The Smart Cities Award Was Won By NEC Corporation India For Improving Urban Mobility In Surat
On September 27, NEC Corporation India received recognition at the India Smart Cities Award Contest (ISAC) 2022 event. In Indore, Madhya Pradesh, the event was put on by the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry’s Smart Cities Mission. One of the top three Master System Integrators (MSIs) in the smart city category was NEC Corporation India. As the MSI partner agency for its Surat Bus Automatic Fare Collection System (AFCS) project, the business took second place.
The IT and network communication company’s award-winning Surat Bus AFCS has improved citywide commuting for passengers by deploying contactless RuPay-based smart cards aimed to enhance the everyday travel experience for roughly 2,00,000 commuters.
“I am really pleased of NEC India’s noteworthy advancements in the field of urban mobility. This award speaks volumes about NEC’s pioneering activities that support sustainability, inclusion, and the progress of the country’s smart city vision,” Aalok Kumar, President and CEO of NEC Corporation India said. Hardeep Singh Puri, the minister of housing and urban affairs, presented him with the honor.
According to Kumar, Surat’s transformation into a prototype for a smart city is really remarkable. One of the city’s various features is the seamless integration of its public transportation systems, which has made it a model for others to emulate.
He also expressed gratitude to the Central government for entrusting NEC India with important smart city projects. He added vowed to develop safe, smart and secure technologies that would enable India grow and fulfill the expectations of its billion-plus population.
A smart city project component is the Surat AFCS. NEC committed to streamlining public transportation by completing the system in 2029 and keeping it operational for seven years already. Commuters in Surat may now move throughout the city with a single ticket, independent of mode of transportation, owing to NEC’s substantial work in the city.
The Surat Municipal Corporation may now connect its various transit systems, including BRTS and city bus services, along high mobility routes thanks to this scheme. The Surat Money Card (SMC) offers streamlined operations across 157 BRTS stations, 166 BRTS, and 575 city buses thanks to its extensive AFCS capabilities.
Additionally, the SMC supports Surat’s environmental objectives while providing customers with advantages across municipal services and shops by decreasing the need of paper tickets. Notably, the number of daily riders rose from 28,000 in 2014 to 210,000 in 2022, while the number of daily transactions made using the Surat Money Card rose dramatically from 0 in 2018 to 72,754 in 2022.
