Despite having a vast, largely interlinked, public transport network, the city does not seem to offer its residents a comfortable and a pleasant travel experience. The reason, according to experts and commuters, is the absence of data on train and bus timings.
In a city where the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) has a fleet of over 3,300 vehicles, the absence of real time bus timings has robbed commuters of flexible transport options, particularly during rush hour. Ridlr, an Android application, is one of the first apps dedicated to providing timings of different modes of suburban public transport facilities under one platform. Birdseyetech.com, which launched Traffline – a traffic update app in the city — has launched Ridlr.
Payal Sheth, head of operations of the company, says Ridlr is an amalgamation of traffic updates and public transport timings to find the shortest and quickest way to reach their destination.
13 cities
The dedicated public transport app covers 13 cities including Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Vijayawada, she added. However, people using the app will find it had to get the exact routes and accurate bus timings. Ms. Payal says the company has been trying a lot, but officials are not willing to provide data of bus timings.
With suburban train timings and metro service schedules available online as well as on smart phone apps, commuters feel integration of different modes of transport will be complete only if bus timings are also available for a quick switch over of the mode of commute.
T. Sadagopan, a consumer activist, says in a situation where the unified metropolitan transport authority remains a non-starter, the MTC would do well to provide the bus timings so that commuters could plan their own integrated transport routes.
According to a senior official, the MTC gets plenty of requests from various individuals and organisations, but they are not clear about the purpose for which the information is sought.
However, developers say officials have not been willing to provide much data regarding the schedule of buses
