City wary of BEST’s Smart Card scheme BY A STAFF REPORTER |...

City wary of BEST’s Smart Card scheme

BY A STAFF REPORTER | Thursday, May 11, 2006 11:9:14 IST
Fashioned à la Hongkong, Singaporean public transport, Mumbaikars pessimistic of new system’s success


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In a move to aid commuter convenience, and to mitigate its cash- handling pains, Brihan-mumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking, unveiled a new alternative method of paying bus fares. The project is supported by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and is implemented by a consortium of companies led by `A Little World Pvt Ltd'.
According to the system proposed by the BEST, Fare Collection Devices will be installed at the entry and exit doors of BEST buses. The cardholder will present the smart card to this device at the start of the journey by touching it to the device or bringing it within a few centimetres of the device. The card can even be kept in the wallet and the wallet can be scanned by the device. The proximity between the card and the device is to be maintained for less than half a second. The card will have to be swiped while boarding and alighting the bus to gauge the distance travelled by the passenger. The amount will be deducted from the smart card accordingly.
The principal technology provider for the system is ERG Transit Systems, which has done similar projects in Singapore and HongKong and in US, Europe and Australia. The BEST officials say that the system will reduce the load on overworked conductors, and provide BEST greater flexibility in fare structuring in the future.
Interestingly, bus conductors working with the BEST looked unhappy with the system being introduced. Gurunath Mole, a conductor has been working with the BEST since 15 years. He says, "What is the use of a conductor in a bus if the this system is implemented? This system will make thousands of conductors jobless."
However, when asked whether this system will threaten the jobs of bus conductors, A S Tamboli, PRO of BEST said, "This is just for the convenience of the conductors and the jobs of the conductors are very safe. The BEST cannot conduct its services without the conductors. They are people who actually are responsible for monitoring the passengers boarding and alighting the bus."
Meanwhile, Mumbaikars said that the system seemed good, but cannot be practically implemented in an overcrowded city like Mumbai. "The system is really fabulous. But I don't think so that it can be installed in our city buses. People will break the device and make it unusable within weeks of installation of the device," says Rahul R Nair, resident of Dadar.
Another Mumbaikar, Shivangi Patil says, "This system was introduced in the a city couple of years ago and was a flop. I don't know how this time the system will be accepted by the passengers? During peak hours, the buses are so crowded that the passengers will destroy the device and the situation will be like the CVM machines at the railway platforms that are non-operational since years."