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THE BRIHAN MUMBAI ELECTRIC SUPPLY AND TRANSPORT UNDERTAKING
(of the Brihan Mumbai Mahanagapalika)
BEST PRACTICES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF THE STUs
Introduction
The Brihan Mumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) is a municipal
undertaking supplying electricity in the city limits of Brihan Mumbai and passenger transport
in the city as well as its extended suburbs ie, Mira Road, Bhayander, Thane and Navi
Mumbai.
The BEST Undertaking has 4534 buses comprising of 3634 single decker buses, 290
AC buses, 488 midi buses and 122 double decker buses. Out of the 4534 buses, 2980 buses
are operated on CNG. These buses are operated over 501 bus routes carrying 40 lac
passengers on an average.
BEST & ROAD SAFETY
The right to life and safety is the fundamental right of every citizen. Road accidents
are serious issues and road traffic injuries result in emotional, physical and economic
harm. Every citizen is morally bound individually and collectively to prevent incidents which
result in such actions.
Accidents are a common occurrence in big cities as there are multifarious modes of
transport and the roads are narrow and over crowded. Accidents often result in loss of life
and material. These are caused by the carelessness of the drivers, pedestrians and their
ignorance and negligence of the traffic rules and the prevailing road conditions.
Road traffic safety refers to methods and measures for reducing the risk of personnel
using the road network and being killed or seriously injured as a result thereof. The users
of a road include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, their passengers, and the passengers of
public transport, mainly buses.
With a view to reduce the rate of accidents and thereby human loss and damage to
the property and propagate the cause of road safety, the BEST Undertaking constituted
Accident Prevention Cell in the Year 92. Various programmes/activities are carried out by
this Cell which are delineated in the succeeding paragraphs.
Accident Prevention Cell : Programmes/Activities
(i) Accident Prevention Checking/ Standing Duty at Accident (Black) Spots. With a
view to curb the tendency of rash driving, jumping signals at junctions by driving at excessive
speed, non-stopping of buses at scheduled bus stops, not allowing sufficient time to passengers
for boarding/alighting, not using safety bars particularly when the buses are approaching
traffic junctions/signals, not maintaining safe distance between vehicles, the Accident
Prevention Checking/Standing duty at accident-prone spots is carried out thrice in a week
Best Practice Report submitted by The Brihan Mumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking, Mumbai.
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with the help of Safety Squad Inspectors and Driver Supervisors. During the checks the
drivers/conductors are suitably instructed and the drivers/conductors committing breaches
of instructions are reported and disciplinary action is initiated against such erring staff.
(ii) Night Checking. This special check is carried out twice in a month between 1800
hours to 2100 hours and 2000 hours to 2300 hours. During this period, buses are returning
to depots for stabling and the drivers/conductors are in a hurry to sign off their duties.
They tend to pay little attention to the passengers, with the result that schedule stops are
skipped. The rash driving/dangerous overtaking by drivers leads to accidents. To prevent
such tendency, night checking is carried out. The reports are sent against such drivers
and appropriate disciplinary action is initiated.
(iii) Checking by Traffic Officers. In addition to the Accident Prevention Checking done
by the Accident and Claims Officers, similar checks are also entrusted to the Officers of
the Traffic Department from Asstt Traffic Officers to Senior Traffic Officers. This check is
carried out weekly.
(iv) Counselling Bus Drivers. This concept was introduced with a view to making
accident prevention more effective and result oriented. The drivers are counselled personally
by the officers/inspectors of the Accident and Claims Cell and officers from the Traffic
Department. They instruct the staff to make concerted efforts to reduce/avoid accidents by
scrupulously observing traffic rules and thereby help to save human lives and the credibility
of the Undertaking.
The importance of rendering necessary medical help particularly at the 'Golden Hour'
and its obligation is emphasised to the bus crew. Besides these, Accident Inspectors also
conduct regular counselling of the drivers with regard to road safety. Similarly, the Accident
Inspectors and Accident and Claims Officers also guide bus drivers in police courts and at
bus terminuses. Bus drivers involved in accidents are called and counselled by Senior Officers
and are sent to the BEST Traffic Training Centre for refresher courses.
(v) Display of Instructions/Posters. All the depots are provided with notice boards
bearing written rules regarding defensive driving which are fixed at prominent places. The
drivers are taught to go through these rules periodically. Detailed analysis about the
occurrence of fatal/major accident is also displayed at the depots and the drivers are
instructed to be cautious and vigilant to avoid recurrence of such accidents. Regular
announcements emphasising the cautionary aspects of driving is also made on public address
system installed at the depots.
