BESTpedia – Page 3 – The BEST is always Red

Double Decker Buses Return To Hyderabad After Two Decades, City Of Pearls Becomes First To Launch Electric Version

After a gap of twenty years, double decker buses have returned to the roads of the southern city of Hyderabad, and this time in an electric avatar, making the City of Pearls to be the first city in India to have double-decker buses in operation. Double deckers were earlier operated by the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) until services folded up in 2003. Double deckers were introduced under the Nizam State Railways – Road Transport Division (NSR-RTD) of the erstwhile Hyderabad State. With the subsequent bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, city services in Hyderabad came under the aegis of the Hyderabad Zonal Urban Road Transport Corporation (HZURTC) that comes under and operates using its parent body, the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC).

Open deck and regular double deckers of the HMDA and TSRTC (Image Tweeted by Arvind Kumar)

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) placed an order for six buses, of which three have been delivered with the rest to be delivered soon. The HMDA is looking to up its fleet to 20 such buses. The buses are Ashok Leyland Switch EiV 22 AC double deckers, although in the images released by the Special Chief Secretary for Urban Development Arvind Kumar, the Switch logo in the front of the bus was visibly covered up. Each bus costs ₹2.16 crore and comes with an annual maintenance contract (AMC) for 7 years. With a carrying capacity of 65 passengers plus the driver, each bus has a range of 150km and can be charged in 120 to 150 minutes.

The buses were flagged off by Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development KT Rama Rao along with Chief Secretary A Santhi Kumari, Chevella MP G Ranjith Reddy and Chandrayanagutta MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi.

An old Double Decker Bus in Hyderabad from the year 2000 running on Route 7Z from Zoo Park to Secunderabad via High Court. Photo shared by Shakerhussain on Twitter.

These buses will primarily run along the Hyderabad Street Circuit as part of the the Hyderabad Formula ePrix to be held on 11 February in and around the vicinity of the newly built Telangana Secretariat, Tank Bund, Necklace Street, Paradise and Nizam College. After that, they will be used for tourism along a heritage circuit in the city.

The Forumla ePrix and Hyderabad Street Circuit

The Hyderabad ePrix is part of the 2022-2023 Formula E Championship. The Formula E championship is a single-seat motorsport championship for electric cars and this will be the first edition to be held in India.

The Hyderabad Street Circuit (BBTD/Wikimedia Commons)

The Hyderabad Street Circuit is a race track laid along the roads of the city. Two designs were prepared, one by PPE Racing and the other by Driven International. The second one was chosen while the former was criticised for its rather phallic design with one racer allegedly saying it resembled a dildo.

Interestingly, in 2018, the Formula One Powerboat Championship (F1H2O) was held in the new capital of Hyderabad’s former state, Amaravati.

Telangana Mobility Valley

KT Rama Rao announced that Telangana would soon see investments of ₹3,000 crore in the mobility sector, in addition to the ₹8,000 crore already secured by the state in the segment. A new mobility cluster, named the Telangana Mobility Valley would be established for electric vehicles with a focus on manufacturing, engineering, research and development for vehicle manufacturing as well as cell chemistry, hydrogen fuel cells and component manufacturers. Currently, research and development in the EV sector is primarily based out of Bengaluru in neighbouring Karnataka while manufacturing is concentrated in the neighbouring Krishnagiri district and Chennai, both in Tamil Nadu.

Featured Image: Hyderabad’s new Switch EiV22 Double Deckers (Image tweeted by Arvind Kumar)

BEST Sets Up Exhibit At Kala Ghoda Fest To Showcase Undertaking’s Heritage And History

The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking has decided to put up an exhibit at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival. According to a note shared by the undertaking, the Kala Ghoda Festival Committee made a request to the undertaking which in turn set up the exhibit at Cross Maidan near Churchgate.

BEST's Notice about the Kala Ghoda Exhibit — BEST’s Notice about the Kala Ghoda Exhibit

The exhibit is available for public viewing at Azad Cross Maidan near Churchgate from 4 February to 12 February 2023 from 10 am to 10 pm. It showcases the history and heritage of the undertaking.

BEST also shared some pictures of the exhibit on their Twitter and Facebook pages.

The entrance to BEST's exhibit where a cutout of a conductor greets visitors along with a model of a double decker bus. — The entrance to BEST’s exhibit where a cutout of a conductor greets visitors along with a model of a double decker bus.

Models of BEST's horse-drawn tram, double decker tram and double decker bus on display. — Models of BEST’s horse-drawn tram, double decker tram and double decker bus on display.

In its notice, BEST also reminded the public about the BEST Museum that is open to all in the third floor of the administrative building at Anik Depot. The museum is open from 7 am to 3.30 pm on Monday and from 9 am to 5 pm from Tuesday to Sunday. There is no charge to visit the museum.

