Shri Surendrakumar Bagde – General Manager – BEST
gm@bestundertaking.com
/ Tel - +91-22-22856262
For
what ?
For implementing my suggestion for a
passenger-friendly BEST transport system
( sent as email to Shri Bagde on 15 Feb
2016 )
What
did you suggest ?
·
A tablet type digital
device fitted behind each seat , where passenger to touch his
destination
on route map displayed ( # 1
)
·
Passenger will also touch his smart phone to the device which
will transfer the fare
amount to the bus operator , through a mobile wallet . ( # 2 )
·
No need for a conductor - as practiced in many foreign countries
!
This will tell the driver , at which stops ,
which passengers are getting off and how
many seat /s are falling vacant ( # 3 )
·
This ( No of Vacant Seats )
sign will also appear prominently on the bus itself as it
pulls into the halt.
·
If bus is already FULL and no passenger is
getting off at the next bus stop, then driver will not halt the bus , since he
cannot accommodate any standee passenger
·
If a passenger is supposed to get off at , say XYZ stop ,
digital device will flash a
signal / ring a bell , a few minutes before
reaching the stop
·
Entire intra-city bus traffic will be monitored and controlled
from the Central Traffic
Control Station of the city traffic department , much in the same way ATC
control air
traffic or railways control train traffic
·
Bus Arrival Time Indicators (
linked with GPS in all buses ) at all bus stops
·
As far as density of traffic on various roads is concerned ,
mobile apps are already
available
·
Based on the situation , Central Traffic Control
will order additional buses to be
injected on any particular route , at any
given time
[ some more details at : BEST :
Ready to lead ]
How do you know that your
suggestion is getting implemented ?
Just came
across following news report in today’s Times of India :
Extract :
·
The BEST, in a pilot run, has installed the Passenger Information
System in 2809 buses, which means these vehicles will have indicators and announcements will be made to tell
the commuters of the next stop
·
Also Vehicle Tracking System via
GPS has been installed in 2470 buses
·
ITMS [ Intelligent Transport Management System ] will
help commuters plan trips on mobiles, get estimated time of arrival of every bus along with the
speed at which it is travelling, tell whether it is crowded or not, and if there are alternate buses
for the same route
For example, if a commuter finds
that there are three buses on the same route , he can check which bus is less crowded and
wait accordingly
·
Based on
certain parameters such as crowd at the bus stop, available fleet at the
nearest depot, the speed of bus and the distance between two buses on a route,
the system will ensure that buses arrive at regular intervals at a stop
·
Bus
inspectors will have hand held gadgets through which they can convey to the Central Command Centre at
Wadala, the situation at stops and only then buses will be deployed where they
are needed
·
The
Command Centre will have facility where movement of every bus can be seen on a screen
=========================================================
Dear Shri Bagdeji,
While
congratulating you on this very “ commuter – friendly “ innovation , I urge you
to examine the feasibility of also implementing , item #
1 / # 2
/ # 3 , listed above
Having
set a BENCH-MARK for Public Transport undertakings all over the country, I urge
you to persuade the Central Transport Minister , Shri Gadkariji, to examine implementation of :