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!

BEST Arranges Buses At Mumbai Central Depot To Form Number 75 On Independence Day

To mark India’s 75th year of Independence, the Birhanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking arranged its buses at the Mumbai Central Depot to form the number 75, similar to its sibling the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT). While the NMMT paraded its Ashok Leyland JanBus and JBM EcoLife fleet, BEST decided to do so with its Tata CNG fleet.

Take a look at the pictures below, as shared by BEST on Twitter.

BEST buses at Mumbai Central Depot parked to form the number 75
BEST buses at Mumbai Central Depot parked to form the number 75

Here is a more expansive view of the same formation before completion.

BEST buses forming number 75 at Mumbai Central Depot
BEST buses forming number 75 at Mumbai Central Depot

Along with this, the undertaking also lit up Parivahan Bhavan, (Transport House) at its headquarters in Colaba in the tricolour. You can see it here:

BEST Illuminates Transport House, Check Out What NMMT Has Done To Celebrate Our Independence Day

Mumbai Central Depot looks delightful no?

I hope you celebrated Independence Day with much fanfare, but till we are done with the pandemic, please do take precautions.

Loading

Flattr this!

BEST Illuminates Transport House, Check Out What NMMT Has Done To Celebrate Our Independence Day

It’s 15 August 2022, India’s Independence Day. To mark the occasion, as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) undertaking did something very interesting.

Here is what they did. Images were shared by the NMMT on Twitter.

Buses at the Ghansoli Depot were parked to form the number “75”, first with just their red buses and again, by colouring the roofs of buses with the tricolour.

Check it out below.

Fisheye view of NMMT buses in special formation at Ghansoli Depot
Fisheye view of NMMT buses in special formation at Ghansoli Depot
NMMT buses in the special formation with the tricolour at Ghansoli Depot
NMMT buses in the special formation with the tricolour at Ghansoli Depot
NMMT buses in special formation at Ghansoli Depot
NMMT buses in special formation at Ghansoli Depot

Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking had its headquarters (Electric House) lit up in the tricolour. Do take a look below:

Paraivahan Bhavan (Transport House) lit up in the tricolour for Independence Day
Paraivahan Bhavan (Transport House) lit up in the tricolour for Independence Day

Prime Minister Modi’s call for Har Ghar Tiranga as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav has seen a phenomenal response.

I hope you celebrated Independence Day with much fanfare, but till we are done with the pandemic, please do take precautions.

Loading

Flattr this!

A Quick Review Of MTC’s AC Buses

Over the course of the last two weeks, I’ve been traveling a lot in MTC buses. During my rides, I got to try out the Metropolitan Transport Corporation’s (MTC, fka Pallavan) not so new air-conditioned buses.

These silver-coloured buses are Ashok Leyland buses built by Gemini Coach Builders in Karur. Introduced in January 2020 by former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, each bus costs ₹36 lakh and has a fare between ₹15 and ₹60. The buses have been allotted to different depots, I myself have boarded them from both the Adayar and Anna Nagar depots (AD and AN respectively).

They initially ran on route 570s between MGR Koyambedu (Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus/CMBT) and Siruseri IT Park and 91 from Thiruvanmiyur to Tambaram. They were later on extended to other routes such as 102 from Broadway to Kelambakkam. These buses marked the return of AC buses after a gap of one and a half years. Prior to this, MTC used to operate Volvo B7RLE buses till July 2018 with a minimum fare of ₹28.

Now coming to the inside of the bus.

Interior of MTC's AC bus belonging to the Adayar depot running route 570S from MGR Koyambedu to Sirucheri IT Park (Srikanth Ramakrishnan/BESTpedia)
Interior of MTC’s AC bus belonging to the Adayar depot running route 570S from MGR Koyambedu to Sirucheri IT Park (Srikanth Ramakrishnan/BESTpedia)

One thing I’ve observed about new MTC buses (and their counterparts across Tamil Nadu) is the tricolour LED display. Unlike the standard display that usually has only orange as a colour, these displays have three colours. The route number on the left-hand side is in red, the destination on the upper half of the remaining space is in green and the route underneath that is shown in white. There are two different manufacturers of these displays. One is Hosur-based Argee Equipment which supplies the displays for some of the new non-AC red buses. The remaining buses and the AC buses use displays manufactured by Coimbatore-based Wintra Engineering, who sells it under the brand name Rolls Tec Digital Passenger Information System.

Unfortunately the bus doesn’t have any internal display that shows which stop is arriving or anything. Neither is there an announcement system inside the bus. You’ll have to rely on common sense or the conductor shouting out the name of the stop.

