BEST to begin trials of Mumbai's first common transport card

Not the railways nor the Metro, but BEST Undertaking may become the first in the city to be part of the One Nation One Card ticket. The ticket is a single one for all types of public transport on the lines of the Oyster Card in London. With the common card filled through a wallet, commuters will be able to use it on the Indian Railways, local and outstation trains, Metro lines and on BEST buses.

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"Yes. We are starting a pilot project on select routes initially and will then expand it to other routes," BEST's General Manager Surendra Bagde said. While the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) is building the automatic fare collection (AFC) system, Bharat Electricals Limited (BEL) is making the Electronic Ticket Issuing Machines (ETIM).

Also Read: Are Mumbai buses BEST for commuters?

He said the new ticketing machines will be different from the existing ones as they need to be compatible with the new software. "A new command centre for buses is also under construction at Wadala depot," he said. He added that BEST would have more AC buses and a new app would be launched in a month or so.

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