Kolkata: The state government will be soon introducing ‘Where Is My Bus’ (WIMB) feature on the Yatri Sathi App in 21 odd bus routes in the city for effective tracking the real-time location of their buses. Presently, only two bus routes—namely 223 and 45 under City Suburban Bus Service are under the aegis of WIMB.
According to an official in the Transport department, minister Snehasis Chakraborty who chaired a meeting on Thursday for expanding the App’s ambit said integration in the App will display the arrival of that particular bus at a bus stop. Passengers will know about the approaching bus and tentative time of arrival and they will wait for the same; which in turn will help the bus get more commuters. He also informed the secretaries of the 21 odd route committees attending the meeting that at a time when App buses are making inroads in Kolkata, the App will be beneficial for them to compete with them.
Presently, display information about buses is found only in New Town, however, it will soon be introduced in all major bus stops in Kolkata.
30, 30 C/1, 79 B, 93, 219, KB 21, K-1, 1,1AB, 12 C and its sub routes 37, 37 A, 17, 17 AB to name a few are the routes in which the state plans to introduce the App. “A bus owner has to spend to the tune of Rs 25 lakh for introducing a bus on the road. The fine imposed on a bus is around Rs 2 lakh per year. So, in 15 years, which is considered suitable for a bus’s life span, an owner has to dole out Rs 55 lakh. Now, is it possible for an owner to earn this amount running a bus for 15 years?” questioned Tito Saha of City Suburban Bus Services and asked for some incentive from the government that included the demand of waiver of fines prior to the start of the Sanjog portal.
Saha claimed that the minister has assured looking into the issue of pending cases for providing some sort of relief to the operators.