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)
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)
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 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)

Loading

Flattr this!

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

Loading

Flattr this!

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.

Loading

Flattr this!

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.

Chalo Bus (Photo: GP Busfanning)
Chalo Bus (Photo: GP Busfanning)

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.

Fares on the Chalo Bus
Fares on the Chalo Bus

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)
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.

S101 from Thane to BKC (GP Busfanning)
S101 from Thane to BKC (GP Busfanning)

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)

Loading

Flattr this!

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)

Loading

Flattr this!

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.

Fare for the new Chalo Bus
Fare for the new Chalo Bus

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

Loading

Flattr this!

The Future Of Transport Is Here, And It Isn’t What You Think It Is

This is a rather long article. I’d recommend you please read the entire thing before cursing me. Also, where I have begged you to click a link and read, please do?

Not too long ago, we were fed an idea of this futuristic transport system that was really high-speed in nature and had the potential to disrupt the very way we imagined commuting. The idea was so radical that we were even told that it could go up to 1220 km/hr (760 miles apparently). Imagine that. Imagine doing Mumbai to Chennai in a little over an hour. You could have Kande Pohe for breakfast, take a ride, go have some filter coffee and then get back to work.

This radical idea even had a radically different name – one which made no sense whatsoever – the Hyperloop. Of course, while billions of dollars were spent in various proposals, with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) even going so far as setting up a Centre of Excellence for Hyperloop Technology (CoEHT) at IITM to develop the Avishkar Hyperloop, it eventually was reported that SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk allegedly came up with the Vactrain-based concept to scuttle the California High-Speed Rail project. While I may not be the best to judge on this matter, the Hyperloop sadly has not evolved into a real thing, at least not yet. Till then, here’s Elon Musk’s napkin sketch of what his interpretation of George Medhurst’s 1799 concept looks like.

Elon Musk's napkin sketch of the Hyperloop
Elon Musk’s napkin sketch of the Hyperloop

A few years later, came another idea, again from Musk. This time, he got stuck in traffic and decided that he would bore his way out. And so he set about creating a very Boring venture. No, really, he started the Boring Company.

It all sounded good, and then it became essentially a system of tunnels for cars. I had written about it too, back then. Read about it here. Two years later amidst criticism, he announced that the system would prioritise public transport and those without cars. I wrote about that too. You can read it here, on Swarajya.

I think the culmination of Elon Musk’s boring idea and my idle mind during the lockdown, combined with the utter antipathy from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vinash Vikash Aghadi government resulted in me writing one of my most blockbuster satire stories ever: In the absence of a depot, Mumbai Metro 3 to run BEST buses in the tunnel. But clearly, it didn’t go anywhere. Here is a picture of the Las Vegas Convention Centre (LVVC) Loop built by TBC.

Las Vegas Convention Centre (LVVC) Loop
Las Vegas Convention Centre (LVVC) Loop

Musk (again, yes, I know) then came up with a concept from the spaceX Starship called the BFR, aka the Big Falcon Rocket, aka the Big Fucking Rocket (as he said it) which he claimed could be used to do a trip from Delhi to Tokyo in 30 minutes. Not a bad idea, but it will probably take you twice that to get to Delhi Airport or wherever a rocket from Delhi would take off. Of course, this means Chhole Bhature for breakfast and Sushi for lunch. Win-win no? Here is a picture of that too.

SpaceX illustration of the 2018 Big Falcon Rocket at stage separation
SpaceX illustration of the 2018 Big Falcon Rocket at stage separation

Now, after boring you for nearly 500 words about Elon Musk, let me bring you to what I really wanted to talk about.

For those of you who are fans of Rowan Atkinson, you might already have an idea of what I am going to talk about. No, I’m not talking about the alien spaceship from Mr Bean. I’m not talking about The Thin Blue Line, Blackadder or the Glass Elevator from Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. If you’ve seen Johnny English Reborn, you know what I’m talking about.

The future of transportation comes from Volkswagen. Yes, the same company that was founded by acolytes of a certain Adolf Hitler, disabled their vehicles’ emission control systems outside of test environments (fondly known as Dieselgate or Emissionsgate) and recently became the choice of Charmed actress Alyssa Milano who ditched her Tesla for a WV in support of free speech and to reject hatred and what not. I could go on but describing a libbu is tedious work.

Volkswagen Norway’s Commercial Vehicles team designed the as-yet unnamed device, the office chair. You know what they said about it?