Featured Image: The Kala Ghoda Horse Statue (Pradeep717/Wikimedia Commons)

Did You Know About The World’s Largest “Car Theft”?

While I admit upfront that this has nothing to do with buses or public transport, it does have something to do with one of every bus fans’ favourite brands. This news, while reported in 2016 has been doing the rounds lately on the interwebz and I thought I’d write on it.

Let’s take a walk down memory lane to the 1970s when something interesting took place. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), also known as North Korea was establishing diplomatic contacts with western nations and among them was the Kingdom of Sweden. The DPRK ordered 1,000 Volvo 144 cars from the Volvo Car Corporation (then part of Volvo AB), which were delivered in 1974.

The Volvo 144 was the first in the 140 series of saloons (or sedans) and made its first appearance in 1966. The nomenclature indicated that it was the first series and was a four-door saloon with a four-cylinder engine.

While the North Koreans took delivery of the cars, they never paid for them. The Swedes meanwhile have not clarified what all was included as part of the trade deal. The sale was insured through the Swedish Export Credit Agency (EKN) which stepped in and ensured that Volvo Cars did not go bankrupt. However, the debt on the sale, along with interest had accumulated to US $328 million in 2016. That’s roughly ₹2,680 crores, based on the current (2023) exchange rates! The Swedish Export Credits Guarantee Board sends a reminder to the DPRK government every six months.

It is unknown whether the original deal included spare parts but Volvo Heritage believes that due to the bulk purchase by North Korea, the 144 was common across the world and thus getting spares from elsewhere would be easier. However, the cars are rare these days, and when seen, usually act as taxicabs.

In 2016, the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang tweeted out a picture of a Volvo 144, captioned Still going strong. One of the Volvo’s from yr 1974 still unpaid for by DPRK. Running as taxi in Chongjin w almost half million km on odo!

Still going strong. One of the Volvo's from yr 1974 still unpaid for by DPRK. Running as taxi in Chongjin w almost half million km on odo! (Caption as tweeted by the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang) — Still going strong. One of the Volvo’s from yr 1974 still unpaid for by DPRK. Running as taxi in Chongjin w almost half million km on odo! (Caption as tweeted by the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang)

The lack of payment for these 1,000 cars prompted Soviet diplomats to label it as the “largest car theft in human history.” Imagine being a Communist nation in the 1970s and mucking up so bad that the Soviet Union mocks you. I know.

Founded in 1927 as the automobile division of SKF, the Volvo Cars Corporation or Volvo Cars remained a part of the Volvo Group or Volvo AB until 1999 when it was spun off as an independent company, with both of them sharing the Volvo trademark. Volvo Cars was acquired by the Ford Motor Company as part of its Premier Automotive Group that included Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo. With the sale of Aston Martin to a group of American investors and Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors of India, Ford divested Volvo Cars to China’s Zhejiang Geely, better known as Geely. Volvo Cars’ history is very similar to American telecommunications manufacturer Motorola that split in 2011 to form Motorola Solutions and Motorola Mobility, the latter of which was acquired by Google and then eventually Chinese red-chip firm (listed in Hong Kong) Lenovo.

Geely also owns several other prominent European automobile brands, such as Polestar, Lynk and the iconic British brand Lotus, along with the London EV Company (formerly the London Taxi Corporation), which is known to manufacture the iconic black cabs seen in London.

Well, that’s all from me this time.

If you’re interested in another international incident that was funny, look no further from North Korea’s backyard, Russia. In 2018, a group of Russians in Vladivostok donned a cardboard cut-out shaped like a bus to cross a bridge that was off-limits to pedestrians. You can read about it here:

In 2018, A Group Of Russians Dressed Up As A Cardboard Bus To Cross A Vehicular Bridge

Featured Image: A 1974 Volvo 144. (Photo: Niels de Wit from Lunteren, The Netherlands)

PMPML Converts Old Bus To High-Pressure Cleaning System For BRTS Bus Stops

In a bid to automate and mechanise certain functions while putting older buses of the fleet to better use, the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) has converted an old bus into a moving high-pressure cleaning system.

Bus stations of the Corporation’s Rainbow bus rapid transit system (Rainbow BRTS) were earlier cleaned manually by sweeping them. The plan to to change the process was initiated by Babasaheb Mulani, a bench fitter from the Pimpri Depot under the guidance of depot manager Bhaskar Dahatonde and DME Rajkumar Mane.

The vehicle was used to clean BRTS shelters in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad during the ongoing G20 summit.

PMPML shared a video explaining the new system to their social media accounts. Below is the video from their Youtube channel and the wonderful caption from their Instagram account.

