BEST app needs to be updated for commuters, says BMC chief

The civic chief went bus stop hopping with the BEST general manager and also interacted with commuters at the stops

Civic chief Praveen Pardeshi, on a test-drive of the BEST App, pointed to the lacunae in it, saying that it needed to developed further and updated in a sustained manner to make it more viable for commuters. Pardeshi went bus stop hopping with BEST General Manager Surendra Bagade in south Mumbai when he found that some lapses in the BEST Pravas app still needed to be fixed. Delayed downloads and no real-time info were some of the major ones that he highlighted.

"You should send your IT team along the line to every bus stop to understand commuters' problems and promote the app further," Pardeshi told Bagade as the two interacted with commuters testing the app. Their first halt was at the Mumbai University bus stop opposite Rajabai Tower where two female commuters who wanted to go to Mazgaon could not locate the bus on the app. Since there was no direct bus, a possible changeover of bus was involved, but there was no clarity on the app's map about it. The duo then took a cab.

The team next visited the bus stop opposite Mumbai CSMT where a commuter wanting to go to Nagpada was told by the app that his bus would arrive in two minutes and it indeed arrived in 1.30 minutes. Another commuter here walked up to the team and complained that the app did not work well in the suburbs where he had to wait for quite some time but the bus would never arrive.

Also Read: BMC breaks its FDs to keep BEST afloat

Pardeshi then gave directives to Bagade to improve it further based on the complaints received. He said the app, launched earlier this month, could also be advertised on all bus stops. "Even if it takes longer, continuous improvements and upgrades will be the way to make the app better," Pardeshi said.

Travel time reduced

Pardeshi also said the new parking policy had taken away vehicles from a number of arterial roads, reducing the time taken by the buses on certain stretches between by 5 to 20 percent.

With the launch of mini tempo traveller buses, the BEST Undertaking also cleared a proposal to wet-lease about 500 additional buses. A proposal to clear 500 more buses will be cleared at a meeting on Tuesday. The BEST will also get an integrated ticketing system by November 2019.

Also Read: BEST's new mini-buses are just like the 1926 ones

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