Last week, while trawling thru the interwebz, I cam across a picture posted by transport journalist Rajendra Aklekar on Twitter of a bus operated by the Vasai Virar Municipal Transport (VVMT) undertaking. The photograph was originally clicked by Suraj Poojary.
Bus Mall! The sad state of local public transport bus on Vasai-Virar Municipal Transport Service. Photo credit respective owner. @CMOMaharashtrapic.twitter.com/iM2iwvQUaV
Writing for Mid Day, Aklekar reports that VVMT has been off the roads due to issues with contractors. The Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation had said in November that they aimed to have at least 100 buses on the roads by December.
VVMT was launched in 2012 and part of its fleet is owned by the undertaking. The remainder of the fleet is outsourced to a contractor Bhagirathi Travels, much like how Surat City Bus and Atal Indore City Transport Services operate.
It was reported recently in the Marathi media that a subsidiary of Neeta Travels has signed up to take over services, but I’m unable to find a link as of now.
Vasai Virar has been suffering due to the acute lack of buses and railway services. While BEST and MSRTC extended their services to the satellite city as part of the state governments awkwardly named ‘Mission Begin Again’, the strain has been pretty heavy.
It’s sad to see a bus fall into such disuse, especially at a time when buses have been the lifeline of the city.
Featured Image: VVMT Shopping Mall by Suraj Poojary, all rights reserved.
While BEST has consistently stuck to one design for their AC minibus fleet, the Force Motors Smart Citibus, their midibus fleet has a lot more variations. The first to enter the fleet were the BYD/Olectra electric buses, both in an AC and non-AC versions, attached to the Backbay and Kalakilla depots. The second was the CNG-powered Tata Marcopolo which was originally attached to the Mumbai Central Depot and later also reached the Deonar and Magathane depots.
Now, BEST has gone and got itself a new set of midibuses, this time electric once again. The bus this time is from Tata Motors, and is the Tata Marcopolo Starbus Ultra 9m Electric city bus. According to Tata Motors the bus is Bharat Stage VI compliant (although I don’t understand why emission standards would apply to an electric vehicle) and features a top speed of 75 km/hr with a range of 150 km under ideal conditions and a charging time of 2 to 2.5 hours with fast charging.
The bus also has an automated wheelchair ramp for the disabled. The last time BEST buses had such a feature was in the original Tata Starbus fleet that was inducted in 2004-2005 (which were later used on the Fort Pheri routes) although these were manually operated.
You can check out some images here. The bus, like the other midibuses, features a USB charging socket under the seat. It was flagged off by (sadly) Uddhav Thackeray and Aaditya Thackeray.
These buses are also on Wet Lease like the other ones, and owned by Tata Motors Limited (marked with TML on the front and the back). They’re currently attached to the Backbay Depot and run on at least one route: A-25 from Backbay Depot to Rani Laxmi Chowk (Sion).
That’s all from me for now. BEST’s new EVs look really cool!
For my first impressions of BEST’s earlier Midi and Mini-buses, do check out the following:
Whether you’re travelling in an electric bus, a diesel bus or a CNG powered bus, don’t forget to take the basic precautions when you step out. Do wear a mask, and carry sanitizer with you.
Featured Image: BEST A-25 from Backbay Depot to Rani Laxmi Chowk (Sion) (Vishal/Twitter)
The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has converted two disused buses of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) undertaking into artistic mobile toilets. Navi Mumbai is currently the only city in Maharashtra that has received a five star rating among garbage-free cities and double plus rating for being open-defecation free. Currently ranked third in the Swachh Survekshan (Cleanliness Survey) conducted as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission, it aims to grab the first spot in the 2021 survey.
Two buses that were unfit to be used in regular service have been converted into artistic toilets. Both feature separate entrances for women (from the front) and men (from the rear) and have five toilet seats of which three are reserved for women. A urinal facility and two wash-basins are also present. Water is provided using a tank on top.
Here is a picture shared by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation on Social Media.
NMMT buses converted to toilets (NMMC/Facebook)
What do you think? Will the public be enticed enough to make use of this?
It is good to see NMMC put their retired buses to such good use. This is surely a win for Swachh Bharat.
In order to make commuting easier, the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) has decided to adopt a new colour-coded system of buses. Named CARISMA (Colour Coding All Routes To Identify Simplify Maps And App), the plan involves using 15 colours to help commuters identify bus routes, with 207 routes being covered in the first phase.
Planned on the lines of colour-coded lines of the London Underground (or Tube) operated by Transport for London (TfL), the colours of the bus will be displayed prominently on the front and rear of the bus so passengers can identify the route. Bus stops will be provided with a route chart of the colour-codes to help passengers get used to the new system.