Innovative BRT Bus stop cleaning system by PMPML

Until date BRT bus stops of PMPML were majorly cleaned using normal mechanisms like sweeping, but to thoroughly clean every corner of a bus stop PMPML came up with an idea to convert an old bus into a moving high pressure cleaning system.

Due to resolute efforts from Babasaheb Mulani (Bench Fitter) under the guidance of Bhaskar Dahatonde (Pimpri Depot Manager) and Rajkumar Mane (DME) this idea came into existence and was successfully executed.

As the cleaning performance of this innovation was excellent, this bus was also sent to clean BRT bus stops and routes during the G20 Summit.

PMPML heartily appreciates this innovative creation and ideation by our employees.

पीएमपीएमएलचे बीआरटी बस थांबे सध्यापर्यंत फक्त झाडून साफ केले जात होते, परंतु बसस्थानकाचा प्रत्येक कोपरा पूर्णपणे स्वच्छ करण्यासाठी पीएमपीएमएलमधील कर्मचाऱ्यांना जुन्या बसला चालत्या फिरत्या उच्च दाबाच्या स्वछता प्रणालीमध्ये रूपांतरित करण्याची कल्पना सुचली.

हि कल्पना सत्यात उतरविण्यासाठी पिंपरी आगाराचे आगार व्यवस्थापक भास्कर दहातोंडे व पिंपरी आगार अभियंता राजकुमार माने यांच्या मार्गदर्शनाखाली बेंच फिटर बाबासाहेब मुलाणी यांनी आटोकाट प्रयत्न करून टाकाऊ साहित्या पासून सर्व्हिस व्हॅन मध्ये ‘फिरते वॉशिंग सेंटर’ तयार केले व त्याचे यशस्वी प्रात्यक्षिक घेतले.

या प्रणालीच्या अत्यंत उत्कृष्ट कामगिरीमुळे जी२० परिषदेदरम्यान बीआरटी बस थांबे व मार्गांची स्वछता करण्यासाठी या यंत्रणेचा वापर करण्यात आला.

आमच्या कर्मचार्‍यांच्या या नाविन्यपूर्ण निर्मितीचे आणि कल्पनेचे पीएमपीएमएलतर्फे मनस्वी अभिनंदन.

PMPML

The vehicle is fitted with a 1 horsepower (1 HP) motor, a 2,000 litre Sintex tank and a service pipe. The bus is then driven to the bus stop and pressure washed.

According to Shri Mulani, Dahatonde, and Mane, the plan is convert older buses of the depot to such cleaning vehicles and use it to keep bus stops across the twin cities clean. A trial was conducted at the Akurdi BRTS stop. Passengers too appreciated the clean bus stop.

The rear of the PMPML Washing Service Van of the Pimpri Depot (Screengrab from PMPML's video) — The rear of the PMPML Washing Service Van of the Pimpri Depot (Screengrab from PMPML’s video)

Truly a good time to say, What an Idea, sirjee!

Note: These buses are the same buses that I had referred to as Udaan Khatara in 2015. You can read more about how the PMPML cleaned up its act here: Buses in Pune: How the PMPML managed to clean up its act

Also Read: As Transit Fans Celebrate Ashwini Bhide’s Return, Let Us Not Forget Shrikar Paradeshi, Who Turned Around PMPML’s Fortunes

Featured Image: The PMPML Washing Service Van of the Pimpri Depot (Screengrab from PMPML’s video)

Path To Inconvenience: Review Of Vogo E-Scooters After Two Months

The network of electric scooters by Vogo rentals has successfully spread to the city of Thane, thereby going beyond the Mumbai Suburban district. The fleet has crossed around 1,130 so far while more scooters will be added as time passes. At the Economic Times Urban Mobility Summit, Shri Lokesh Chandra (General Manager of BEST) shared the aim of taking the fleet of e-bikes to 5,000 on one hand, while the BEST undertaking is gearing up to add 3,000 electric buses on other hand. As mentioned in the earlier article regarding Vogo rides, it was too early to judge a recently introduced service. For first impressions, you can read the article here.

After two months of usage, it is time to put forth an updated review highlighting both the pros and cons. We will cover it section-wise, below.

Speed and Pricing

New Version of E-Scooters procured in Mumbai that still have an issue of not going beyond 20kmph (Gandharva Purohit for BESTpedia)

When started, Vogo electric scooters were charging ₹2 per minute with vehicles touching a maximum speed of 25 km/hr. In December 2022, the prices were increased to ₹2.5 per minute for up to 30 minutes and ₹3 per minute after the first 30 minutes. The speed was locked at 20km/hr while some vehicles did not even exceed 15km/hr. The reason behind highlighting this is, a user is charged ₹2.5 per minute and driving at a low speed takes more time to cover a specific distance which costs additional charges at the end. This issue has been merely acknowledged by Vogo but appropriate action has not been taken to this day. The newly acquired scooters too are restricted to 20km/hr.