Like all MTC buses, there is a single seat perpendicular and facing the gangway near the rear door for the conductor to sit on. All passenger seats and the conductor seat are super-plush and extremely comfortable. They are manufactured by Karur-based Sastha Seating. However, due to this, the gangway is slightly narrow and leg space is quite cramped. Some buses have different seats. These are manufactured by Swadzim, Poland-based STER seats. They are either STER’s 7T1 or Dynamic 20 seats.

Like all newer MTC buses, this one is also pretty high built, requiring you to climb a few tall steps to board and disembark. Not very accessible to be fair. The interesting thing however, is that there are two sets of string LED lights affixed to the steps which light up when the door opens, making it very convenient.

The biggest blunder in the bus is the presence of four-bar vertical grab poles near each door with one in the middle of the bus. These are similar to the ones in the Alstom-built Chennai metro and narrows the gangway further, making it sometimes difficult to cross without bumping into a fellow passenger. A single row of transparent plastic grab handles is there for passengers.

There are no luggage racks, as with most intra-city buses and unlike other AC buses (Volvo, Corona, Olectra, Tata, Force Motors, et al), the A/C vents are on the roof of the bus. This makes it out of reach for most passengers making it slightly difficult to close them or open them. On the bright side, it also makes them less vulnerable to damage. The air-conditioning itself is quite powerful and good to handle Chennai’s weather. No comparisons with them Purple Faeries here. There are no charging points or USB ports in the bus either.

The most fascinating thing I saw in this bus was in the seat directly behind the front door. The window seat has a metal ring attached to the wall of the bus meant for Divyang passengers who use crutches to hold them there.

Overall the bus is pretty comfortable, although it tends to get crowded really fast. There are no passes valid for this bus, all passengers have to buy a ticket. There are no daily passes available, MTC having done away with them after the 2018 fare hike.

Featured Image: MTC’s AC bus belonging to the Adayar depot running route 570S from MGR Koyambedu to Sirucheri IT Park (Srikanth Ramakrishnan/BESTpedia, available on the Wikimedia Commons)

If you are stepping out, do note that while masks are no longer mandatory, please stay safe, better safe than sorry.

Loading

Flattr this!

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

On 20 April 2022, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport undertaking (BEST) launched its first digital bus which had a new “Tap-In and Tap-Out” system. This system is similar to London’s Oyster Card; the only difference is that in London you don’t have to tap out since there is a single fare structure on their routes. Out of curiosity I wanted to try this system since I have been thinking about this after BEST launched their conductor-less bus services.

On 3 May I went to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and took A-115 to Churchgate. When I reached Churchgate Station there were two Electric buses on A-112 (Ahilyabai Holkar Chowk, Churchgate to Gateway of India) but since both buses didn’t have the tap-in/tap-out machines, I skipped both buses and waited for 10 -15 minutes. Then came a CNG Midi bus from Mumbai Central Depot (7147) on the same route. It never came to mind that this bus is the bus I have been waiting for. So I thought I would go back to CSMT Bus Station after taking a short trip to Gateway Of India.

A-112 between Ahilyabai Holkar Chowk, Churchgate Station and Gateway of India. (Photo: Vishal Naik)
A-112 between Ahilyabai Holkar Chowk, Churchgate Station and Gateway of India. (Photo: Vishal Naik)

I bought a ticket from the ground booking conductor using an NCMC (National Common Mobility Card) and he was surprised to see it since for him it was first time seeing this new card. After telling him about how the card works after tapping it on ticket machine, I boarded the bus and after a few seconds I noticed that there were tap-in/tap-out machines installed at the front and rear doors respectively.

Successful Tap-In (Photo: Vishal Naik)
Successful Tap-In (Photo: Vishal Naik)

After the end of this trip, I boarded the bus again. I asked the conductor if I could use my card directly on the machines he agreed and at first my NCMC sadly didn’t work so next I used my normal Chalo Card, and it worked like a charm. There was a person who was monitoring this system inside the bus. I asked him why NCMC didn’t work, and he replied that they haven’t updated this system yet which is why my NCMC wasn’t being accepted by the machine. Finally at the end of the journey I had to tap out after that the fare amount was displayed along with the balance remaining in the card on the machine and I got a printed ticket.

Tapping-Out at the destination (Photo: Vishal Naik)
Tapping-Out at the destination (Photo: Vishal Naik)

Overall the system looks good, only one thing that should be skipped is printing paper tickets because at the end the machine displays remaining balance and the amount deducted for your card. The driver keeps a tab on commuters who are tapping in making sure that no one enters the bus without tapping in or having valid tickets. If a person forgets to tap out in the next tap In maximum fare will be deducted from his card balance. This system will get rid of those time consuming conductor-less services.