The chair is designed to give those who work in an office a feeling of what it’s like to have a car from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles as your workplace. You can drive, honk and listen to music – even signal as you take a turn into a meeting room.

Volkswagen

Oh yeah! The chair is here.

Volkswagen Office Chair
Volkswagen Office Chair

The chair can do around 20 km/hr and has a detachable battery and can do up to 12km on a full charge. Now that’s a bit of a let down, if you ask me. But this is indeed the future of transportation. And while people like me predicted six years ago that Handicar would be the future (at this point, I urge you to click this link, read and laugh, please), it turns out Eric Cartman sitting on a mobility scooter is closer to reality.

Eric Cartman on a Mobility Scooter
Eric Cartman on a Mobility Scooter

This is quite a breakthrough. Unfortunately, fans of super agent Johnny English may not be able to quite replicate what he did with the wheelchair with the WVchair. See what I did there? No? Me neither.

If you don’t remember what Agent English did, here is a visual reminder of what Agent English did.

However, this is a breakthrough. A major major breakthrough. Why, you ask? It’s simple. Whenever a company does something that is different from what it actually does, the results are interesting. Imagine if Apple manufactured a jetpack (or something similar, as Aapil Sathukudinathan discovered here, please read) or if Microsoft built software to count vehicles at Toll Plazas (oh wait, that was Traf-O-Data) or McDonald’s used the excess fat from their kitchen to power vehicles. This is as significant as Rolls Royce manufacturing honey! No kidding here though, Rolls Royce actually sold honey from bees at their apiary.

Rolls Royce Honey
Rolls Royce Honey

So get ready. Get ready to ditch every mode of public and private transport that you have ever used in your life. It’s time for you to embrace the sedentary lifestyle of a software engineer and sit on your chair all day long as you go from one place to another.

If you’re on Twitter, do share this link and tag Elon Musk. Maybe he might invest in my potential transport-based startup. And also ask him to restore my old Twitter account, given his talks on free speech.

Featured Image: City of future composition. Image by macrovector on Freepik.

Loading

Flattr this!

BEST Sees 30 Per Cent Reduction In Cost Per Kilometre Under Wet-Lease Model

At a presentation made by the World Resources Institute (WRI India) at the Urban Mobility India conference, it was reported that the cost-per-kilometre had come down by 30 per cent for buses of the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking.

As per a report in Economic Times, out of the 3,619 buses in BEST’s fleet, 48 per cent is wet-leased under the Gross Cost Contract (GCC) model. BEST officials say that the GCC model has helped them reduce losses by close to ₹400 crore a year.

The report added that cities that don’t have the resources or expertise required to operate an efficient public transport system can look at the GCC model, currently being trialed in tier-2 cities in Maharashtra and also with buses of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC).

WRI’s report added that Indian cities would need to invest ₹7.5 lakh crore by 2030 on bus transport to meet the demand. It opined that the current outlay of 60,000 buses in urban areas was inadequate and at least 1.3 lakh buses would be needed to meet the demand. It also stated that integration of public transport networks, including buses, trains and metro rail could create new employment opportunities.

On the subject of electric mobility, Maharashtra is among the top three states, collectively accounting for 72 per cent of electric buses operational across the country. Mumbai alone has 403 electric buses, making it the highest among all metro cities.

Featured Image: Bus A252 at Andheri Station (Photo clicked in 2019 by Srikanth Ramakrishnan/BESTpedia)

Loading

Flattr this!

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

Well, this might be too early to judge a product that has been newly introduced but I am concluding this after testing it for two weeks. Frequent interactions through time-to-time feedback and testing all the components from speed to brakes and acceleration, this is an in-depth review of my experience with Vogo in Mumbai.

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport (BEST) Undertaking introduced electric scooters, aiming to provide last mile connectivity to passengers from bus stops to their homes. The service is provided by Vogo, a Bengaluru-based start-up running rental services through their App. Services was introduced in Andheri at first and slowly reached Mulund by November.

VOGO Scooters parked at Salviwadi, Mithagar Road, Mulund East (Photo: Gandharva Purohit for BESTpedia)
VOGO Scooters parked at Salviwadi, Mithagar Road, Mulund East (Photo: Gandharva Purohit for BESTpedia)

Overview

The tariff for renting an E-Scooter was earlier set as ₹3 per km, but later changed to ₹2 per minute. The app gives you around a minute or two to cancel the ride in the beginning but if in case you fail to do so, you are charged with the basic fare of ₹2. Now the catch is, if you are stuck in traffic or at a signal for a long time, the timer goes on ticking & ₹2 per minute continues to be charged in your fare (just like the waiting charge of an auto rickshaw would go). The scooters in use are White Carbon O3 – manufactured by Gandhinagar-based White Carbon Motors – that have the capacity to run up to 45 kilometre on a full charge. The top speed of this scooter is 25 km/hr which exempts riders from needing driving licence as per laws set for driving electric two wheelers in India. However, when it comes to handling it, one should have an experience of driving two-wheelers (which I do) to operate this vehicle. The acceleration and braking is good and the most importantly – the scooter comes with a loud horn – quite an essential element to drive on city roads.