(Clockwise) Another scooter with Brake broken. Another scooter with Controls missing. A scooter with missing Headlamp

(Gandharva Purohit for BESTpedia) — (Clockwise) Another scooter with Brake broken. Another scooter with Controls missing. A scooter with missing Headlamp
(Gandharva Purohit for BESTpedia)

In a conversation with their support executive, the clarification behind the increase in fares was explained as “a step taken considering the market prices and several other factors which cannot be disclosed on a phone call.” A solution to this, “if the prices can’t be reduced, then at least make sure that max speed is kept up to 25km/hr” was taken as feedback to be escalated to the respective department.

Maintenance

(Top) A scooter with Accelerator Handle, Horn Broken & Fittings missing.
(Bottom) A scooter with exposed wiring & handled not aligned with the wheel.

(Gandharva Purohit for BESTpedia) — (Top) A scooter with Accelerator Handle, Horn Broken & Fittings missing.
(Bottom) A scooter with exposed wiring & handled not aligned with the wheel.
(Gandharva Purohit for BESTpedia)

A scooter should have three components to be checked while commencing a ride – accelerator, brakes, and the horn. Acceleration up to 25km/hr is necessary since the scooters cannot go beyond their limit. Brakes are necessary to avoid collision and a horn is necessary to drive through busy streets. Since the scooters are parked on side of the road, they are vulnerable to accumulating dust and get dirty due to birds defecating from above. Further, driving a scooter will end up with wear and tear after some time even if driven with care. In this case, proper maintenance is the only way to keep vehicles safe to be driven again. After every ride, phone calls from customer support started becoming irritative when I realised, they did not read the feedback explaining the low rating being given. The reported scooters are unattended for days, causing a safety threat to future users. The funny part is the batteries are changed regularly, but certain scooters are not checked to ensure their roadworthiness.

Scooter getting the Battery Swapped at the Vogo Station near Kelkar College, Mulund (East) (Gandharva Purohit for BESTpedia)

To help recover the abandoned scooters, Vogo started a Bounty Hunter contest where consumers win credit points that can be redeemed for Vogo rides in the future. For getting points, one needs to search for the missing scooter within 200 metres of the given location on the map. I searched four locations but did not find a single missing scooter.

Left: BLR00380 - An e-scooter that was abandoned near the Mulund Railway Station (E) Bus Stop for Weeks.
Right: BLR01044 abandoned at the VOGO Station near Cadbury Junction, Thane.

(Gandharva Purohit for BESTpedia) — Left: BLR00380 – An e-scooter that was abandoned near the Mulund Railway Station (E) Bus Stop for Weeks.
Right: BLR01044 abandoned at the VOGO Station near Cadbury Junction, Thane.
(Gandharva Purohit for BESTpedia)

Refund

I never thought this part would have to be covered in a separate section considering the flawless service by Vogo at the beginning. After having an issue when the ride exceeds the time limit for cancellation, one was able to end the ride and apply for a refund. But in the recent few weeks, even demanding a refund for the same issue has turned out to be a pain. It seems like the team is dependent on phone calls which cannot be an ideal way of communication since a user may not necessarily be available to speak once the ride is over. Customer Care contact for users could have been a solution to establish better communication but the firm does exactly the opposite. Only Vogo’s team being able to call its customers is the root cause behind breakdowns not getting properly attended. A scooter with flat tyre does not come to one’s notice until they are driven on road. However, by the time you hit the road and notice that it is necessary to dock this vehicle back to where it was taken, the timer goes on charging you ₹2.5 per minute. Sometimes, things do get escalated into an argument with the firm to initiate a payment. I have personally come across other consumers schooling Customer Support.

Conclusion

Vogo Scooter parked along with Coo Rides bicycle on a footpath outside Joshi Bedekar College, Thane (Gandharva Purohit for BESTpedia)

Vogo started as the cheapest electric scooter service in Mumbai, but things started going south when tonnes of feedback ended up on the phone calls and didn’t show any improvement in the service. Every feedback ends with Customer Support apologising for the inconvenience caused, but their apology is of no use if the service is not improved at all. What I have observed at the ground level is two guys on personal bikes, swapping the batteries of every possible electric scooter daily and explaining to everyone how to use the service. The ground staff seems stressed out while working in the heat which decreases their interest in work.

Left: Scooter with a Brake Broken (Literally).
Centre: Wires connected to Accelerator exposed.
Right: Under age kids handling the Electric Scooter in presence of Ground Staff.

