Bengal government to launch two aps to curb rash driving, display bus arrival time
Telegraph | 11 February 2025
The state government on Monday announced its plan to launch two mobile apps, one to crack down on rash driving of buses and the other to inform commuters about the current location of a bus and when the next bus will arrive at a bus stop.
State transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty said a pilot project involving government buses on 12 bus routes would be launched first. Later, the project would be extended to other routes and private buses.
Many daily commuters said they also wanted the government to run more buses. Across the city, buses become scarce on all routes after 8pm even on weekdays.
Chakraborty, with Calcutta mayor Firhad Hakim standing beside him, said drivers would need to install an app on their mobile phones so the government could track how a bus is being driven.
“We will get to know through the app if a bus is found to be driven rashly or switching lanes frequently. If a driver is found to flout rules repeatedly, he will be warned. If he still does not mend ways, we will cancel his driving licence,” Chakraborty said.
Hakim said boards would be put up at bus shelters where the expected arrival time of the next bus would be displayed.
The estimated arrival time and the location of a bus will also be available on an app, Chakraborty said.
On Monday afternoon, Hakim and Chakraborty held a meeting with senior officials of the state government and senior police officers on how to roll out the two apps. Bus owners’ associations were invited to the meeting.
Officials of the municipal corporations of Calcutta, Howrah and Bidhannagar attended the meeting.
“The municipal corporations will have to create bus shelters where there are no shelters,” said a state government official.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had in January slammed Chakraborty for the lack of enough buses on roads and said the department had turned “silent”, suggesting it had stopped doing its job. She instructed the minister to personally tour the city and understand the plight of the commuters.
Metro has reported that Calcuttans want better public transport and more buses at night. Buses on most routes are far fewer compared with the number of commuters. Calcuttans have to depend on expensive and often unreliable cabs for their everyday commute.
“It is good to have an app or display the expected time of arrival of a bus at a bus shelter. But the number of buses should increase. Every evening while returning home from Kalighat Metro station, I see packed buses because there are so few buses,” said a Kasba resident.
Scores of people waiting by the roadside for a bus are a common sight at all major crossings, such as Esplanade and Exide.
Chakraborty said 700 government buses now ply in Calcutta. Private bus owners said about 3,000 private buses run in the city, down from 8,000 before Covid. “Fares have not been raised since 2018 but the price of diesel has increased multiple times,” he said.
Daily commuters said the civic authorities and the police have to ensure that buses stop at bus shelters, which is rare in Calcutta. “Buses stop where passengers wait. If there is a plan to display the time of arrival of a bus, then buses have to only pick up passengers from designated bus stops,” said a daily commuter.
Commuters also asked why the state government was launching a new app when there was an app called Patha Sathi that displayed the location of a bus and the expected arrival time.
A transport department official said: “The new app will be better than Patha Sathi.”