(vi) Issue of Appeals to Bus Drivers. The bus crew are sensitised about accidents and
the precautions to be taken to avoid them. Posters, appeals, instructions etc are issued
outlying major/fatal accidents and their causes. An introspective appeal is made to them to
refrain from such spurring moment to prevent such incidents and be more careful while
driving their buses.
(vii)Observance of Road Safety Week. Every year during the first week of January,
Road Safety Week is observed. During this period, various programmes/activities such as
exhibition, audio-video shows, slide shows, display of banners, special message of the General
Manager in the form of appeals are issued. Lectures on road safety are also conducted. On
the occasion, drivers having a accident free record for ten years are felicitated.
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(viii)
Action Against Drivers Involved in Fatal Accident. In case of fatal accident, a
panel comprising of the Chief Manager (Traffic) and Dy Chief Manager (Traffic) and the
concerned Depot Manager scrutinise the reports and recommend the disciplinary action to
be initiated against the erring driver. Thereafter, disciplinary action is initiated.
(ix) Refresher Courses for Bus Drivers/Conductors. The bus drivers involved in major/
minor accidents as having bad driving habits are given a three days refresher course at
the BEST Training School. During the refresher course, it is emphasised to the participants
to refrain from bad driving habits and to save human lives and the consequent liability of
the Undertaking on account of the compensation to be paid. They are also taught to show
courtesy and care for the other road users, behaviour with passengers particularly physically
handicapped, senior citizens, expectant mothers, school going children etc.
(x) Slide Show in Schools. In order to inculcate good road habits for wider reach, slide
shows are conducted comprising subjects like how to cross roads, safe travel/cycling/playing
etc for the school going children particularly Municipal Schools and schools which are near
to main roads.
(xi) Stress Management. Considering the tedious and stressful work of the bus crew,
which affects their behavioural approach and relations with the passengers and other road
users which results into either accidents or altercations, The BEST Undertaking with the
help of NGOs like Prajapita Brahma Kumari Ishwariya Vishwavidyalaya and Salaam Bombay
Foundation, conduct special meditation courses.
The details of the drivers participated in the programme is as under :Year
Vipassana Course
07-08
08-09
09-10
10-11
11-12
101
600
-
Course by Prajapita
Brahmakumaris
2204
525
621
Course by Salaam
Bombay Foundation
2809
525
621
(xii)Training to Bus Drivers. Although, the bus drivers are issued licences by the RTO
to drive heavy vehicles, while recruiting such drivers, a driving test is also conducted by
the Undertaking. The selected/eligible candidates for the post of bus drivers are given eight
weeks vigorous driving training comprising of defensive driving, ie, importance of speed
limit, anticipation, knowledge of surrounding, observation of traffic rules, care and caution
for other road users particularly pedestrians, two wheeler drivers, cyclists and other light
vehicle riders. The consequential effects of bad driving habits on various components and
expenditure on that account are taught by imparting special training for two days at the
Technical Training Centre.
(xiii)
Improving Road Condition. Attention is paid for improving road condition,
which is one of the factors contributing to road accidents. A periodic survey of road condition
is carried out throughout the operational area. The bad road condition is taken up with the
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concerned Authorities viz, the Municipal Corporation, Traffic Police and the PWD for taking
the necessary remedial measures.
As a result of these concerted efforts/steps BEST Undertaking has been successful in
controlling and reducing the accident rate to some extent.
The decade-wise accident statistics are as under :YEARS 91-92 TO 2000-01
Year
91-92
92-93
93-94
94-95
95-96
96-97
97-98
98-99
99-2000
2000-01
Fatal
Accidents
87
91
85
68
62
74
57
54
46
41
Total
Accidents
2612
1774
1836
1741
1638
1409
990
1096
1046
797
Total
Injuries
1418
1149
1240
1164
1054
1066
779
821
892
797
Accident Per
10,000 Kms
0.14
0.08
0.10
0.07
0.07
0.05
0.04
0.04
0.04
0.03
YEARS 01-02 TO 10-11
Year
01-02
02-03
03-04
04-05
05-06
06-07
07-08
08-09
09-10
10-11
Fatal
Accidents
41
35
41
54
35
53
40
50
43
49
Total
Accidents
755
715
766
822
837
979
841
940
882
847
Total
Injuries
740
702
677
764
728
876
782
780
722
822
Accident Per
10,000 Kms
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0.04
0.04
0.04
0.03
0.03
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The statistics for the year 11-12 are as under :Year
No of Fatal
Accidents
Total
Accidents
Total
Injuries
11-12
26
840
896
USE OF INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGIES
The BEST Undertaking has initiated e-Ticketing Project in association with a private
operator, on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis. Under this project, the entire ticketing
mechanism is automated by introducing hand-held electronic ticket issuing machines
(ETIM). The current conventional bus pass issuing system is also replaced by issuing RFID
based pre-paid Smart Cards.