(Gandharva Purohit for BESTpedia) — Left: Scooter with a Brake Broken (Literally).
Centre: Wires connected to Accelerator exposed.
Right: Under age kids handling the Electric Scooter in presence of Ground Staff.
(Gandharva Purohit for BESTpedia)

Since Vogo has expanded its network to Thane, the expectations are still high and they haven’t sorted out the earlier issue of delivering value for money. India is a price-competitive market where consumers prefer saving money along with getting services that justify their costs. The electric scooters cost more than a bus ticket but less than an auto rickshaw (that charges by the fare meter). If anybody from Vogo is reading this, please pay a visit to the stations and look at the condition of all the parked e-scooters. The educated class in metropolitan cities is well aware of how to handle new technology. Poor infrastructure for parking makes these vehicles look as if they were stuffed into random places. With new vehicles joining the fleet, Vogo can push its network beyond the limits of Thane City but before attracting new customers, the firm should focus on maintaining its existing ones.

A call for help from BEST bus passengers

It is equally the responsibility of BEST to either keep Vogo operational or stop it. Since these scooters now carry the logo of Mumbai’s public transporter, poor service will spoil the image of both Vogo and BEST altogether. The bus fleet expansion is a concern where BEST needs to act as soon as possible since 2023 is the year when more Tata CNG Buses along with the Bharat Stage 3 double-decker buses would reach end of life, without having an adequate volume of replacement available at this moment. The dwindling bus fleet is affecting the frequency and can be only dealt with by procuring more brand-new Buses to keep the service running. A fare hike in the future can be done by adding more fare slabs of 5 kilometre each, beyond the maximum fare of ₹20 and ₹25, up to maximum fares of ₹40 & ₹50. Prices of the daily pass can be increased by ₹10. This can help passengers use the bus service and assure BEST Undertaking that routes are not running at a loss due to lower fares for long distances.

Note: This article is aimed to throw light on the ground reality in Mumbai Metropolitan Region and does not intend to spread any kind of hate about any organisation. Every citizen deserves to get better Public Transport and we at BESTpedia are committed to reporting both sides of a coin.

Have you used a Vogo to get to a BEST bus? Do tell us your experience in the comments section.

Also Read:

Solution Or Diversion? A Review Of Vogo E-Scooters In Mumbai

I took a Rapido to work today, and now I want the government to legalize bike taxis

Featured Image: Vogo E-Scooters parked near Duncan Company, Mulund West (Gandharva Purohit for BESTpedia)

NCMC Is Here; But Problems Will Persist

Public transit in India has a problem of plenty, on multiple levels. Plenty of obstacles, that is.

Obstacles, such as lack of political will to plan and execute projects at the state level, the Not-In-My-Backyard (NIMBY) syndrome among persons who may or may not be affected by a planned project, a militant civil society, among various others.

One of these obstacles also include the variety of fare collection media. Most cities of India have not been able to replicate successful projects, like Oyster (London), Octopus (Hong Kong), Nol (Dubai), OMNY (New York), on their public transit systems, demonstrating a lack of coordination between the different public transit system operators. Most of such attempts – such as the GO MUMBAI card, designed for a single ticketing system on the BEST and the Mumbai Local – failed miserably, due to the transit operators’ resistance, or a half-baked product, or a private contractor lacking the required expertise to support the project, etc, or a mix of all of them^[1]. Although, to be fair, the public transit systems in cities like London, Hong Kong, Dubai, New York etc are run directly or indirectly by a unified city-level transit agency, like Transport for London, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York), Roads and Transport Authority (Dubai) and MTR Corporation (Hong Kong) – something which, as conventional wisdom suggests, may be in the realm of impossibility in India.

A national common mobility card had been on the drawing board since 2010. The card was titled “More” – a reference to the peacock – and was first launched in Delhi, for unified payments on the Delhi Metro and DTC buses. This too, failed, due to a lack of effort from all stakeholders. Delhi Metro, DTC and the Rapid Metro Gurgaon now have the ONE DELHI card, a closed-loop system.

In view of the failures of the past on this front, the Modi government launched the National Common Mobility Card in 2019, with a different approach this time. This time, banks too were involved in the project, and so was the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)^[2]. Under this new approach, NCMC wasn’t launched as one card, but as a set of technological standards developed by Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), and the NPCI, to be adopted by all transit operators and projects, who are free to choose their own issuer and acquirer banks to run their respective fare collection and management projects. NCMCs mandatorily have to be RuPay contactless cards issued by banks – debit, credit or prepaid – making them eligible to be used for purposes other than public transit fares too.^[3] Due to them being RuPay cards issued by banks, it is easy to scale up operations for public transit systems not using automated fare collection (AFC) systems, such as buses.