Along with the colours, PMPML also plans to implement a QR code plan. A QR code at the bus stop will provide details of all buses that pass through that stop while a QR code inside the bus will provide details on the bus route and their stops. Live tracking of buses will be a prominent feature of the QR codes.
PMPML Chairman and Managing Director Rajendra Jagtap shared a video of the CARISMA would work on Facebook. Do take a look here:
The first two services launched as part of this new scheme are the ATAL and ABHI series. It seems that PMPML is looking to give Vice President Venkaiah Naidu a run for his money when it comes to acronyms. ATAL stands for Aligning Transit on All Lanes and ABHI stands for Airport Bus for business, home and hotel connectivity.
Under ATAL, buses will run for 5 km with a flat fare of ₹5 with a frequency of 5 minutes. They were initially launched in the Pimpri Chinchwad region on nine routes and later on expanded to several other regions near Pune Railway Station. Some of the ATAL routes operate using PMPML’s lesser known fleet of Force Motors’ Minibuses. Here is picture of these minibuses that was inducted in 2017.
Even Pmpml tried those in 2017 but later canceled it so no way BEST wil go for it pic.twitter.com/1n1dPlg4x1
The distance of ATAL buses is capped at a maximum of 6 km as per Jagtap and in future will be used as a model for feeder buses for MahaMetro services. Taking in feedback from passengers, drivers, conductors and also ticket sales from ETMs, PMPML will expand the services more.
The ABHI bus series was launched using the corporation’s electric bus fleet. This fleet, comprising of 43 Olectra-BYD’s K7 and K9 buses were procured by the Pune Smart City Development Corporation Limited (PSCDCL) under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship Smart Cities Mission and were originally flagged off in 2019 by former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Routes will be numbered starting with A (A-1 to A-5) for now with a minimum fare of ₹50 and a maximum fare of ₹180. Buses will stop at major establishments such as hotels and hospitals en route. WiFi and flight information will also be available for passengers on the bus.
ATAL buses will be coded in orange while ABHI buses will be coded in pink.
That’s all from me for now. I look forward to boarding one of these buses on my next trip to Pune.
A few months ago, I had shared a picture of a Bajaj Qute operating as an auto-rickshaw in Andheri. Since then, I have seen the Qute several times on the streets of Mumbai. I managed to click one at JVPD Circle, right outside the Juhu Vile Parle Bus Station. Take a look here.
Bajaj Qute being used as an auto rickshaw at JVPD Bus Station, Andheri, Mumbai (Srikanth Ramakrishnan/BESTpedia) CC-BY-SA 4.0
Now, the Qute has been making an appearance in other cities as well. The other day, I spotted a Qute operating as a Mini Taxi near Kalena Agrahara on Bannerghatta Road in Bangalore.
On doing some searching, I discovered that the Qute, which is a quadricycle is available on ride-sharing platform Uber since 2019. According to this report in the Times of India, quadricycles appear under the category of UberXS and were initially available in regions such as HSR Layout, Koramangala and Indiranagar. Fares would be set between that of Uber auto-rickshaws and UberGo.
A Business Standardreport, also from 2019 stated that Ola had tied up to offer the Qute to its riders.
Here is the picture of the Qute that I snapped.
Bajaj Qute being used as a Taxi at Kalena Agrahara, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore (Srikanth Ramakrishnan/BESTpedia) CC-BY-SA 4.0
While I haven’t got the chance to take a Qute yet, I will be on the lookout for one soon.
If you liked this post, consider supporting me on Patreon.
Before the next serious post, here is some light-hearted humour from across the globe.
Exactly two years ago a group of Russians in the far-eastern city of Vladivostok decided to do something rather hilarious. Following several safety inspections, the Zolotoy Bridge that spans the Zolotoy Rog or the Golden Horn Bay was shut for pedestrians in 2015, three years after it first opened.
On the 13 of November 2018, four men wore a cardboard cutout shaped like a bus and were walking on the side of a live traffic lane and began crossing the bridge. They were eventually asked to “pull over” by a security guard and made to move to the side of the bridge and turn around.
A video of the “bus”, shot by a woman driving behind it went viral on the internet. You can watch the video here:
Looks like someone got bus-ted!
If you intend to go out, don’t bother dressing up as a bus, but don’t forget to wear a mask and carry some sanitizer.
Several buses operated by the Thane Municipal Transport (TMT) undertaking have been fitted with thermal scanners for passengers to check their body temperature on entry into the bus. The scanner – essentially an infrared thermometer, much like the handheld ones that have become common recently – is located near the driver’s cockpit in the untertaking’s Volvo fleet where passengers generally enter from the front.