A promotional coupon handed over by the staff with new fares to be brought into effect soon (Photo: Gandharva Purohit for BESTpedia)
A promotional coupon handed over by the staff with new fares to be brought into effect soon (Photo: Gandharva Purohit for BESTpedia)

While I was initially unsure whether the batteries are swappable or not – they are, the scooter has a charging port right below the seat. Talking of the seat, it can only accommodate the driver, while there is a grab handle behind. Other variants of this vehicle come up with a carrier or a boot at the rear. The vehicle has keyless entry and gets locked/unlocked through the mobile app. One needs to ensure that both Bluetooth and mobile data are active when using the app.

Payments can be made by linking either an Ola money wallet, Amazon Pay or PayTM (which didn’t link successfully in my case) or paying a ₹100 refundable deposit in order to use other modes of digital payment like Net Banking, Credit or Debit Cards, or UPI. As of now, there is no tariff plan for a monthly or quarterly basis (a subscription plan), but I did suggest that they introduce one in the feedback. A recent chat with one of their ground staff ended with an update with Vogo switching to old fare chart of ₹3 per kilometre for near future.

Operations

A cutout pasted on the VOGO Station near C.D. Deshmukh Garden, Mulund East (Photo: Gandharva Purohit for BESTpedia)
A cutout pasted on the VOGO Station near C.D. Deshmukh Garden, Mulund East (Photo: Gandharva Purohit for BESTpedia)

As per sources, the service centre for these scooters is located at Vikhroli which takes care of the electric scooters in the region from Ghatkopar to Mulund. The company has a tie-up with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) that gives them freedom to operate and park within the city. The app comes with a specific section for raising a refund request in case a challan is issued or the user has paid for the breakdown repair. In this case, the customer support executive is available on chat. Raising a grievance does take time since the mobile app is a bit complicated while finding the reasons to file a grievance. If you have an active ride at the moment of complaint, get ready to pay for the time that you wait. While ending the ride, the app asks to upload a picture of the landmark where vehicle is parked. While clicking the picture and uploading, it takes another minute wherein the user is charged an additional ₹2.

My experience after using the product-service

Fare breakdown of a ride
Fare breakdown of a ride

For the last two weeks, I have tested this product to its full potential just like how it tested my patience (more on that, later). The first ride was as smooth as butter, but it took time for me to finish the payment. One ride turned out to be tragic when the scooter I unlocked, was stolen by someone else. I was charged for the ride despite not driving the vehicle, for which raising a refund request took a week. Another tragic incident happened when I locked a scooter for some work and later on, it refused to unlock. I wasted a nice 20 minutes just trying to start the scooter but had to report a breakdown in the end. Luckily a refund was initiated quickly once the issue was brought to their notice.

My first ride started from a main road and went through the busy and narrow market road near the railway station. Traffic and pedestrians were the biggest obstacles here but thanks to the quick braking, I did not end up hitting any of them. The next ride, I took it across a rail-over-bridge, testing its ability to climb gradients. While I was earlier driving at 25 km/hr, the speed did not come down below 20km/hr while climbing. Taking the difficulty to next level, I did test it on a highway. Unfortunately, the scooter I was riding was locked to 20km/hr, so it was a boring ride. That day, I started from Tata Colony, Mulund for Nahur Railway Station, a route that has a two-minute-long signal at Bhandup Pumping Centre on its way. The wait at the traffic signal was the worst part since it added more to the fare and a speed lower than expected took more time to reach my destination, again charging me more. Throughout the ride, I stuck to the service road to stay away from high-speed traffic movement on Eastern Express Highway. The low speed does not fit on big roads. The last time I drove on the Eastern Express Highway was an electric bicycle in Thane operated by Coo Rides. The bicycle too had a speed limit of 25kmph (although majority of their bicycles are locked to 15 km/hr), it was the best riding experience since I drove through Majiwada traffic, Teen Hath Naka Flyover and the Kopri Rail Over Bridge. I did not get the same experience over here since the scooter was lagging in terms of speed.

