CIRT For Safer Roads And Efficient Transport

The Pune-based Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT) is playing an important role in elevating safety, performance and transport efficiency in India.

- Bhushan Mhapralkar

The driving license tests in the Pune region are carried out at a modern testing facility called the Institute of Driving Training and Research (IDTR). Best and the most fool proof testing facility in India ever, IDTR is located over a 15 acres portion of the sprawling 90 acres campus of the Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT), which was established in 1967 as a joint initiative between the Association of State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU) & the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH), Government of India. A result of significant research carried across two generations of driver licensing procedures – proximity sensor-based and RFID-based, IDTR includes 15 different tracks – the shape of ‘eight’, ‘H’ and ‘S’, and a centre elevation. Developed by CIRT under a mandate from MoRTH, IDTR carries out camera-based video analytics employing a software developed specifically for the task. There is no manual intervention at all. Not stopping at that, CIRT is also helping various government agencies to replicate driving licensing infrastructure across India on the same lines. With Tata Motors having played a role in the setting up of IDTR, the facility includes heavy-duty vehicle and light motor vehicle simulators. IDTR also has cutaways of important aggregates like engines, transmissions, axles, turbochargers, etc., as part of the theoretical training it imparts.