PPIH Optimises Digital Transport Control Room to Ensure Hajj Safety

Makkah (ANTARA) - Saudi Arabia’s Hajj Organising Officers (PPIH) are optimising a digital-based transport control room that operates 24 hours a day to safeguard the safety and smooth mobility of Indonesian prospective Hajj pilgrims. From a 6x4 metre room located at the Indonesian Hajj Affairs Office in Makkah, the movement of hundreds of buses is monitored directly via five large screens. Head of the Transport Section at the Makkah Hajj Affairs Office, Moh Afifuddin Zuhri, explained that integrated GPS technology enables precise monitoring of the bus fleet traversing the Madinah-Makkah route and vice versa. “The digitalisation of transport services is key to maximising service delivery and ensuring the safety of prospective Hajj pilgrims during their journeys,” Afifuddin stated in Makkah on Tuesday. He added that estimated travel schedules are often dynamic due to varying bus speeds. Therefore, the tracking feature becomes a vital tool for monitoring the exact positions of bus fleets while anticipating road obstacles, such as checks by Saudi security authorities. Through continuous radio communication (handy talky), the control room team verifies data and coordinates with the Airport Hajj Affairs Office and bus operators. Transport service officer Arudi stated that tracking the buses’ kilometres on the highway serves as the primary benchmark for hotel staff to prepare. “For example, if a bus is at a point estimated to arrive in about two hours at the sector, the staff are already preparing to welcome them,” Arudi said. This coordination ensures punctual arrivals and guarantees that hotel rooms and meals are perfectly ready upon the pilgrims’ arrival. The intensity of prospective Hajj pilgrims’ movements has been recorded as continuously increasing. On Sunday (10/5) alone, the control room successfully oversaw the smooth migration of 20 flight groups (kloter). A total of 7,838 prospective Hajj pilgrims transported by 132 buses from Madinah arrived safely in Makkah thanks to the precise monitoring of this transport technology.