The Printed Ticket at the end (Photo: Vishal Naik)
The Printed Ticket at the end (Photo: Vishal Naik)

Before introducing more routes BEST should increase the sales of Chalo Smart card as well as Chalo NCM. It seems like very few NCMCshave been sold because every time I show mine to any conductor it is their first time seeing an NCM. Once Mumbai Metro and the Mumbai Suburban Railway integrate NCMC in their system commuters can easily change modes of transport without carrying multiple cards.

Featured Image: BEST’s Tap-In, Tap-Out system (Photo: Vishal Naik)

If you are stepping out, do note that while masks are no longer mandatory, the new XE variant of the Wuhan Virus is making the rounds. Stay safe, better safe than sorry.

Loading

Flattr this!

BEST To Launch Night Services, To Operate From Midnight To 5AM

In his bid to revamp the image of the Birhanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking and promote Mumbai as an “always awake” city, state minister Aaditya Thackeray had in 2017 proposed to allow more establishments to remain open. Back then, I had written a post asking when more public transport would be made available at night. You can read it here: More Nightlife In Mumbai Is Great But Can We Also Focus On Improved Public Transport?

Now, nearly four and a half years later, BEST has announced that it will operate a few buses between midnight and 5am in the morning starting from 7 March 2022. BEST has shared a list of bus routes along with a map.

Buses will have standard fare and can be flagged by showing your hand.

BEST Press Note on Night Routes
BEST Press Note on Night Routes

As per the press note released by BEST, the bus routes that will operate at night are:

  • 1 from Electric House to Mahim Bus Station
  • 66Ltd from Electric House to Rani Lakshmibai Chowk
  • 202Ltd from Mahim Bus Station to Poisar Depot
  • 302 from Rani Lakshmibai Chowk to Maharana Pratap Chowk (Mulund)
  • 305 from Backbay Depot to Rani Lakshmibai Chowk
  • 440Ltd from Mahim Bus Station to Borivili Station (West) via the Domestic and International Terminal (T1 and T2) of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport

BEST also shared a map of the six routes in question.

 BEST Map of Night Routes
BEST Map of Night Routes

While this is undoubtedly a good move, there are a few questions.

The first is why so late? Aaditya Thackeray first announced plans for allowing establishments at night in 2017 itself. Back then, he said that this was planned from 2013. It took nine years for anything to happen on the ground? BEST, as a municipal entity has been under the MCGM/BMC for a long time and the municipal corporation in turn has been ruled by Thackeray’s Shiv Sena for over 25 years.

The second is, why the disproportionate bias towards South Bombay (SoBo) over the suburbs? BEST in the last two years have been favouring SoBo whether it is the AC buses or electric buses.

The third question is, why only buses? Why not the Metro or Monorail which are bound to serve people faster and better? Of course, talking about the metro and the current government in the same sentence is a joke.

The timing of this is pretty obvious however. Elections to the corporation are due in a month or so and the Sena is desperate to win. Its former partner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has made major inroads in Mumbai and defeated the Sena in several wards in a neck-to-neck battle in the 2017 municipal election where they were just two seats behind the Sena.

Featured Image: A BEST bus parked at night at Mulund. (Image: Gandharva Purohit)

If you are stepping out, make sure you wear a mask, follow COVID-appropriate behavior and keep your hands sanitised at all times. Maharashtra is still the top state by total cases and deaths.

Loading

Flattr this!

After BEST And NMMT, Pune Now Wants To Experiment With Electric Double-Deckers

A week after BEST announced plans to procure 800 double-decker buses and NMMT announced its intentions to begin trials, the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) has announced its interest in the same.

Double-deckers were first operated in Pune in 1984 and were taken off the roads in 1995 due to operating costs and and accidents. I’m not sure if it was the Pune Municipal Transport (PMT) or Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Transport (PCMT) that operated them. At least six routes were operated on the Mumbai-Pune Road.

PMPML officials have stated that they have met with manufacturers of electric buses on the matter and keen on pursuing it due to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s alleged interest in double-decker buses.

The Corporation is looking at procuring buses on a wet-lease model, similar to BEST, while it will provide the required infrastructure for it. However, they have also agreed that operating double-decker buses isn’t an easy task and would require significant planning, particularly in the routes.

Note: After a little digging, I found more information. The double-deckers run earlier were operated by the PMT and not the PCMT. According to a DNA report, PMPML originally considered bringing back double-decker buses to the fleet in late 2014, however the proposal did not move forward much. The criteria for re-induction of these buses was due to wider roads and increased congestion.

