Will BEST make the smart grade
After two false starts, the state-owned Brihanmumbai Electricity Service and Transport (BEST) provider is praying that a third relaunch of its ‘smart card system’ will become a hit with the city’s harried commuters.
By Ashish Kumar Mishra, TNN |
MUMBAI: It is a case of hope triumphing over experience. After two false starts, the state-owned Brihanmumbai Electricity Service and Transport (BEST) provider is praying that a third relaunch of its ‘smart card system’ will become a hit with the city’s harried commuters.
Learning from its previous mistakes, BEST has made certain improvements to the new system. The smart card has been integrated to facilitate travel by both buses and trains.
A commuter buys a ‘smart card’ worth a certain amount and swipes it on an electronic pad when boarding or leaving a bus. The system deducts the bus fare against his purchase saving the conductor valuable time in punching out innumerable tickets.
“We want to make the smart card facility to be the most convenient form of travel for the commuters, said Uttam Khobragade, general manager, BEST. The utility is doing a pilot test on two routes to gauge commuter response after which it will roll out the service across the city. To improve tracking and automated stage conversion, BEST has switched over to Wi-Fi and GPS. For instant refilling of smart cards, BEST is also planning of introducing refill vouchers which would be available at retail outlets.
If the smart card scheme takes off, then BEST would be saving a major headache of cash accounting and disposal of change, which has to carried out by the conductor every day. “We have tied up with SBI and are expecting that the hassle of dealing with change and accounting for every penny earned would be solved,” said a BEST official.
But BEST’s experience with the system has been anything but happy. A few years ago in 1998, BEST had introduced similar smart cards in association with Philips and Gemplus. The project, that ran on five selected routes in around 75 buses, made a modest headway with over 13,000 commuters using these cards daily. Considering the fact that the bus service ferries over 4 million commuters on any working day, the smart card system remained unattractive for a majority of passengers. The BEST management dumped it in a few months from its launch.
On both occasions, there were major technological shortcomings. Not only was the external machinery unsuitable for Mumbai roads but also excessively prone to breakdown in the heat, dust and grime.
Learning from its previous mistakes, BEST has made certain improvements to the new system. The smart card has been integrated to facilitate travel by both buses and trains.
A commuter buys a ‘smart card’ worth a certain amount and swipes it on an electronic pad when boarding or leaving a bus. The system deducts the bus fare against his purchase saving the conductor valuable time in punching out innumerable tickets.
“We want to make the smart card facility to be the most convenient form of travel for the commuters, said Uttam Khobragade, general manager, BEST. The utility is doing a pilot test on two routes to gauge commuter response after which it will roll out the service across the city. To improve tracking and automated stage conversion, BEST has switched over to Wi-Fi and GPS. For instant refilling of smart cards, BEST is also planning of introducing refill vouchers which would be available at retail outlets.
If the smart card scheme takes off, then BEST would be saving a major headache of cash accounting and disposal of change, which has to carried out by the conductor every day. “We have tied up with SBI and are expecting that the hassle of dealing with change and accounting for every penny earned would be solved,” said a BEST official.
But BEST’s experience with the system has been anything but happy. A few years ago in 1998, BEST had introduced similar smart cards in association with Philips and Gemplus. The project, that ran on five selected routes in around 75 buses, made a modest headway with over 13,000 commuters using these cards daily. Considering the fact that the bus service ferries over 4 million commuters on any working day, the smart card system remained unattractive for a majority of passengers. The BEST management dumped it in a few months from its launch.
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The smart cards re-surfaced in ’04. This time BEST chose Kaizen Automation and A little World (ALW) as its partners. It failed in the second run too forcing the BEST to call it off.On both occasions, there were major technological shortcomings. Not only was the external machinery unsuitable for Mumbai roads but also excessively prone to breakdown in the heat, dust and grime.
This ultimately resulted in numerous errors, continuous breakdown and a long line of infuriated passengers. “A bus travels around 200 km per day and it is tough for any machine to endure such movement every day,” said a BEST official.
The technology was also deficient in tracking and stage conversion, thus foiling the basic objective of relieving the conductor of his additional duties.
Surprisingly under the new system, the machine is still external and prone to the above mentioned defects.
Another factor that led to the doom of the previous two attempts was a loss-ridden and cash-strapped BEST. In fact, with the losses of BEST going from bad to worse over the years, the chances of any such scheme breaking ground seems to be too far-fetched.
“Both the earlier projects had to be scrapped because of our shortage of funds,” confirmed another BEST official. In fact, in ’04 when BEST introduced smart cards for a second time, the losses incurred by it were a massive Rs 303 crore. “Although BEST may not be incurring any investment now, but to extend the service and take it forward will require substantial investment. Looking into the present financial position it is quite a task for BEST,” said a transport and communications expert.
Moreover, there were no inherent benefit or savings for commuters even when an upfront payment for a month was made by him. “People expect certain discounts when making a lump-sum payments. This is why so many people opt for railway passes,” added the expert. However, even in the current scheme, these smart cards come without any value-added benefits or discounts.
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Coupled with rising fuel prices, hike in establishment and maintenance costs and the financial position of BEST, the task of taking ahead this scheme is going to be anything but easy.
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