Taking cue from cities like New York and London, public transport authorities in Mumbai are planning to equip the city's iconic BEST buses with Bluetooth-enabled services.
Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST), the country's first public bus service provider, said it may soon take up a proposal to install the facility in its 4,027 buses.
"The Bluetooth-enabled services would be of much help to our nearly 50 lakh commuters. The proposal is likely to come within a month and once it is passed the services will be introduced," BEST Chairman Dilip Patel said.
The system will help the commuters in getting information about routes, stoppages and bus schedule in their cellphones.
Patel said initially the system will be introduced in long route buses like that in the air-conditioned Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) and then on the smaller routes.
"With these services, commuters will come to know which routes the bus will cover, the next stop and how much time it will take to reach the final destination," he explained.
Similar services are available in public buses in cities like Bangkok, London, New York and Hong Kong.
Our technical officers visit various countries to learn about new technology and the services. This idea came from such a visit, Patel said.