Replacement of the Conventional Ticket Issuing Mechanism with e-Tickets Through
Electronic Ticket Issuing Machine (ETIM) and Replacement of Conventional Bus Passes
Issuing System with Electronic RFID Based Smart Cards Compatible with the ETIMs.
The BEST Undertaking provides Bus Transport within Brihan-Mumbai limits and also
in Navi Mumbai, Thane and Mira-Bhayander areas. On an average 40 lac passengers are
travelling daily through 63,700 trips operated on 501 bus routes with the help of 4534 ecofriendly buses. With a view to adopting modern information technology in day to day business
of the Undertaking it was a felt need to replace the existing conventional ticket issuing
mechanism which involved huge back-office work like printing of around 28 fixed
denomination tickets in bulk and transporting the same to the 25 depots of the Undertaking.
The Undertaking was also lagging behind the schedule in the area of getting real
time information of bus operation revenue as well as ridership. For issuing periodical bus
passes to the regular passengers, manual paper bus pass issuing system was in existence
at 25 bus depots of the Undertaking. This again involved huge back-office work like printing
of 15 fixed denomination bus passes in bulk and transporting the same to the 25 depots of
the Undertaking. In this case also the Undertaking was not able to get updated information
about bus pass revenue.
Strategy Adopted
The Undertaking had been facing remarkable procedural delays in various aspects of
ticketing, periodical bus pass, and data collection for analysis due to the lengthy processes
of checking and verification. These delays are avoided by implementing this automated
solution.
The Undertaking was not willing to take the initial financial load of taking up the
project as it required a significant amount of investment. Ensuring success of the project
was another key concern for the Undertaking as it required lots of domain expertise,
technology integration, manpower and streamlined execution of all these.
Accordingly, the Undertaking decided to take up this project on the Build, Operate and
Transfer (BOT) model to minimise the commercial implications as well as risks while
guaranteeing the success.
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This project was put forth on a five year BOT model with a domain expert system
integrator. By doing this, not only the financial and operational burdens were diminished
from the Undertaking but the corporate culture, accuracy and guarantee of success was
strategically achieved by adopting this procedure.
The cost had to be maintained as low as possible considering the contribution of the
Undertaking in it. The need of the moment was to find creative ways to fulfil these criteria.
Therefore the Undertaking decided to go for the technology options that would cost less but
would not compromise on the deliveries. On the same lines, the project was schemed to be
developed on open source technology called LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) to avoid
the licensing cost, which was a major area of costing. This technology often means less
bugs/holes and faster patches, ultimately providing stability to the system.
The project was planned to be rolled out with an initial pilot test at one depot followed
by three phases. This would help to check and understand the initial rollout and make the
necessary changes in order to streamline the further implementation of the three phases.
The pilot would implement the RFID based Smart Bus Pass System at 64 Points of Sale
(PoS) locations, and ETIM at one depot, and the rest of the depots were arranged very
strategically in forthcoming phases to ease the implementation whilst covering major
opportunities of revenue and service expansions as well.
Roll Out
Pilot Phase
First Set of the Roll Out
Second Set of the Roll Out
Third Set of the Roll Out
No of RFID PoS
64
-
No of Depots on ETIM
1
8
8
8
Technology was not the only answer to all the requirements as operations of the
Undertaking was spread in the far-off areas of Greater Mumbai, bringing several concerns
for the successful project accomplishment. Assured connectivity and humongous data
transportation were among the major challenges. Asides to this the data could be segregated
into two levels namely Depot Level and the Central Level. This prudent segregation would
reduce the load on data transportation while concluding to Distributed Centralised Database
System. This system would segregate the information on the basis of immediate availability
on the basis of defined level between the Central Database Server and the Local Database
Server.
