Today, I’m sharing yet another fantastic image, this time of BEST’s Electric House at Colaba. Nearly a century and a half old, Electric House is the headquarters of the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking and is located on the Colaba Causeway. It is located next to the Parsi Colony and apart from housing the offices of BEST, also houses the Colaba Depot.
Until BEST was taken over by the Bombay Municipal Corporation in 1947, Colaba Depot remained the only facility for maintenance and repair of buses.
So, without further ado, here is the image of the Colaba Depot! The picture was clicked by Ujwal Puri and shared on Twitter by Sahil Pednekar. Do click on the picture to see the full image.
Got my new wallpaper!!! 2 iconic structures of South Mumbai. Parsi colony and BEST's Colaba depot. PC:Ujwal Puri pic.twitter.com/kzPJCAtaim
The depot and Electric House are located to the right hand side with half the depot being populated by BEST’s regular, full-length buses with the other half being populated by the mini-bus fleet. These mini-buses are owned by PNM Transport and Mobility Limited, identified by PNM on the body of the bus.
Electric House and Colaba Depot look fantastic from above, don’t they?
That’s all from my side for today. If you liked this post, do consider backing me up on Patreon.
With many transit agencies implementing strict rules regarding seating arrangements and limits on the number of passengers in vehicles to ensure social distancing, BEST too decided to implement it. While BEST has had it from before the lockdown, it has reiterated it now as part of the government’s Unlock 1.0 programme (Mission Begin Again).
No more than 30 passengers (25 seated and 5 standees) are permitted on a bubs with the left and right seats being occupied to ensure distancing.
However, in this video posted by Railfan Pankaj on Instagram, all that seems to have gone for a toss.
From the video, the bus appears more to have more standees than permitted. The supervising staff/depot staff were forcing more passengers to board the bus.
A similar sight was visible at Borivali near the railway station on the eastern side. Here is a picture of the mess, as posted by Yash on Twitter.
Big queues near G.H. School, near Borivali station(E) for all long distance buses, mainly 440 Ltd. Social distancing gone for a toss. All seats occupied in the bus (in photo) due to rush. Cc @rsrikanth05@rajtoday@tanushreevenkatpic.twitter.com/IQ9WigpOhp
Similar to the decision of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) of Chennai, fka Pallavan has also decided to implement a QR Code-based cashless ticketing mechanism on its buses.
The announcement was made by Tamil Nadu Minister of Transport M R Vijayabhaskar on 1 June 2020 via Twitter.
பேருந்துகளில் Cashless Transaction முறை அறிமுகப்படுத்தப்பட்டிருக்கிறது.
QR Code மூலமாக எந்தவொரு Cashless Transaction -ம் அனுமதிக்கப்படும்.
சோதனை முறையில் முதற்கட்டமாக 2 பேருந்துகளில் Paytm மூலம் Transaction செய்வதற்கான ஏற்பாடுகள் செய்யப்பட்டிருக்கிறது. #TNGovt#TNTransport
— M.R Vijayabhaskar (@OfficeofminMRV) June 1, 2020
In his tweet, Vijayabhaskar has said that QR-code based cashless transactions were now permitted and that a trial run had begun using Paytm. According to a report by The Hindu, the two buses were both bound for the Secretariat at Georgetown with one originating at Thyagaraya Nagar (T Nagar) and the other at Todhunter Nagar in Saidapet.
Officials at MTC have said that once more buses hit the street, the system will be extended to them as well. Commuters can use any UPI-based payment app such as Google Pay/Tez, Paytm, PhonePe, KhaaliJeb or their bank app.
The system is very similar to the system that the BMTC has set-up, which is essentially only for cashless transactions and not cashless ticketing.
While the immediate side-effect of this would be an increase in UPI adoption across Chennai, it will still remain a time-consuming method. In the long run, the state government has to promote the National Common Mobility Card as a means to go forward.
One hopes that the MTC’s parent body, the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) starts extending this to other cities including Coimbatore, Trichy and Madurai.
For UPI platforms, this is a golden opportunity to expand their footprint. While the better known apps like BHIM, PhonePe, Google Pay (formerly Tez) and Paytm have managed to get a market of their own, smaller niche apps like KhaaliJeb can make an impact here. KhaaliJeb (literally Empty Pocket in Hindi) is a UPI-based payments app designed for students. According the developers, the app has a student loyalty that will offer them discounts from merchants while also allowing them to split expenses. Given Chennai and Coimbatore’s status as educational hubs, this is the right time for such apps to strike gold.