A note on the exterior of the bus states that the bus is equipped with a “temperature checking device in Marathi. Detailed instructions on how to use them are provided inside the bus next to the scanner.
Here is a picture of the scanner, clicked by fellow bus-fan Pankaj on Instagram.
TMT bus with thermal scanner. Picture via Pankaj’s Instagram.
I’m not sure if other TMT buses or buses operated by any other transport body in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region are equipped with scanners yet.
AC buses operated by BEST are mostly on lease from private operators so including a scanner might be problematic. Further, given BEST’s minimum fare of ₹6 on AC buses, they remain crowded (especially in the absence of trains) and this may not work out well.
This measure, although welcome, should have been implemented at the start of the pandemic.
Of all the BEST depots, the most photogenic one of all seems to be the Colaba Depot, mainly due to the location of the Cusrow Bagh Parsi Colony located right next doors.
I’ve posted two aerial pictures of Colaba so far, both clicked by Ujjwal Puri aka Ompsyram on Instagram.
Here is one of the Colaba Depot and Electric House clicked at night and man does it look gorgeous with all those lights around it!
To all those transport enthusiast there who want to study a course related to transport, but not do a Masters in Planning or Engineering, the College of Engineering, Pune (CoEP) has two options. Both of them are one-year, full time Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) courses: PGD Electric Mobility (PGDEM) and PGD Metro Rail Technology PGDMRT).
Do note: The admission window for the 2020-2021 batch closed in July 2020. You can use this post as a reference for the next year (if the Institute continues with the course; which it probably will).
Here are the links to the brochures of both courses. I’ll give a brief description of both below:
The PGDEM course is offered by CoEP along with Cummins College of Engineering for Women, the Savitribai Phule Pune University in association with Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA).
The course involves EV System Design and Integration, Energy Storage Systems including Lithium Batteries, Fuel Cells, Ultracapacitors and Powertrains.
It also involves thermal design and the mechanical design of EV systems and their components and also Standards, Policies and Regulations on EVs.
PGD in Metro Rail Technology
The PGDMRT course is offered by the Department of Civil Engineering of the CoEP.
Divided into two semesters, the first semester has courses on railways and civil engineering, rail wheel interaction, mechanical traction and electrical traction and a course on elevated structures. The second semester looks at railway signaling and telecommunications, metro rail engineering and has a course on underground structures. The entire course includes site visits to Metro Rail projects and has a project and practical courses.
Sadly, I was too late to notice this for the current academic year. However, on the bright side, it is good that such courses are being offered in our country, especially given that Electric Mobility and Metro Rail is the future.
This is a good chance for those interested in Metro Tech and Electric Mobility.
Featured Image: College of Engineering, Pune
If you’re wishing to travel around, don’t forget to carry sanitizer, wear a mask and a face shield.
Last month I had posted about the BMTC installing cycle racks to the front of their buses. I had also mentioned that the BMTC and BBMP were setting up dedicated cycle lanes across the city including a pop-up cycle lane along Outer Ring Road next to the existing pop-up bus priority lane.
Thanks to Twitter user Nihar Thakkar (@Nihart1024), I got to see some of the work being done. Here are some images and videos of the cycle lanes.
For starters, here is a cycle parking stand under the split flyover at Agara Junction on Outer Ring Road.
This is on the Service Lane of ORR near the junction of the road bound for Whitefield. You can see the under-construction section of the Purple Line bound for Whitefield.
Sadly, BBMP is using plastic reflective bollards. These bollards are pretty flexible and can easily be damaged. Someone on a joyride in the middle of the night can just mow down these bollards. I do wish, more sturdy ones or even a fence similar to the one that NHAI uses to separate the service lanes from the main carriageway on Hosur Road was used.
Work is moving at a brisk pace on both the north and south bound lanes. Hopefully markings and signage is installed soon for an effective trial. pic.twitter.com/ZBzHqPjLd0
Since the Cycle Lanes are separated by bollards, the likelihood of people parking their cars on them is limited. Also, since they are on the right hand side of the service lane, it is on the side of the road where nobody would (hopefully) park. I sincerely hope that BBMP replaces any damaged or removed bollards to prevent cars from entering these lanes and also does something to prevent motorbikes from entering these lanes. I also hope the cycle lanes don’t disappear when the road is resurfaced (as it happened in Jayanagar) and that BBMP will maintain a uniform quality for the road surface.
That being said, I hope pedestrian infrastructure is next in the pipeline.
