15 April,2017 08:10 AM IST | | Shashank Rao
BEST to hire 50 air-conditioned buses that will be available on an app giving their location and the time they will reach your nearest bus stop
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Tired of waiting for that bus, as you keep a watch on your watch because you are getting late? And you wished 'if only I knew where the bus had reached'. Now, you will. The BEST Undertaking is taking 50 red AC buses on lease, and these you can track on your mobile phone, to know the expected time of arrival as they will be fitted with GPS. The 20-seater buses, which will ply on smaller roads, will be available on an app.
How it will work
"We are planning to get 50 AC buses on a wet-lease basis for five years. These will have GPS and will operate just like taxis of app-based aggregators do. So, people can find out their location, which will ultimately improve punctuality," said Jagdish Patil, BEST general manager.
The Undertaking has been working on this app since last September. It will also tell passengers the nearest bus stop to their location - by putting one's location and destination, a commuter can get option of buses, connecting buses, expected fares and the time of the next bus if one is missed.
Sources in the BEST said as these buses will be taken on hire, the Undertaking would save money on fuel and maintenance, which would be the responsibility of the owner. One bus will run 180-200 km a day for which it will get Rs 30-35 per km.
Current ones to go?
The decision was taken after the Undertaking proposed temporary suspension of all the AC buses in its fleet; the BEST committee on April 17 will decide their fate. Officials said they would auction them in the open market. The previous time they put a few of these on auction, the buyers were not ready to pay even R1 lakh a vehicle.
