<![CDATA[Purpose – This study aims to develop an Internet of Things (IoT)-based multi-gas monitoring system to detect hazardous gas accumulation inside bus cabins and enhance passenger safety through early warning and automated response mechanisms. Design/methods/approach – An experimental and system development approach was employed to design and implement the proposed system using an ESP32 microcontroller integrated with MiCS-5524 and MQ-series sensors. The system monitors carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), nitrogen oxide (NO), and carbon dioxide (CO₂), with data transmitted in real time to a cloud platform and mobile application developed using MIT App Inventor. Calibration was conducted using real vehicle exhaust emissions, and system performance was evaluated based on measurement error, response time, and communication delay. Findings – The system achieved average measurement errors ranging from 3.38% to 4.68% across all sensors, with response times between 4.9 s and 6.5 s and data transmission delays between 1.1 s and 1.5 s. The system successfully detected hazardous gas conditions and automatically activated alarms and ventilation when predefined thresholds were exceeded. Multi-node deployment revealed non-uniform gas distribution inside the cabin, confirming the necessity of distributed sensing. Research implications/limitations – The system demonstrates reliable indicative performance as an early warning prototype; however, the use of MOS sensors introduces cross-sensitivity, limiting selective gas quantification. The study is also limited to controlled testing conditions and requires further validation under real driving environments. Originality/value – This study contributes by integrating multi-gas monitoring, IoT-based real-time communication, and automated ventilation control within a single embedded system for bus cabins, providing a practical early warning solution not addressed in prior single-gas or non-IoT-based approaches.]]>
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