If all goes well, it might seem like the Pallavan Kollavan (Killer Pallavan) tag might actually refer to cash.
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Featured image: An MTC bus belonging to the Central Depot on Route 21G from Broadway to Tambaram Railway Station. (Photo credits: VtTN on the Wikimedia Commons).
With parts of the country returning to normalcy from tomorrow (8 June 2020), BEST buses too are slowly returning to normalcy. As part of the state government’s Mission Begin Again, BEST has announced that it will start ferrying office-goers and regular commuters from the eight.
As per a report by the Hindustan Times, only 30 passengers will be permitted in a bus with a maximum of five standees as against the normal capacity of 54. Of these 30, 25 will be seated passengers. A passenger will be allowed to sit on the left and the right side of the buses with the adjacent seat remaining vacant.
BEST administration has said that 2,000 buses will initially be pulled into service and based on the passenger flow, 300 buses will be added every week.
While BEST has not announced anything about is mini-bus/midi-bus fleet, these buses have been doing the rounds over the last three months, ferrying passengers across the city, mostly for essential services.
BEST has however, announced the operation of major bus routes from the suburbs to South Bombay, as well as from the city to regions beyond the MCGM limits.
Of these, five bus routes, designated as Corridor services will go beyond MCGM limits.
Corridor 1 will connect Virar to Malvani Depot via Gorai Depot and Borivali Station.
Corridor 2 will connect Nallasopara to Goregaon Depot via SV Road till Kora Kendra and then along the Western Express Highway.
Corridor 3 will connect Badlapur to Rani Laxmi Chowk (Sion) via Airoli and Shil Phata.
Corridor 4 will connect Kalyan to Rani Laxmi Chowk via Mumbra and Kharigaon.
Corridor 5 will connect Panvel to Rani Laxmi Chowk.
Here is the entire list of routes:
Mission Begin Again: Best Bus Routes from 8 June 2020
Stay safe folks, be careful and don’t forget to wear your masks and maintain distance.
Featured Image: Juhu Vile Parle (JVPD) Bus Station clicked by me on 29 April 2020.
A special thanks to Pranav Curumsey for helping me out with this post.
In December last year when Maharashtra saw a political coup, resulting in a mix-and-match coalition government coming to power, the newly throned chief minister announced plans to build a grand, “world-class” multi-level aquarium. Just over six months later with Cyclone Nisarga having crossed the city, here are some stunning visuals of the new aquarium.
Without wasting time, the government run by the Best CM (not BEST CM) has gone ahead and quietly implemented the aquarium at King’s Circle near Matunga. Below are some pictures from news agencies Asian News International (ANI) and Free Press Journal (FPJ). You can click on the indiviudal images to see more.
While the fish are not immediately visible due to vehicles, they will slowly find their way, along with other creatures including worms, snakes, prawns and shrimp (after being washed from markets). The largest creature currently in these waters is BEST’s Aqua Faeries; as seen in the above pictures (not to be confused with the earlier Purple Faeries).
Apart from this, the government has also implemented a new waterfall system in the city, although it is linked with the sewerage system. You can catch it in action here:
Ever since the 2005 floods, political parties in Maharashtra have promised to turn the city into Singapore or Shanghai. Sadly, this year, due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Mumbai became Wuhan while Maharashtra became Hubei. However, on a regular basis, the city turns into Venice every year during the monsoons.
Mumbaikars have got their aquarium. Now, let’s wait for the metro.
A little over four years ago, I had attended Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make In India Week where among many things, I saw a few interesting vehicles. Among these, I saw Scania’s ethanol-blend Bio-fuel bus that was operational with Nagpur Mahanagar Parivahan Limited (NMPL) and subsequently also with the Kadamba Transport Corproation (KTC) in Panaji, Goa, Volvo’s 8400 B7RLE Diesel-CNG Hybrid bus that was trial with the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) undertaking and a the world’s largest dumper from Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML). Note: A dumper is not the same as a dump-truck.
I also saw an air-conditioned Minibus from Force Motors, albeit with fully-sealed windows which I said would be great for feeder services to metro stations. And just like I said, similar buses ended up being used by BEST three years as feeder buses. Here is a picture of the bus that I saw in 2016.
While BEST didn’t get these exact buses, it did get similar buses.
Now, the most interesting thing I saw there was the Bajaj Qute. Note: It does look cute.
