DOTr’s rail sector to use mobile app, AI in COVID-19 contact tracing

When rail operations partially resume on June 1, the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) railway sector will be using the latest in technology to conduct the contact tracing of passengers who may have contracted the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The use of technology will save passengers’ time from filing out health declaration forms.

“For contact tracing, ang tinitignan na approach is the use of technology,” Transportation Undersecretary Timothy John Batan said in a virtual briefing on Saturday.

Batan said the government will use the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF)-approved StaySafe.ph mobile application.

“Ongoing ang discussion natin with StaySafe and eventually ‘yan ang iro-roll out natin na technology-based solution para sa contact tracing in the rails sector,” the Transportation official said.

For his part, Philippine National Railways general manager Junn Magno said the railway line has already digitized its ticketing and reservation system.

“That would be the basis of contact tracing,” Magno said.

“Ang CCTV na-convert na lahat to Artificial Intelligence last year,” he said, noting that an AI-enabled CCTV system is effective in tracing who a supposed COVID-19 positive passenger has interacted with.

“So we could track down the person and we can cross reference that with the electronic ticketing system,” he said. -MDM, GMA News