Another proposal was mooted in 2017, this time in electric form. It had the backing of both the BJP-led PMC and PCMC along with the backing of then Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the Central Government.

Let’s hope PMPML is successful with its double-decker plans. The city currently has India’s largest fleet of electric buses.

Featured Image: Alexander Dennis-BYD Enviro400 EV

P.S: If you’re buying a car, don’t buy a Hyundai or Kia. You can read more why over here: Hyundai India blocks netizens after they question whether they endorse their Pakistani counterpart’s views on Kashmir

If you are stepping out, make sure you wear a mask, follow COVID-appropriate behavior and keep your hands sanitised at all times. Maharashtra is still the top state by total cases and deaths.

Loading

Flattr this!

Electric Double-Deckers: BEST To Procure 900 Amid Political Slugfest And Misleading Image While NMMT Looks At Pilot Project

With the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking’s double-decker fleet strength going down from 120 to 48 in the last two years, the city’s iconic bus might stage a comeback soon.

The BEST committee has approved the procurement of 900 air-conditioned (AC), electric double-decker buses on a wet lease for 12 years to alleviate the city’s traffic woes.

BEST’s original plan included inducting 2,100 AC electric buses that included 200 double-deckers. The undertaking wants to convert 50 per cent of its fleet to electric by 2023 and go completely electric by 2027. As part of this move, it wants to procure 1,400 regular buses, 400 mini-buses and 100 mini-buses, all air-conditioned and electric. However, the number for the double-deckers has now gone up to 900.

The change in procurement has now led to a fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Sena in the BEST committee. The BJP has stated that the earlier proposal for 200 buses was to be funded by the Central government’s Ministry of Heavy Industries under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme. The BJP has asked where the funding is coming from and has questioned the scope of the tender given that any increase in expenses will have to be borne by BEST. Questions have also been asked how the tender has been merged with the state government’s clean energy policy.

Four manufacturers had evinced interest in the original tender with prices ranging from ₹56 to ₹160 per kilometre. Sources say BEST will likely ask the second bidder to bring in 200 buses while the lowest bidder will supply the rest.

Transport experts have questioned how BEST is able to get double-deckers at such low prices when single-decker buses (AC and electric) cost between ₹54 and ₹72 per kilometre.

Minister Aaditya Thackeray meanwhile took to Twitter to share an image of London’s Metroline Double-Decker buses with the BEST logo (बेस्ट) photoshopped on it, thus misleading many people.

The photoshopped image shared by Aaditya Thackeray
The photoshopped image shared by Aaditya Thackeray

This in turn led to a series of hilarious, satirical tweets with vehicles from across the world being shared as achievements of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government.

The best (pun intended) among them was shared by Maithun with a hilarious caption: Under the disable leadership of Priyanka Chaturvedi, Mumbai is all set to get BEST mini flying taxi. Aaditya Thackeray personally monitored the project.

The image shared by Maithun.
The image shared by Maithun.

Meanwhile, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) undertaking, which has been having a golden run with its electric AC fleet, has floated a tender to procure a single electric AC double-decker. The undertaking has said that it wants to run a pilot project and if it is economically viable, it may increase the fleet strength.

The tender document stipulates that NMMT would buy a fully built bus with a 12-year long annual maintenance contract (AMC). The manufacturer would have to provide a two year warranty for the bus and a five-year warranty for the battery while also installing a charging station.

A sad thing to note is that NMMT will soon scrap its 12 Volvo buses as they are more than ten years old and their operating costs have become too high.

To read more about how NMMT turned things around with its electric buses, do read Gandharva Purohit’s excellent article on this: How NMMT Grabbed An Opportunity And Made The Best Out Of It

To read more humorous and satirical takes on BEST, do check out the Satire section.

Let’s hope BEST gets the new double-deckers without any issues. The political slugfest and sharing of fake images do not bode well for the transport body.

If you are stepping out, make sure you wear a mask, follow COVID-appropriate behavior and keep your hands sanitised at all times. Maharashtra is still the top state by total cases and deaths.

Featured Image: Ashok Leyland’s Switch Metrodecker bus

Loading

Flattr this!

