t deta ils if p oss ib le

the b us routes from a p a rticula r b us s top .

the

d eta ils

off ices

on

of
the

ba nk s /s chools /col leg es /g ov ernm ent

route

of

p a rticula r

b us

route

num b er.

the route of a pa rticu la r b us route num b er a nd lis t

the s ops in b etw een.

the b us routes to a p a rticula r ba nk /s chool /colleg e /

g ov ernm ent off ice/ im p orta nt la nd m a rk

the sp a tia l loca tion of a p a rticula r b a nk /s chool

/colleg e /

g ov ernm ent

off ice/

im p orta nt

la nd

ma rk

/b us stop / colony.
the d eta ils of the b us from a p a rticula r stop ( tim ing s )

the b us fa re from one s top to another s top

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB ENGINEERING COLLEGE, CHANDIGARH

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the b us route from ______to ______.

T he res ults of s om e of the

p rom inent

q ueries a re s how n

b e low :

O bl i ga tory poi nts

i n the route of a bus defi ned by a

us er.

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB ENGINEERING COLLEGE, CHANDIGARH

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Fig ( 3)

If a us er is interes ted in info rm a tion reg a rd ing w hich

b a nks / colleg es / hos p ita ls /g ov ernm ent b uild ing s etc. lie in
the pa th of a pa rticu la r b us no. or route then it w ill enlis t
a ll inform a tio n s pa tia lly a nd non s pa tia lly. Thus the
com m uter ca n m ak e us e of this inform a ti on in p la nning his
s che d ule.

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB ENGINEERING COLLEGE, CHANDIGARH

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The deta i ls of the bus route f rom a pa rti cul a r bus
s to p .

Fig ( 4)

In this q uery Fig ( 4) it w ill d is p lay a ll the b us no. w hich

m ak e s their wa y throug h a p a rticula r b us s top . A ls o it
s how s the deta ils of tim ing s of the b us es from tha t stop .

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB ENGINEERING COLLEGE, CHANDIGARH

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So a us er ca n b e b enefi ted by s now ing w hich b us a nd
w he n it is av a ila b le from tha t pa rticu la r s top .
The route of a pa rti cul a r bus number.

Fig ( 5)

In this q uery Fig ( 5) the route w hich the pa rticula r b us

foll ow s gets hig hlig hted a long w ith the b us - stop s in its
p a th. This q uery ex p la ins the num b er a nd the na m e of the

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB ENGINEERING COLLEGE, CHANDIGARH

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b us - stop s fa lling in its pa th s o tha t the com m uter ca n
a na ly ze a nd choos e the op tim um route.

CONCLUSION
It can be concluded using this Bus Transit Information system the
commuter can utilize the

bus transit system

of the city more

judiciously, intelligently and effectively.

FUTURE SCOPE
It can be utilized by the following agencies to perform their duties in a
more efficient manner.
o Chandigarh administration
o Transport and traffic department
o Police department
o Tourism department
It can be made easily accessible to the commuter by providing
services at some important sector.
REFERENCES
1) Roger B. Arend (1990) , GIS: Useful Tool or Expensive Toy ,
Jr. of Surveying Engg. (ASCE) , Vol 116, No 1 , Feb 1990 , pp131- 138
2) Chandigarh Administration C.T.U. Office ., Industrial Area
Chandigarh.
3) http://www.ecf.utoronto.ca/~murtaza/Research/spatial/GIS_abst
ract.htm

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, PUNJAB ENGINEERING COLLEGE, CHANDIGARH