While now is the closest India has ever come to a truly “national” common mobility card, there is still a long way to go. Cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, continue to be very heavily reliant on suburban railway services operated by the concerned zones of the Indian Railways, by using legacy infrastructure. Most importantly, suburban railways, like the mainline long-distance operations, use the proof-of-payment system (PoP) for fare collection. The PoP system entails passengers buying tickets from the ticket windows or online (through the UTS app), and then using the train. The only fare control system, in this case, are random checks by ticket examining staff onboard or at the destination. Most of the times, these random checks are limited to AC trains, and the first-class carriages on non-AC trains. Thus, this makes for a highly inefficient mode of fare collection, control and management, due to the high possibility of fare evasion by passengers.

However, there seems to be no viable alternative to PoP systems on suburban railways. While suburban rail systems currently under construction, such as K-RIDE’s Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project, can adopt the AFC systems, changing the fare collection system on existing systems, and that too, heavily-used systems like the Mumbai Suburban Railway, may prove to be difficult without rebuilding the system from the ground up. Moreover, due to there being different fare classes and products (single journey tickets, return journey tickets, season tickets for first and second class, and also the luggage compartment), converting to AFC systems is all the more difficult.

[1] R. Aklekar, Mumbai’s experiment with smart card fails, DNA (04/01/2010), available at https://www.dnaindia.com/speak-up/report-mumbai-s-experiment-with-smart-card-fails-1447695, last seen on 26/01/2023.

[2] https://www.npci.org.in/PDF/npci/rupay/2020/Concept_Note_Implementation_of_RuPay_qSPARC_based_NCMC%20v2.1.pdf

[3] https://www.npci.org.in/what-we-do/rupay-contactless/live-members

Featured Image: Mumbai One and Chalo NCMC (Photo: Gandharva Purohit, Used with Permission)

Also Read: American Elections Are Like Indian Transport: Fragmented

India Hands Over 75 Buses To Cash-Strapped Sri Lanka

As part of its Neighbourhood First policy, the Government of India has handed over 75 buses to crisis-hit Sri Lanka to be used in its public transport system. This is the first installment of 500 buses that India is supplying to its island neighbour.

In December 2022, India supplied 125 Mahindra Scorpio vehicles under a line of credit to the Sri Lanka Police due to a non-availability of vehicles in the island nation which had posed mobility issues for law enforcement. A total of 500 such units have been promised by India.

This is not the first time India has donated buses to its neighbours. Earlier, India had donated around 1,000 buses to war-torn Afghanistan as it was rebuilding itself after the war with the Taliban. The buses were primarily operated in Kabul as Milli Bus and also included buses donated from Iran and Japan. Under the National Institution Building Project of the United Nations Development Fund, India also established a maintenance department and Tata Motors trained officers and engineers in the maintenance of buses and driving skills. The Milli Bus service was established in the 1920s and even operated a Trolleybus system in Kabul in 1979 but most of its infrastructure and depots were damaged due to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1992.

The Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) operates buses all over the island nation. Buses are known for their distinctive red livery with a blue stripe running across the centre. Most of the buses are manufactured by either Ashok Leyland’s subsidiary Lanka Ashok Leyland or Tata Motors in India and exported. In fact, back in 2015, I remember seeing an SLTB-designated bus (albeit sans registration) on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

Apart from this, the SLTB also operates a few luxury air-conditioned buses. Some of them are light purple in colour (unlike them Purple Faeries of BEST) and are manufactured by Zhengzhou, Henan-based Yutong.

YUTONG ZK6930H Luxury bus from SLTB Super Luxury Tourist Transport Service

SLTB also operates (this time in red), buses manufactured by King Long! Imagine if these buses were the ones in purple instead. It would have been so hilarious. Here is a pic of a King Long bus that the SLTB has.

ND-8709 Mawanella Depot King Long - XMQ6127CY B+ type Bus at Makumbura in 04.07.2019

The SLTB also had a tie-up with the country’s largest telecom provider Dialog Axiata to enable Dialog’s contactless payments system Dialog Touch Travel on select SLTB buses in Colombo.

If you want to know of another story where India helped not only its neighbours but over half the world in times of need, do read the book Braving The Viral Storm: India’s Covid-19 Vaccine Story by Aashish Chandorkar and Suraj Sudhir. You can buy the book on Amazon below:

Featured Image: Lanka Ashok Leyland SLTB bus near Piradeniya on the Galle-Colombo route by Shankar S.

A Review Of BEST’s Chalo Bus On Day One

The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking’s long-awaited app-based premium bus service finally hit the roads on 12 December 2022. The bus was launched at the launch event of Switch EiV22 (India’s First Electric Double Decker) at Y.B. Chavan Centre, Nariman Point. After a long gap of 12 years, BEST has finally received a new batch of Ashok Leyland buses, in the form of the EiV12. The first four of 200 buses (ordered) were deployed between Lodha Splendora, Bhayanderpada to Maker Maxity, Jio World Drive in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). This service is managed by Chalo Mobility in association with BEST. I turned out fortunate to explore this service on Day One and present an in-depth review.