Refund Speed

No matter how many flaws we may find in the operations, the process of initiating refund is quicker than expected. It is said that the money will be refunded in 5-7 business days, but it actually gets refunded in 5-7 minutes. The said incidents when I had raised a refund request and the day amount was debited from my account twice, while paying for deposit. In both the cases, my money was credited back the same day I had reported the problem.

Mishandling

Whenever there is a use, there is a misuse as well. For any app-based rental services in the city, users should be equally aware of how to use it. In the past two weeks, majority of the users seen in Mulund are the slum boys who take these scooters for a ride and end up breaking the hooks that are supposed to be used to hold your belongings. To make things worse, some scooters have the grips missing on their grab handles, some have broken wirings that connect to the accelerator, some scooters have their horns dimmed (some don’t even have them working), while some scooters have only one brake functioning. Each and every fault cannot be blamed to the users since the operator too should take care of servicing these vehicles from time to time. After every ride, the app asks for a rating and every single star rating is followed by a phone call from their customer support executive. The customer support is open to feedback that are well-explained, but action needs to be taken before it is too late.

Two guys trying to fit on one scooter. (Photo: Gandhrava Purohit for BESTpedia)
Two guys trying to fit on one scooter. (Photo: Gandhrava Purohit for BESTpedia)

Conclusion

The experience using Vogo E-Scooters has created a neutral opinion at end of the day. The product is very handy that it can be used regularly but sometimes it equally irritates you into wanting to uninstall it forever. First things first, the Vogo stations need to be set up in between two bus stops where the distance is more in order to walk. If used correctly, Vogo rides are the best medium since it is slower then buses but faster than going anywhere on foot. The last mile connectivity promised by BEST is only possible if Vogo has a strong network in the city where after every second lane, a station is made available to lower the time taken for walking from the bus stop to the doorstep. The fare chart needs to be revised according to distance once again since the timer can result in riders driving fast and dangerous and could end up in an accident. The rate can be charged as ₹1 per 500 metres so that ₹2 per kilometre would prove a value for money. Or else ₹1.5 per 500 metre too is possible since payment anyway happens digitally. Monthly, quarterly and half yearly subscription plans with a limit of 5 kilometres can be rolled out so that people can use the scooters on a regular basis without worrying about making a payment after every ride.

The next suggestion is regarding BEST buses, which brings us to the title. The Undertaking should take the fleet expansion seriously and bring more buses within a year as time is ticking for the ones aged beyond fifteen years. Chalo was a major breakthrough in terms of digital payments in bus travel. Vogo can become a success but if BEST does not improve the service, both would end up being a distraction. Frankly, what is the use of booking a ticket on an app if the bus service itself is not reliable? The BEST Undertaking has entered the Endgame wherein either it will increase the service and win the trust of its users, or become ignorant to criticism with a dwindling bus fleet, till the day it is wiped out of existence.

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

Gandharva wrote a a follow-up review after two months; you can read it here:

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

Also Read:

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

A Quick Guide To Using The Chalo Card On BEST Buses

A Ride In BEST Using The New Tap-In, Tap-Out System

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

Featured Image: BEST Bus on A370 at Salviwadi, Mithagar Road, Mulund East (Photo: Gandharva Purohit for BESTpedia)

Loading

Flattr this!

BEST Gets Full Marks For Creativity For This Bus Chowky Design

Sometimes, public transport can turn up some really creative elements. They may be just plain decorations or they may be functional, but there is no denying that there is some creativity involved in it.

And that’s where BEST’s Bus Chowky at Maharana Pratap Chowk, Mazagaon gets full points. A bus chowky is a bus terminus where there is no full-fledged bus stand and starters assign duties. Since this one is in South Bombay, it also acts as a payment centre for customers to pay their BEST electricity bills.

Fellow bus fan and photographer Rupak Dhakate shared this picture on Instagram.

As you can see, the above Bus Chowky is painted to look exactly like BEST’s iconic red buses. Not just that, it also has the bus depot name and number along with the registration number painted on: 207/CN belonging to the Mumbai Central depot bearing the registration number MH-01-LA-6052.

Don’t forget to follow Rupak on Instagram: @rd.stic!

Next time you head to Maharana Pratap Chowk in Mazagaon to either catch a bus or pay your electricity bill, do check it out.

Featured Image: Maharana Pratap Chowk Bus Chowky and Bill Payment Centre by Rupak Dhakate (Used with permission)

Loading

Flattr this!