Indian Express 18.05.2010
Bus, train smart card good for Metro, monorail
Swatee Kher Tags : transport, train smart card good for Metro Posted: Tue May 18 2010, 05:14 hrs
Mumbai: The state government will extend the “seamless travel” concept to the Metro and the monorail early next year, urban development department officials said.Currently, such cards can be used for BEST buses and local trains. The system is aimed at ensuring secure, cashless transactions and reducing long queues at railway stations. Usable as a pass or a ticket, each card has an embedded microprocessor that reads and processes the data on the type of ticket bought.
The decision to extend the concept was taken Monday at a meeting to discuss various aspects of transport projects by the Unified Mumbai Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMMTA).
“The unique feature of Mumbai transport is the commuters change modes to travel to places. With the initial phases of Metro and monorail expected to be completed by mid-2011, a decision was taken to extend the use of smart card for these transport modes,” said K Vijayalakshmi, additional chief, UMMTA.
Urban development department officials said there are agencies that have the expertise to make and integrate new systems in the smart card and they will be roped in.
The Railways and BEST had launched the smart card service in 2008. Recently, the Thane Municipal Corporation consented to the use of such cards for its bus service. “TMC has given their consent. We are awaiting a reply from other corporations,” said Vijayalakshmi.