You can watch a video on this on my Youtube channel below:

Route

To begin with, this route was originally diverted via Neelkanth Greens, Vasant Vihar, Devdaya Nagar and J K Gram before entering the Eastern Express Highway. After Mithagar, Mulund (East), its next stop was directly at Equinox Business Park on LBS Marg and the route went via the Santacruz – Chembur Link Road (yes, the ride was a nightmare). The bus used to give a tour of BKC which was way too time-consuming. But it was all fixed in the same week by omitting the Thane detour and taking the bus directly through the Majiwada Flyover to Eastern Express Highway. The later part was modified by taking the BKC Connector, instead of SCLR.

Pricing

This is not a regular bus. To understand the passenger market it serves, one needs to analyse the premium service segment served by players like MYLO, CityFlo, Kommute, etc. The intention of running it fully reserved is to ditch standing in crowded buses and thus the premium fares. The end-to-end ticket of S101 was ₹205 on the Thane – BKC route and that of S102 was ₹50 on the Bandra – BKC route. Later, there were some changes in the fare chart, so please do refer to the Chalo App for the same. Apart from one-way tickets, various bus pass plans were announced by BEST along with the first ride for free (which I utilised on my way home from BKC). There is also a trial pass to claim five long distance trips at the cost of ₹20 per trip. Your unused rides get added up on the next pass, giving an absolute value for money.

Facilities

To serve the purpose of premium fares, these buses come with the capacity to carry 42 passengers in a 2×2 configuration. All the seats can recline up to 45° and come with a USB power outlet. The armrests are adjustable. Once a ticket is booked, a Booking ID is generated, and the live location of the bus is regularly updated. A seat can be reserved even if the bus is five minutes away and gets authenticated through the bus driver feeding it in the system.

Interiors of the Chalo Bus (Photo: GP Busfanning)

Experience

My first ride in S101 was more or less an adventure. Several passengers boarded the bus with the first ride being offered to them, for free. A staff member from Chalo was onboard, guiding both the driver about roads and passengers about the App. It took an hour for the bus to finish its BKC Tour where in LBS Marg and SCLR were waiting to welcome us with traffic congestion. After skipping the Ghatkopar flyover, our bus ran into issues as the steering felt heavy and all of a sudden, the AC stopped functioning. The driver pulled over to check the issue while passengers onboard had already begun taunting about the capacity of Electric Buses. To our luck, the issue was resolved within 10mins, and we were back on our way to Thane.

Looking at Traffic from the driver's seat (GP Busfanning) — Looking at Traffic from the driver’s seat (GP Busfanning)

Conclusion

The service has great potential to expand. In a way, it can also bring the bygone AC Super Routes of BEST by covering long distances. After a hectic day, one can relax on the way home since the bus has ambient lighting that can be dimmed in the evening. More routes are considered for operating the Chalo Bus, like Thane – Powai, BKC – Kharghar and Chembur – Cuffe Parade. Some of these might be operational soon as new buses arrive in January 2023.

It’s great to see BEST fighting back with the competitors in the premium segment but the fleet expansion for its routes is still a burning topic. The upcoming year will test BEST in its struggle for existence. More than 2,500 Buses are not delivered on one hand, while the Leyland Lynx Midi and TATA CNGs are soon going to end their shelf-life. Another route rationalization (like 1 September 2021) will be a pain for passengers.

Ashok Leyland's Old CNG Bus vs Ashok Leyland's Switch Electric Bus — Ashok Leyland’s Old CNG Bus vs Ashok Leyland’s Switch Electric Bus

Also Read:

The curious case of BEST and its AC buses

Tussle For The Big League: Olectra Greentech Wins Tender While Tata Motors Move Court

Chalo, Aage Badho: Getting Familiar With BEST’s New App For Tickets

BEST Has A Problem That Needs To Be Solved, Writes A Transit Fan

Featured Image: Chalo Bus (Photo: GP Busfanning)

Mumbai Needs More Fire Stations; Just Look At Andheri

Okay, this might sound odd but one please do read on. It’s been over seven years since I wrote on anything related to Fire and Emergency Services. Interestingly, the only time I wrote on the subject was a poem about a firetruck (linked at the bottom).

Anyhow, getting back on topic, one thing off late I’ve noticed is an increasing number of fires in Mumbai, especially in and around Andheri. I was having a conversation on this matter with the friendly folks at the Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Association (ALOCA) because a fire broke out earlier in the day (18 December) at a building near Lokhandwala Circle.