Result Achieved / Value Delivered to The Beneficiary of the Project
The project as a whole has been a great success in terms of facilitating the passengers,
improving the tickets and ticketing system, RFID based pass system, computing facilitation,
conductor's burden, delays in information transportation and generation of reports. A few
major areas of benefits are delineated in the succeeding paragraphs.
ETIM
All the 25 depots have been made live. A total of 9330 ETIM machines are being used
in the system at present. The new ticketing system has been over-welcomed by the
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passengers as the ticket is more descriptive. This change has also been welcomed by
conductors which bring ease to their functioning by reducing paper work.
The transition process has been smooth and the Undertaking now utilises the reports
being generated at the central system by few clicks.
RFID Based Bus Pass
The undertaking has started issuing the RFID based ID card cum bus passes from
December 10 for the convenience of the commuters. These passes are being issued from
the 64 Points of Sale located at the convenient locations. Passengers can also register for
new cards or renew the existing card over the internet. As of date 9,70,000 cards have
been issued to the commuters.
This card bears the digitally printed name, photograph, and gender of the passenger.
The internal memory chip contains the information about the type of bus pass, duration
and the date of expiry of the bus pass.
This card is read by the ETIMs carried by the conductor on the buses to confirm the
validity of the journey by the pass holder. The same card can be renewed for a further
duration as per the requirement of the passenger.
Extent To Which The Objective of the Project is Fulfilled
The Undertaking faced several limitations that had to be overcome in order to
accomplish this implementation successfully. All the depots of the Undertaking had to be
coopted in the implementation and installation of the infrastructure implementation and
its subsequent maintenance was a major challenge. This has been one of the major reasons
of opting for a phase-wise implementation. The actual users of the technology, the bus
conductors were not IT savvy, hence the functional behaviour of the solution needed to be
extremely user friendly. The requirements were also not finalised since specific areas had
different requirements. Handling such diverse requirements and fulfilling them was another
limitation in the project. The Undertaking had 2500 bus stop locations where the buses
halted. Making these names unique, formation of unique code and conversion of those names
in Marathi came as another big challenge while graduating to ETIM. Further to this, the
memory limitation of the ETIM machines had to be considered while creating a new stop
master database. The project implementation or roll-out was decided over 6 months and the
Undertaking was willing to have the latest technology in place upon completion of the
implementation. Therefore, the project was planned on most advanced technology while
considering this limitation to remain one step ahead of the technologies at the time of
completion. The best technology architecture was chosen for data synchronisation, security,
functional methodology and data recovery site.
The Undertaking required the solution to be functional at both the places, Central
Office and the depots, and the data had to be transported at least possible times while being
in sync. This was another serious limitation which was won over by a conscientious
architecture of a centralised and de-centralised data structure working simultaneously for
the same objective. Transaction related data was planned to be stored at depot level to
provide only the required and relevant information to the depots and the central data server
was planned to gather consolidated information from all the depots and provide it to the
central office. This also allowed independent and fast functions at the depot levels.
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The RFID based smart card was introduced from 7 Dec 10 and the electronic ticketing
issuing machine has been introduced from 9 Feb 11. The ticketing machine also has the
facility of checking RFID cards.
(i)
The Mechanism.
(a)
Every bus conductor carries a ETIM for issuing tickets on-board. These
transactions get synchronised on demand to the server located at the data centre
through the GPRS.
(b)
These ETIMs are also capable of validating and renewing the RFID based prepaid smart cards.
(c)
RFID card based pre-paid Smart Cards are issued to the commuters through 64
web based Points of Sales equipped with 90 Counters.
(d)
Commuters can also apply for new or renew the RFID based Smart Cards through
the Internet.
(e)
The system can be upgraded for 'Common Mobility Card" to be used with Metro,
Mono-Rail and Local train network.
(f)
The system can also be upgraded for card ticket system prevailing all over the
world.
(ii) Equipments in the System.
(a)
9330 Electronic Ticket Issuing Machines with memory pack capable of checking
and validating the RFID Cards.
(b)
10 lac RFID based smart cards.
(c)
Well equipped centralised data centre for managing the systems.
(iii) Benefits - Direct.
(a)
On-Line ticket printing through ETIMs
(b)
Validating RFID based smart cards through ETIMs.
(c)
Cashless transactions by selling prepaid RFID smart cards.
(d)
Real time MIS for taking instant operational decisions.
(e)
Saving in infrastructural expenditures.
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EVOLUTION OF TICKETS
EVOLUTION OF PASS SYSTEM
IJTM