A bus whose door didn’t open automatically, outside the BRTS lane at Dapodi on Tuesday.
On the fifth consecutive day after its launch, the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) track between Nigdi and Dapodi continued to cause confusion among commuters as PMPML buses plied on the track built for them, but also used the service road outside.
By evening, it was revealed that at least 100 buses had skipped the BRTS lane as they couldn’t get the door on the right side of the bus open, where the bus stops are located. Officials of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) said the doors didn’t open because PMPML had failed to activate the range frequency (RF) tag. “The RF tags help open and close the door automatically,” said PCMC officials.
PMPML officials have also failed to activate the Intelligent Transport Management System (ITMS), which is needed to operate the digital boards at the bus stops. “Between Nigdi to Dapodi, ITMS was operational only at the HA Colony stop. Otherwise, at all other bus stations, ITMS failed to operate,” said Vijay Bhojne, in-charge of PCMC’s BRTS department. In the absence of ITMS, PMPML has posted ‘controllers’ at some bus stations to make announcements regarding bus arrivals, said Bhojne, adding, “this is causing confusion among commuters”. He said the PCMC had given enough time to PMPML to install the ITMS system and activate it. “We had informed them at least four months in advance,” he said.
PMPML CMD Nayana Gunde, however, said it will take at least three to four days to get the RF tag and ITMS activated. “Some of the buses malfunctioned and we couldn’t get things in order,” she said.
General manager of the transport body, Dattatrya Mane, said they were supposed to provide 273 buses for the Nigdi-Dapodi route. “Currently, 160 buses have been provided RF tags and the work of installing RF tags on the remaining buses is underway,” he said.
Mane said the process of installing RF tags on older buses was difficult and most buses were five to seven years old. “It is easy to install the RF tag on new buses,” he said.