Nearly two and a half months after BEST announced that it too would get on to the QR code-based payments bandwagon, the undertaking has now announced that it will partner up with Yes bank-backed PhonePe to provide all conductors with QR codes. Commuters can however use any app to pay for the tickets.
According to a Mid-Dayreport by Rajendra Aklekar, BEST has provided 10,000 QR codes to its conductors on all 3,000 buses across 27 depots. While initially limited to the Colaba and Wadala depots, it is now available across the city.
However, another report by Aklekar did underline the importance of proper training being provided to bus conductors, in the absence of which, cash reigns supreme.
BEST has also put up banners and advertisements inside buses to promote the new payment system. It has also put up instructions for commuters at a few bus stops.
The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking, which has pioneered the use of rolling cloth displays for its destination boards on buses for decades since inception, has finally found a solution to a problem that has plagued it for the last decade. Thanks to the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM; whose logo is a jurm for being ugly), most buses got themselves route indicator boards that were LED (light emitting diode) displays.
In the first five years since LED route indicators were introduced (2007 onwards), they stopped working. While BEST did try to fix them and look for alternatives including using a chalk board, the culprit was soon identified. The displayed began malfunctioning when buses were washed. Rumour has it that BEST contacted its southern counterpart, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) in 2013, asking them how LED display units were functional after washing the bus. They allegedly received a very simple response: “What does washing a bus mean?“.
Keeping all this in mind, BEST has now decided to go a step forward and get a new technology using one of the most abundant elements available – dust. Yes, that’s right, BEST is now using Dust-Written displays now. Below is an image of one such display on Route 200 from Shrawan Yeshwante Chowk (Kala Chowky) to Versova Yari Road Bus Station.
After pioneering Rolling Cloth displays for decades, BEST buses are sporting a new technology: Dust Writing Displays.
We got in touch with freelance dust expert and garbologist Rajgira Khamandhokle to learn more. Readers may be reminded that Rajgira Khamandhokle is a frequent traveler on buses, having not once, but twice learnt a valuable lesson from a conductor. (You can read here and here)
We learnt that a dust-written display is extremely power efficient and eco-friendly. When we asked what would happen if the writing gets washed away in the rains, we were told that the amount of dust being kicked up on Mumbai’s roads would easily settle on the glass panel, making for an easy re-drawing.
The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) through BEST is sensitising the need of washing hands and that fans of the MCGM are seeing this as an eye opener campaign to bring down Covid19 (Wuhan Virus) cases in the city. An MCGM spokesperson who wanted to remain anonymous said that anyone who writes the destination on a bus would be given free sanitizer. Though he wanted to remain anonymous and that we over here don’t care about such a concept, we would like to informe that he doesn’t work at the Ghatkopar Depot and his name is not Mahesh Sakhalkar.
On noticing Tanu loves Manu written on one of the buses, Tinder was trying to capitalise on the new system and save the sinking Titanic.
Note: The above article is meant to be humourous.Please don’t register a police complain or send goondas to the writer’s residence.
Featured image: A cloth display on Bus 342 from Goregaon Station (East) to Kokan Vikas Mandal via New Zealand Hospital by Bhavik Vasa (via Twitter)
During to the ongoing Wuhan Virus pandemic, public transport is changing in many ways. While Delhi Metro and Mumbai Metro have put up stickers on alternating seats asking users to not sit there (read here and here respectively), BEST and other bus operators have earmarked specific seating patterns such as leaving the aisle seats empty and only occupying alternate rows.
In a rather radical move, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation has decided to amend the seating arrangement in its buses. Reporting for ToI, Christin Mathew Philip states that buses are now only authorised to carry half the passengers that they could earlier. Accordingly, a Rajahamsa bus has been modified.
You can see images of the new arrangement below. Click on the images to see a larger version.
KSRTC has done away with their earlier 2×2 seating and has opted for a 1x1x1 pattern. Instead of two pairs of seats per row, the bus now features three independent seats per row, with its capacity coming down from 39 passengers to 29 passengers. The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) too has reportedly done the same.
The future of transportation looks very bleak to me however. I wonder what will happen to air-conditioned buses, especially the Volvo and Scania fleet.
Featured Image: A KSRTC Rajahamsa built by Veera Vahana on an Eicher chassis heads to the departure bay to work a Bangalore-Davanagere-Harihar service. This bus is homed at Harihar Depot. Credits: Binai Sankar/Flickr, all rights reserved.
I’m sorry for not posting much this month, things have been busy in the offline world. Anyway, here is another drone shot. This time from Tamil Nadu.
Have you heard of Salem? No, not Salem, Oregon, or Salem, Massachusetts where the infamous Salem Witch Trials took place between 1692 and 1693. Salem, Tamil Nadu is the fifth largest city in the state and among the state’s 12 entries as part of the Smart Cities Mission.
Salem is home to two bus stations. The old bus station, known as Town Bus Terminus and the new bus terminus, known as the Central Bus Terminus or officially the Bharat Ratna Dr. M. G. R. Central Bus Stand. The older bus station is located at the heart of the city, on the southern banks of the Thirumanimutharu river, adjacent to the Salem Municipal Corporation’s Office in a locality known as the First Agraharam. It is currently being renovated and rebuilt as a two-tier bus station by the Salem Smart City Limited.
