Big Brother is watching: BEST monitors buses on GPS, slows them down

Commuters on a bus in Five Gardens near Matunga. File pic

Mumbai's BEST buses have slowed down owing to a new GPS-based monitoring system through which the control room keeps an eye on their speeds. The buses' speed is being restricted to curb accidents. However, drivers and staff on the ground have complained that it is leading to delays and collapse of the timetable.

The undertaking put a cap of 50 kmph on buses that travel from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai along the highways. With the new Integrated Transport Management System, the central bus control room at Wadala can keep tabs on the buses and monitor their speed on a dashboard. Violating staff are reprimanded.

Bus drivers and other staff have said that this is resulting in the timetable collapsing as on many long-distance routes, buses sometimes try to recover time lost in traffic on the western and eastern express highway. The Mumbai Metro work, crowds, narrow alleys, and traffic have already slowed down buses. The new cap is another hurdle and limits the buses on highways too.

"Every bus driver has his own mathematics to run a bus and recover lost time so that he can stick to the timetable. Such restrictions limit that freedom," BEST committee member Sunil Ganacharya said.

Another bus driver said that the speed has already fallen to 20 kmph along most stretches in the city and suburbs. The driver said that they do not go beyond 70 or 80 kmph on the highways. But now, even if one goes just beyond 50 kmph, there is a fear of action from the administration.

BEST officials said that the speed has been cut down to reduce instances of rash driving and speeding as it is a responsible public transport undertaking.

20kmph
Speed limit of BEST buses on most city aroads