Powered by a 200cc engine that can produce an output of 20bhp, the Qute is classified by the government as a “quadricycle” and therefore can only be used to replace auto-rickshaws.
This is the picture of the Qute that I clicked in 2016. The Qute has received intense criticism, mostly from Bajaj’s peers in the auto industry, especially Piaggio which also manufactures auto-rickshaws. Piaggio in fact wanted the Qute to be deferred by at least two-three years (in 2013) in order to provide a level playing field for auto-rickshaw manufacturers. Others in the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) too lambasted the Qute for myriad reasons, from its weight to its emissions.
However, in late February this year, I was mildly surprised when I boarded one of BEST’s mini-buses at Andheri Station (West). In the middle of the sea of auto-rickshaws, I saw a Qute, with a board inside it saying ऑटो रिक्षा and a sticker indicating that it ran on CNG. While I couldn’t see where the fare-meter was, the vehicle was occupied.
Here is the Qute that I spotted at Andheri.
When I saw it, I was excited and quickly whipped out my phone and clicked a photo. And naturally, I tweeted it out within minutes.
Last month I wrote on how we needed to look at changing our ways of transacting in order to reduce the risk of contamination using physical currency. One of the points I had made was to target the transit sector in order to get people opt for cashless transit.
Many of of us expected the 2016 demonetisation to be the catalyst for a shift to cashless methods of travel, sadly it did not take off well. A year later, the situation was no different in adoption of digital payment systems in public transport.
In September 2018, the Central government finally announced the launch of the ‘One Nation, One Transport Card’, a rebadged version of the previous government’s long-dead More Card project. The National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), was finally launched on 5 March 2019 (also my birthday) but is still being rolled out and as of now is only available on the Delhi Metro.
Older readers of BESTpedia would remember that I had spoken to BMTC officials in 2016 on their Intelligent Transport System (ITS) and the impending release of a prepaid card for buses (similar to what Mumbai’s BEST has). While the smart cards were never a part of the ITS, they were due to be released by the end of 2016 but that did not happen.
The Times of India on 27 May reported that BMTC would implement a new measure to enable cashless transit in its buses. While initially implemented on 70 buses, it is now being expanded to 1,000 buses of the 3,500 buses that are currently on the streets.
The cashless ticketing system, however is not what most of us expected.
Each bus is equipped with a quick response code (QR Code) that is compliant with BharatQR and uses the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to make payments. Passengers can use any UPI-based app such as Paytm, Google Pay, or PhonePe to complete the transaction and once the transaction is done, the conductor issues a ticket.
Here is an image of the conductor with the QR Code handing around his neck.
It is important to note here that the QR code based payment isn’t direct cashless ticketing, but rather a cashless transaction after which the ticket is issued manually. It isn’t similar to the QR code based ticketing used by the Indian Railways using the UTS app, or by Metro Rail systems in India. The latter uses QR codes on phone screens or paper tickets that are scanned at the turnstiles rather than the commuter scanning them with their phones.
While this is a good move in the interim, it would be good to see BMTC implement a full-fledged card-based payment system, on the lines of the NCMC.
The unintended side-effects of this move
The QR code idea, however has its merits. The direct consequence would be more people adopting UPI as a payment method over physical cash systems. Commuters using UPI would mean that anyone remotely connected to the BMTC network –from a food vendor at the bus station to a tea stall frequented by staff – would start accepting UPI as a payment method. The entire “Local Economy” would end up making use of it over time.
All in all, this is a much-needed push by BMTC. The next stop would be a complete integration on to the NCMC so that we can go truly cashless. Who knows, the next big thing may be transcos accepting USSD-based payments as well. Alternatively, BMTC needs to push for app-based payments, similar to what Ridlr offers for BEST where a user purchases a ticket with the app which in turn generates a four to six digit number. The commuter tells the number to the conductor, who validates it with the ETM.
BMTC finally goes cashless, and how.
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If you, like me (and several others) are still drooling over my last post of BEST’s mini-buses parked at Oshiwara Depot, here is another visual treat for you.
After a gap of nearly three years, a BEST bus was snapped on the Bandra Worli Sea Link!
Clicked by user Instasnapper, this bus is a Tata Marcopolo CNG midi-bus belonging to the Mumbai Central (CN) depot that is owned and operated by SMT ATPL Associates (marked by SAA next to the depot code).
I presume that this bus was on emergency duty, similar to the one spotted heading to Badlapur earlier this month.