I just did a Twitter search for the world “fire” from ALOCA’s Twitter account and I counted no fewer than five fires in 2022 that they had reported. Now, the nearest fire station is the Andheri Fire Station that is located on Swami Vivekananda Road (SV Road) near Irla, approximately 1km south of Andheri station. The next fire station is the Goregaon Fire Station that lies behind the Goregaon/Oshiwara bus depots. Andheri East is served by the Marol Fire Station that is located at Marol Naka.

A cursory search revealed that the K-East and K-West wards were the most populated wards as per the 2001 census. Assuming a uniform growth rate, that would mean that the K wards remain among the most populated regions in the city.

Now I was reading up a report on Hindustan Times about a fire that took place in early 2022 at the Chitrakoot grounds on Link Road between DN Nagar and Lokhandwala. A film set caught fire resulting in the death of a 32-year old labourer. Now what is interesting is that a portion of the grounds was reserved to build the Mumbai Fire Brigade’s Ambivali Fire Station as part of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai’s (MCGM) Development Plan for 2034.

The plot in question belongs to the state government and in 2009 the MCGM had issued a commencement certificate to a private developer for construction of the fire station but it had since been cancelled due to a delay (or as we know it better, no action) on the part of the developer. The developer meanwhile has taken the entire plot on lease from the state government.

Due to heavy traffic in the region, which has now gone up since the closure of the Gokhale Bridge (one road closure has ripple effects, remember), it can take anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour for a fire tender to reach the Lokhandwala region which has numerous high-rises, malls, and shopping centres in the locality. The plot was reserved for a fire station over 20 years ago.

The plot meanwhile is used for a variety of commercial purposes from weddings to film shoots to cricket turfs and what not. Rents are lucrative too, and I have been told that cricket alone fetches anywhere upwards of ₹10,000 an hour.

With the polls to the MCGM looming, right now is the time to make noise about this. When political parties announce their respective candidates, please approach them and make sure that they promise it in their manifesto. That is the first step. If the candidate isn’t approachable, then it’s best you vote for someone else. Given that the Mayor of Mumbai has been from the Shiv Sena from 1996, I’d say there is limited scope of getting them to build one. Approach your MLA, especially if they’re part of the government. Andheri West residents, please approach Ameet Satam the local MLA while Versova residents please approach Dr Bharti Lavekar, both of whom are part of the ruling government. The advantage of having staggered elections is that if the person who you voted for in the MCGM isn’t doing good, you can avoid voting for them in the general election to the Parliament or the Legislative Assembly.

If you’re interested in reading the poem I wrote on a Firetruck, you can read it here: The Little Red Firetruck

Featured Image: MAN Firetruck of the Mumbai Fire Brigade at JVPD Circle (Photo: Srikanth Ramakrishnan/BESTpedia)

BEST Gets Better: Premium AC Chalo Bus Service To Start

Adding another feather in its cap, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking will soon start premium air-conditioned buses in the city.

These new buses will be single-door electric buses manufactured by Ashok Leyland’s subsidiary Switch Mobility. Branded as Chalo Bus, they will be dark blue in colour with an orange livery. The bus will not feature any standees and commuters will have to book tickets upfront via the Chalo app. Buses will feature USB ports for charging devices, live tracking and will only stop if a reservation from the stop exists. Commuters will have subscription plans available as well as flexibility in scheduling and canceling.

As part of the first phase, four buses will hit the streets on 12 December 2022 with two routes that will run from Monday to Saturday.

Express Route: This route will run from Thane to Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) every 30 mins between 7am and 8.30am and in the reverse direction between 5.30pm and 7pm.

All-Day Route: This route will run from Bandra Station to BKC 8.50am and 5.50pm and in the reverse direction from 9.25pm to 6.25pm.

This makes BEST the first city in India to have a premium bus service that is entirely electric.

BEST has announced plans to launch 200 more such buses.

As of now, it is unknown which depot these buses will be housed at and whether they will be operated by Switch’s mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) subsidiary OHM Global Mobility.

I am personally disappointed by BEST’s decision to not stick to its ubiquitous red colour. The colour scheme is eerily reminiscent of BEST’s Purple Faeries. Another factor that makes me sceptical is the timings of the bus. By not operating on Sundays and restricting operations between 8am and 6pm, BEST is focusing only on one section of the userbase. If BEST is really looking at taking on cabs and auto-rickshaws, it needs to operate for longer periods and also operate on Sundays, predominantly to attract the touristy crowd.

Interestingly, a decade ago, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) experimented with its now defunct Shivneri Corporate service. It used its existing Shivneri fleet of Volvo B7Rs as a point-to-point service from Kandivali to BKC.

Let’s hope BEST succeeds with the Chalo Bus.

Gurugram too has tried out something similar. Gurugaman Plus: You Can Now Book Seats On Select Gurgaon City Buses With Uber

To understand the problems with BEST’s earlier AC buses, do read this: The curious case of BEST and its AC buses

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