• The sprawling office premises was inaugurated on June 3, 2017

• Automated Vehicle Driving Test Track to be operational in phases

Mysuru: The RTO East (KA-55) Office, which was hitherto functioning from a rented building on Dr. Rajkumar Road at Shakthinagar, has at last been shifted to its own sprawling premises at Rajivnagar, near Ring Road. The Office has started functioning from its new premises since Apr. 1, 2019.

After the new building was inaugurated by the then Chief Minister Siddharamaiah on June 3, 2017, the Office has shifted to the new premises after a gap of one year and 10 months. Though the new set up houses the city’s first automated vehicle driving test track, the track is yet to become operational. Till the track is functional, the test undertaken before issuing the Driver’s Licence (DL) is being done as before.

Deputy Transport Commissioner and Senior RTO Prabhuswamy told Star of Mysore this morning that the RTO (East) Office was shifted from the rented building to its own premises on Apr. 1. He further stated that there are separate rooms for various sections and the work was going on without any hassles. He added that the automated vehicle driving test track is yet to function and all facilities would be opened in phases after the elections.

It is learnt that the tenders which were invited to furnish the RTO Office was cancelled due to some technical issues and hence there was a delay in shifting to the new premises. The new building comprises a cellar and two floors of office space, spanning more than 4,000 sqmts.

Built at a cost of Rs. 9.30 crore at an eight-acre-10-guntas land at Rajivnagar near Narayana Hrudayalaya on the Ring Road, the track and the building has been constructed under the ‘e-track’ project.

The new building has been designed to accommodate a parking lot, electrical maintenance room, fee remittance centre and treasury in the cellar, while the ground floor has a reception, biometric section, accounts office, record room, Driving Licence centre, inspectors’ rooms, and the Office of the Assistant RTO.

Automated Vehicle Driving Test Track

The project of automated vehicle driving test track was conceptualised in 2015 and the land was handed over by Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) to the Transport Department which took up the track-laying works.

The tracks are designed in such a way that the manoeuvring skills of the driver are tested. Some of the tracks have been designed in ‘8’ shape to test the skills of negotiating a hairpin bend. Road humps have been laid and there are elevated tracks that resemble a steep gradient.

At the gradients, drivers will be asked to stop their vehicles at the middle and will be asked to proceed further after some time. This is to test their ability to steer the vehicle ahead in real-life situations.

Automated sensors and scanners will be installed at the sides of the track at vital points along with a series of CCTV cameras to monitor the driving. The sensors will have alarms and it will beep if a driver faults while giving the test. Every move of the driver is scanned and recorded and one error leads to disqualification. But this testing system is yet to function.

Petty tea shops have also sprung up near the new RTO Office along with vendors selling various application forms and agents filling up the forms.