S’pore Buses Could Have Touchscreen Windows & Hands-free Payment In The Future

You probably read the title and went: what the f***? How does one pay with no hands?

Do we summon our inner Avatar and ‘bend the air’?

Well, not exactly.

S’pore Buses Could Have Touchscreen Windows & Hands-free Payment In The Future

A new concept was revealed at the Intelligent Transport System World Congress 2019.

It introduced various features that will change the way our future public buses will look and function in the future.

Yup, and they’re aptly called “Smart Public Bus of the Future”.

So you must be wondering, who are the brains behind these exciting new features?

The answer is… a couple of students in the Smart Bus Challenge that was organised by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in 2017. Yeap, our students are our future, literally.

The competition encouraged students to rethink the way we use public transport, and the chosen ideas were made into prototypes by ST Land Engineering System.

Touchscreen Window Glass With Interactive Passenger Information System

The future is here. You know in those sci-fi movies wherein you see people tap tap tap on a window only to have it reflect some futuristic computer like software.

Yeah, our buses could have that in the future.

The prototype showcased the route, places of interest and a map of the island.

Handsfree Payment

Another noticeable feature is the hands-free payment. Yeap no more lining up to tap your card and causing congestion at the entrance of a bus.

Once a commuter steps onto the bus, it will detect the card that’ll be used for payment via RFID. It is also able to detect when the commuter leaves the bus and ends the journey.

Say bye-bye to trying to dig your EZ-Link out of your pockets. We might also have to say goodbye to adorable EZ-Charms and EZ-Link cards.

During the demonstration, ST Engineering staff wore RFID wristbands and demonstrated how the bus would automatically detect when you got on the bus.

The time of boarding was also recorded on the system. Pretty cool stuff.

Driver Anti-Fatigue & Facial Recognition

To ensure a safe trip for commuters, they will also have Anti Fatigue and Facial Recognition.

When I first read ‘Anti-Fatigue’, I imagined the bus giving a mini electric shock to jolt sleepy drivers awake.

Well, close enough. When the system detects that the driver’s eyes are closed, the driver’s seat will vibrate within two seconds.

As for Facial Recognition, the engine will not start if anyone besides the driver tries to drive the vehicle.

As of right now, things like cost stand in the way of it being a reality, thus it will remain a prototype for the foreseeable future.

But who knows, anything can change and we hope to see it on the streets soon!