The last time BEST had any buses on the Sea Link was prior to 2017. While several other routes existed, only three of them ran from 2014 till BEST’s eventual cancellation of AC services in 2017. These were A-74Express from Oshiwara Depot to NSCI Worli (Lotus), A-75 Express from Hiranandani Powai to NSCI Worli and A-76Express from Gorai Depot to NSCI Worli. All of them used the Cerita fleet (Purple Faeries struggling to climb the incline on the sea link) while A-74Express briefly used the Volvo fleet when it went from Oshiwara Depot to Colaba Depot (AS-4 always went from Oshiwara Depot to Backbay Depot but via Mahim). A non-AC bus 33Ltd with the same destinations as the regular 33 from Goregaon Bus Station to Pandit Paluskar Chowk (Opera House) was experimented with in 2010 according to the Hindustan Timesreport.
Well. That’s all from my side for today. Do check back on the blog for more!
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At the start of the month, I put up a post on BEST’s new mini-bus fleet visible from Google Earth. Here’s a visual treat for you of the same at Oshiwara Depot, this time clicked from one of the high-rises in the vicinity.
In the above image you can see the Oshiwara depot (full of them red postvans), with the Goregaon Depot on the extreme right-hand side. In front of both depots is the majestic Goregaon Metro station on Line 2 of the Mumbai Metro.
On the left-hand side, you can see the Oshiwara River along with what looks like a bridge being built across it. Google Earth shows that the river has been widened at the location in the question between 2018 and 2020 and this construction on the river did not exist as recent as October 2019. However, going by both Google Earth and this image, it looks like a two lane road or promenade may be built over it.
This picture was clicked by singer Abhijeet Sawant. Sawant was the winner of the first season of Indian Idol in 2004-2005 (though the runner up Amit Sana was more popular). Presumably Sawant lives in the apartment behind the depot; the area is home to a lot of film stars. Incidentally Abhijeet Bhattacharya, known mononymously as Abhijeet also lives in the vicinity, and is the President of the Annual Lokhanwala Durgotsav that takes place at Lokhandwala.
While I shall trawl the interwebz for more such pictures, the rest of you lot can enjoy this splendid for the time being.
An interesting thing to note that BEST’s Volvo fleet is still housed at the Oshiwara Depot, albeit at the far end now (just outside the frame in this picture), as per the latest Google Earth update, which is from 30 January 2020. The buses seem to have gathered dust as they look visibly brown compared to the bright red from October last year.
On that note, I shall end this post, but since we are talking of Abhijeet Sawant, do listen to his song Lafzon Mein.
A closing line: The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has left many of us in a financially awkward position. I’d request you to back me up on Patreon. While I agree it is in United States Dollars ($) and not Indian Rupees (₹), I’m looking at an alternative as well, maybe PayU or RazorPay or Instamojo. But till then, Patreon seems to be the best option. I will add that there are more articles lined up for readers, including on Pune’s electric buses, Mumbai’s water transport and more.
As the ongoing Wuhan Virus pandemic goes on a rampage, the state of New Jersey in the United States has a peculiar problem. Governor Phil Murphy at a press conference earlier said that the state needs volunteers who possess “Cobalt” programming skills. He was talking of course of COBOL.
Common Business Oriented Language, or COBOL was a programming language introduced in 1959 as a way to write computer programmes for people who didn’t posses an aptitude for coding but had a reasonable command over their English. Of course, I studied COBOL in 2011 in Coimbatore in a class where not everyone knew English. But then, we’re a nation of non-native English speakers.
In a blog post for Coding Horror, Jeff Atwood stated that in 2009, around 220 billion lines of COBOL existed. That’s a crazy amount of COBOL programs (considering the fact that COBOL programmes are way longer than their equivalents in other conventional languages). COBOL systems handled millions of transactions, connected mobile phones, transported shipping containers and controlled air traffic! This is as recent as 11 years ago.
In fact, in 2017, a firm named Expeditors based out of Seattle, Washington was hiring COBOL developers to run a logistics platform!
This kind of Legacy Tech, would have cost a lot in investment and would have cost a lot more to upgrade at a later stage.
Now, to be honest, getting hold of a COBOL programmer in India isn’t that difficult. Several universities had COBOL till the as far as five years ago.
The point is, COBOL and also Fortran are extremely outdated languages, thus making it difficult to provide upgrades to features. Any new feature would have cost heavily in hardware upgrades. Let’s be glad, we got too the scene a little later.
Note: This was meant to be a much longer post but kept getting delayed so I put it out as it is.
