1.  E-Ticketing Project  Passenger Information System, and Surveillance System  Fixed Route & Duty Scheduling

2. TRANSPORT DIVISION ParticularsYear 2016 Depots27 Central Workshop1 Fleet3913 Daily Avg. effective kms.6.5 Lakhs Passengers/day35 Lakhs (Weekdays) Earnings/dayRs.3.7 Crores No. of routes496 Conductors / Drivers12317 / 11768

3. A BEST Initiative

4.  Adopt modern information technology.  Replace the existing conventional ticket issuing mechanism paper bus pass system which involved huge back-office work like printing of around 28 fixed denominations tickets and 15 fixed denomination bus passes in bulk, transporting the same to all the Depots of the Undertaking.  Real time information of bus operation revenue, ridership and bus pass revenue.  Elimination of procedural delays in various aspects of Ticketing, Periodical Bus Pass, and Data Collection for analysis due to lengthy processes of checking and verification.  These delays are avoided by implementing this automated solution.

5.  BEST has initiated e-Ticketing Project in association with M/s Trimax, on Build-Operate -Transfer (BOT) basis.  Under this project, entire ticketing mechanism is automated by introducing Hand-held Electronic Ticket Issuing Machines (ETIM).  Conventional bus pass issuing system is also replaced by issuing RF-ID based pre-paid Smart Cards. e-Ticketing Initiative

6.  Every Bus Conductor carries an ETIM for issuing tickets on-board. These transactions can be synchronized on demand to the server located at Data Center through GPRS.  These ETIMs are also capable of Validating, and Renewing the RF-ID based pre-paid Smart Cards.  RF-ID card based pre-paid Smart Cards are issued to the commuters through 70 web based Points of Sales.  Commuters can also apply for new or renew the RF-ID based Smart Cards through Internet.  Integrated ETIM-RFID Smart Card applications are monitored centrally.  Centralized Real time MIS Reports.

7. e-Ticketing Initiative The Evolution

8.  Hardware sustainability due to weather and city conditions affecting data capture.  Improper handling of equipment by staff.  Non replacement of old battery results in faster discharging of battery if used for prolonged period.  Ticket Roll is in floating state causing misalignment results in  Paper getting stuck  Over printing in single line  Difficult for staff to prove non printing / blank ticket and also for officers to confirm the fact.

9.  Human errors due to increase in functions.  Loss of internet connectivity affects POS services.  Pre printed ticket tray is required to be maintained considering 1% failure rate of ETIMs.

10. A BEST Initiative

11.  Provides estimated and current arrival and departure time of buses.  Information about next stop is displayed and announced in the bus.  2 LED screens have been installed in buses.  GPS devices are installed on buses, to send and receive real time information about the movement of the bus.  The information is used to track the vehicle on line and to broadcast it on dedicated portal managed by centralized data center.  Expected time of arrival of buses on the stops will be displayed through the real time display units installed at the bus stops.

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13.  Real Time Information about availability and location of the buses on desired routes is made available through internet, on a dedicated web based portal www.bestpis.in  After registering on the portal, passengers can regularly track the desired buses.

15.  Passengers on request can get the time of the next 5 buses from any bus stop on their mobile phone by texting a five digit bus stop number to 56060 (e.g. text “BEST 02001” to 56060).  One can refine the selection at busier stops by including route number.  Bus Stop numbers are displayed on the top of all bus stops in the BEST Bus network.  Mobile phone based application is also developed.

16. 2 CCTV cameras are installed in buses, one each at Front Exit and Rear Entry to keep a track of the activities in the bus. Mobile Digital Video Recorder is installed in Driver Cabin to record and display live footage. Data for 72 hrs is stored in the DVR A Key pad is provided in Drivers Cabin for operating PIS System.

17.  Hardware sustainability due to weather and city conditions.  Pilferage and physical tampering of system viz. breaking of wires, pasting of stickers on the CCTV camera, etc.  Damage of equipment due to water ingress during internal cleaning of buses.  Reluctancy of staff to provide inputs to the PIS system.  Difficulty in obtaining immediate back up.  No live monitoring of CCTV footage.  GPS connectivity lost due to high rise buildings and other overhead interferences.

18.  Difficulty in affixing equipment at bus stops due to vandalism.  Complaint from commuters for Audio-Visual feed, as it disturb them with frequent announcements.  Very much essential to keep up the system, otherwise may lead to wrong intimation to commuters. 

19. BEST e-Ticketing Project Presented By: Mr. Om Prakash Gupta, IAS General Manager, BES&T Presented By: Mr. Om Prakash Gupta, IAS General Manager Fixed Route & Duty Scheduling

20.  BEST was doing the route planning and scheduling manually through various permutations and combinations.  A skilled team would prepare the route and duty schedules.  Limitations  Capacity of a Human IQ to get the optimized combination.  Becomes an end point from the optimization point as it varies from person to person.  Time consuming.  Monotonous work.  Not possible for an individual to work/ explore all the available data at one go to get the optimized result.

21.  Creating Multiple plans manually is time consuming – ( what if, scenarios )  Analysis of each of the multiple Plans for maximum efficiency and utilisation of bus and crew – choosing the best plan of these multiple plans - cannot be easily done  Updation of Changes made to any schedules of bus and crew and publishing the data is tedious and prone to errors

22. a) Combination of 2 long routes b) Rest less 35 to 40 mts c) Duties combined with Routes / buses of other depot at a common relief point. d) Different Type route combination e) Maximum duties Spread over more than 10.30 hrs SAVINGS in DUTIES – more than 8 % Parameters Set for duty schedules Software optimisation -1st Plan Parameters Set for duty schedules Software optimisation -1st Plan

23. Selected parameters for smoother impl ementation a) Rest Period at least 50-60 mts b) Preferred same route combination c) Feeder + Long Route combination d) Spread over less than 10.30 hrs e) Same depot route combination f) Combination of same type route ( AC with AC) - RESULT - Achieved SAVINGS in DUTIES – 4.3 % Parameters Set for duty schedules Software optimisation -2nd Plan Parameters Set for duty schedules Software optimisation -2nd Plan

24.  Intelligent algorithms with permutations and combination to fit any demographic for bus route and scheduling optimization  Faster processing of schedules and rostering of conductors and driver at any time required.  Optimization of routes and schedules every quarter based on current permutation and the on ground reality and not year on year legacy information.  Features like last minute or mid quarter changes to the route and schedules to address any unexpected changes to operational requirements.

25.  Achieving Optimum Duty of 8 hours  Subsequently containing the Spreadover of duty within 11 hours.  Future Infrastructure Planning & Upgradation Better Staff Facilities Canteen & Rest Facility

26.  Resentment by employees and unions.  Lack of human touch while preparing duty schedules.  Due to linking of different routes, delay in operation of one route affects the operation of the other route.  Mid term changes becomes difficult as all routes of a depot are interlinked.