The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) will not meet the March 2019 deadline to implement the Intelligent Transport Management System (ITMS). While work on the project has progressed, the undertaking still needs to develop a command centre and control centre.
The ITMS will provide commuters real-time location and expected time of arrival of buses at all bus stops. It will also include a public information system (PIS) on board, informing commuters of upcoming stations. ITMS will rely on GPS to provide locations.
BEST general manager Surendrakumar Bagde said PIS devices have been installed on 2,809 buses, and vehicular tracking devices on 2,470 buses. “We are conducting trials of the GPS-based system at seven depots. As soon as the trials are successfully completed, we will roll out the system,” he said.
The BEST received a paltry ₹34 crore for the ITMS from the BMC in this year’s budget. The project is expected to cost more than ₹100 crore.