23 private bus conductors use Tabs to issue tickets

As many as 23 private buses plying on Mangaladevi, Konaje and Ullal routes in the city no longer use Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETM) to issue tickets to the passengers. Instead, the conductors use a sophisticated Tab.

Of the 23 buses, all originating from State Bank, five buses plying on Mangaladevi route, three on Konaje and 15 on Ullal route use the new technology for issuing the tickets.

There are over 350 city private buses in Mangaluru and more than a lakh passengers commute to different destinations on a daily basis.

Speaking to DH, DK Bus Operators Association Dilraj Alva said there was good response to the use of Tab for issuing tickets from bus conductors. In fact, the Tab will be useful, once the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology cards and smart cards are introduced for the bus commuters in the city, he added.

The Tab has touch screen display and is already fed with the information on the ticket fare for each stage of the travel on the route. As a result, the conductors can not tamper and charge extra bucks from the passengers. Further, the ticket issued will have information on the name of the bus, route number, fare, kilometre travelled, date and time along with the mobile numbers of the bus conductor and driver.

Once the RFID cards are introduced, then passengers travelling from point-to point just need to flash their card on the Tab. They can also recharge their cards using the Tab.

At present, Tab has been introduced on 23 buses and will be extended to all the private buses operating in Mangaluru in a phased manner. The cost of each Tab is Rs 25,000. If the Tab is charged whole night, then it will function for minimum 10 hours without any issue of low battery, he added.

DK Bus Operators Association has already introduced Chalo app in Mangaluru that integrates all the private buses in the city into a single live tracking and journey planner tool for the city.

With the launch of the app, the waiting time at the bus stop for the commuters has reduced as they can now check the live location and arrival time of a bus on their mobile phone. The app tracks the live GPS position of bus on a map. It also helps to locate bus stops in the closest location.

“It provides all bus route option to passengers travelling to a destination. There are plans to integrate Chalo app with Tab and the Association is mulling over ticket booking facility using the Chalo app in the future,” said Dilraj Alva.