The new bus station is located in the north of the city on Omalur Main Road (the old national highway (NH 44, old NH 7) that passes through the city). It caters to most outstation buses to Chennai, Bangalore, Coimbatore, and Cochin, including buses operated by TNSTC, SETC and KSRTC.
Below is an aerial photograph of the New Bus Station, clicked by Dhenesh.
In the above image, you can see the entire bus station along with the tail end of the bus stand arm of the ₹441 crore two tier flyover that connects central Salem. Officially called the Puratchi Thalaivi J. Jayalalithaa two-tier flyover, it is 7.87 km long and connects all the major roads in the city. It was inagurated by Chied Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy on 11 June this year.
Interestingly, I have been able to find absolutely zero images of India’s largest bus station, the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) from above. I’ve also not found a single one from Coimbatore either.
This was a double bonanza. A bus terminus and a flyover.
Featured image: Salem New Bus Stand by Purshotam Pareek on Google Maps.
Exactly two months ago, a Cyclone (or was it?) called Nisarga allegedly swept across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The Chief Minister’s new aquarium project saw a massive push with water all over the streets. While we had back then reported that the fish would eventually arrive, it has finally arrived after a spell of rains in the last 24 hours.
Now, we have learned that the fish have arrived at Parel station where they were swimming over the railway tracks. It seems these fish are also transit fans.
This is probably the fastest that any project of such magnitude has ever come up in India. Former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ metro works were slower than this and credit must be given to the BEST CM ever.
BEST’s Wadala Depot, located at the border of Wadala (West) and Dadar (East) is among their oldest ones. It is also the depot where people need to go to get their spare change returned.
The depot is home to several types of buses, including the converted non-AC Cerita fleet and also the mini-bus fleet belonging to MP Enterprises (MPE).
Have you ever wondered what the Wadala Depot looks like from above? Or at least partially? Look no further, well, actually a little further.
Okay, by now I assume you’ve either bookmarked my blog because you love the aerial shots or you have decided never again would you visit because your bored. At my end, it’s becoming difficult since there are fewer and fewer images that I can find.
Here is an image of the Gorai Depot, BEST’s northernmost depot as well as the second westernmost depot. As stated earlier, the westernmost depot is the Malvani Depot.
These two pictures were clicked in May 2018 and January 2019 by Rupesh Ghadge. Do follow Rupesh on Instagram here: @the_black_advento.
Here is the first one, clicked at night in May 2018.
This image was clicked during the December 2018-January 2019 strike by staffers of BEST. The strike ultimately prompted then Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi to allow BEST to tap in to the MCGM’s budget.
I don’t support bus strikes (or strikes of any kind for that matter); do read my earlier article on why: Strike It Off! (yes, the title was inspired by Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off).
Featured image: AS-461 bound for Gorai Depot waiting at Mulund Check Naka Bus Station (Picture clicked by Srikanth Ramakrishnan in April 2015).
I’m sorry for the lack of posts in the last few days. I’ve actually been drafting slightly longer articles for you guys over the last three weeks. Anyway, just so that you don’t forget who I am, here is another post.
Pune has a large fleet of electric buses. (I travelled in them in February 2020, and I’ll share a review of it soon). These buses are owned by the Pune Smart City Development Corporation Limited (PSCDCL) and operated by the Pune Mahanagar Paricahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML). One lot belongs to the Nigdi Bhakti Shakti Depot and the other lot the the Hadapsar Bhekrai Nagar Depot.
Here is a set of them parked and charging at the Bhekrai Nagar Depot in Hadapsar. The picture was clicked by Purvesh Chithore.
Back to BEST. For now. The city’s first depot to house electric buses (well, at least Hybrids) was Dharavi which housed the Tata Starbus Diesel-Electric Hybrid fleet. After that came the Backbay Depot that housed the first set of Olectra (then known as Goldstone) buses followed by Dharavi’s twin – the Kala Killa Depot.
For those who may not know, the Kala Killa Depot was formally opened on 31 Janaury 2016. Until then the land behind the Dharavi Depot was never formally used as a depot. Between 2005 and 2016, buses attached to the Kurla Depot were parked here because the Kurla Depot was being rebuilt by Kanakia (part of it is a multi-tier depot, visible from the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road and part of it is Kanakia Zillion) after being damaged during the July 2005 floods.
Here is a photograph of the depot that was clicked by Shashank Parade, a photographer attached to the Press Trust of India (PTI).
You can see the Hybrid fleet in the left side of this image. Beyond the depot, you see the Dharavi Loop Road/Sion Bandra Link Road, the Mahim Nature Park and the Mithi River. Those tall buildings you see are in the Bandra Kurla Complex.
That’s all for now. See ya’ll next time.
Featured Image: Dharavi Depot by Santosh Nadar on Google Maps
Time to take a teeny weeny break from BEST and look at another transco from the region. This time it’s MSRTC, aka ST. The MSRTC has five depots in the Mumbai Division of which three – Parel, Mumbai Central and Kurla Nehru Nagar – are located in Mumbai City limits while the remaining two – Uran and Panvel – are located in Navi Mumbai. Among the first three, the Parel Depot is home to the Shivneri and Ashwamedh fleet. I have posted about them back in 2016; you can check it out here: [Photos] Depots of Luxury.
Essentially the Parel Depot is home to the Volvo and Scania fleet along with the Swargate Depot in Pune.
Here is a video (and a photograph) of the depot from August last year, during the rains.