A Quick Guide To Using The Chalo Card On BEST Buses

After getting well-versed with the Chalo app, it’s time to get familiar with the Chalo Card. For Mumbai, this isn’t the first time a smart card system has been implemented. Mumbaikars are already using them on Central and Western Railway for buying tickets through the automatic ticket vending machines (ATVM) for nearly a decade. The GO Mumbai Card from 2005 can be called as a precursor to the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC). It could be used for Railways as well as BEST buses although it didn’t have a bright future. Then came the Trimax RFID cards in 2011 for bus passes which were a new concept as bus ticketing got digital with the electronic ticket machines (ETMs) manufactured by Mumbai-based Powercraft Electronics under the brand-name Balaji. You can read more about the earlier version of BEST’s electronic ticketing system here- Electronic Ticketing Systems: Who got it right and how.

Fast forward to 2021, when Chalo became the new ticketing vendor for BEST, it was yet another step forward towards promoting cashless payments. The Chalo app offers payments through online methods such as UPI, Credit and Debit Cards and Net-banking for ticket purchase. To make it better, BEST launched their Super Saver Plans in Mumbai for an efficient commute. You can read about it in-detail from the previous article where we explored the Chalo App and its features. On 1 January 2022, BEST launched the long-awaited Chalo Card in Mumbai (starting from Colaba & Wadala Depot). This Smart Card works as an eWallet (replacing the earlier Trimax-powered ePurse) which can be bought from the bus conductor. After being a tremendous success in Vijayawada, Nagpur, Jabalpur, Udupi and Mangalore, the Smart Card has finally been launched in Mumbai.

Chalo Travel Card issued for use by APSRTC
Chalo Travel Card issued for use by APSRTC

The Chalo card costs ₹70 and can be recharged by adding a minimum balance of ₹10 and then further in multiples of ₹10. As explained by the crew, the Chalo card can be recharged online as well but needs to be activated by the bus conductor. The most satisfying part however, is that your balance does not come with an expiry date. So even if another lockdown is imposed from tomorrow, the amount added in your Chalo Card will remain copacetic. The wallet can be recharged on any day and at any time with the help of a bus conductor. You can even feed your Super Saver Plans in it and use it as a bus pass. There are talks to make this Card functional on the Mumbai Metro in the near future, thereby taking the city closer to a form of the NCMC. But what is the future? Time will tell…. But it’s definitely bright.

Chalo Travel Card issued by BEST in Mumbai (Photo: Gandharva Purohit)
Chalo Travel Card issued by BEST in Mumbai (Photo: Gandharva Purohit)

Bus conductors in Mumbai found it difficult in the beginning to issue tickets bought through Chalo, but they have now gained confidence as the user base is increasing day by day. From the passengers’ side, the reviews are showing positive growth. As an integrated mobile app that can track buses along with showing the occupancy as well as booking tickets, Chalo has taken ticketing and bus tracking to another level. Once BEST increases its fleet strength, it will help in improving the frequency. In late January, BEST went a step ahead and integrated Chalo with the Maharashtra government’s Universal Travel Pass, thus negating the need to carry a printout.

Please Note: This Article is not Sponsored by Chalo.

Featured Image: Chalo App and Card by Gandharva Purohit

If you are stepping out, make sure you wear a mask, follow COVID-appropriate behavior and keep your hands sanitised. Omicron is here and the situation is quite scary.

Loading

Flattr this!

BEST Bus Tickets Booked Digitally To Be Linked To Maharashtra Universal Travel Pass

In a bid to make commuting easier across the city, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) has announced that it will integrate the state government’s Universal Travel Pass (UTP) for vaccinated commuters with bus tickets booked digitally using either the Chalo app or card.

This move will ensure that commuters won’t have to carry a separate printout of their pass and will be digitally verified on the screen of the ticketing machine.

The travel pass was launched in August 2021 and anyone can apply for it two weeks (14 days) after receiving their second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine (Covishield, Covaxin or Sputnik V). It was integrated into the Railways’ UTS app in November 2021 so that commuters of the Mumbai Suburbam Railway need not carry a separate printout if they are booking a ticket using their phones.

There is no word on integration of the travel pass with ticketing mechanisms of other modes of transport such as the Mumbai Metro, Mumbai Monorail, buses of other municipal bodies or the state transport corporation (MSRTC).

The Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) recently made the pass mandatory for all those boarding buses in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad which has led to a mess due to the added hassle for conductors of checking the vaccination status of commuters. Given that the city also has a functional electronic ticketing mechanism in the form of the Mi Card, perhaps this step can be extended to Pune, although it is doubtful that may happen given the current government is behaving as if Mumbai is the only city in Maharashtra.

Hopefully, this will also help people move towards cashless travel.

Also Read: Once This Pandemic Is Over, We Should Look At How We Transact

If you are stepping out, make sure you wear a mask, follow COVID-appropriate behavior and keep your hands sanitised. Omicron is here and the situation is quite scary.

Loading

Flattr this!