Smart travelling to get smarter

Commuting in West Bengal is all set to get smarter. All you have to do is download an app – Pathdisha – and if you are travelling in a State Transport Corporation bus, then with a tap on your smartphone you will be able to tell your exact location to others.

Not only that, before you embark upon a bus, waiting at the bus stop, you will be able to know how crowded the bus is and if there are vacant seats available in the bus. Other than public and private buses, the app will also tell you details of ferry movement at places such as Sunderbans, Howrah etc. The app is being upgraded at present to provide added facilities.

State transport minister Suvendu Adhikari, after assuming office had said that their intention was to make commuting smarter and more convenient. He had introduced new AC and non-AC buses and to avoid hassles of loose coins, smart cards had been introduced.

Commuters waiting at bus stops are also informed how far away the bus is and the estimated time it will take to reach the stoppage.

Department sources said that the app has had about four lakh downloads and other than the state department buses the app also informs commuters about three thousand private buses.

Of late there has been a tendency of taking a safety precaution by sharing live location with near and dear ones and taking a cue from that the app is being upgraded with latest features. Sources said that in case of an emergency when it becomes nearly impossible to make a call or type a message, the location sharing feature with the help of an SMS, email or WhatsApp at the tap of a finger is likely to come handy and might prevent many untoward situations.

To indicate the crowd situation within the bus, there will be an icon which will be in red, yellow and green colour. If the bus is overcrowded it will be red in colour. If there are no vacant seats but enough space to stand and travel, in that case the icon will be in yellow colour and if there is place to sit the colour of the icon will be green. The feedback will be given by commuters themselves in the buses concerned. The colours will also reflect on the buses shown real time on maps. The default blue colour of the buses will change according to the feedbacks letting the waiting passenger know the situation of seats availability in the bus which is arriving.