Mumbai: BEST app is good but needs improvement

The BEST live bustracking app to be launched before Diwali is in its final testing stage A testdrive of the app conducted by midday revealed that it has good features but has a lot of scope for improvement However BEST officials are of the opinion that it would be unfair to judge the app at this stage because it still has too many loose endsTest drive of the app armed with Vivo 1819 Android 9 6GB RAM and 21 GHz AI Octacore processor was conducted from Khodadad Circle to Ruia College and Maheshwari Udyan stretch along the Dr Ambedkar Road to track longdistance busesThe app has four key features mdash Plan Journey Explore Favourites and Timetable On logging in by default the Plan Journey page opens and asks for the point of origin and destination picture 1 The tab next to it is Route On entering the desired route number the window did not open even after several attemptsAs per the test drive the app is good for starters but has scope for improvement given the fact that it would soon become a realitySearch for a bus from Ruia College to Dadar threw up several routes The app shows the arrival timing of the bus but it is mentioned in small letters below the bus route However the approximate time to be taken from the origin point to the destination is more prominently displayed Ideally the expected arrival time of the bus should be more prominent picture 2Also one needs to manually go back to the home screen and click on the search routes again to refresh or update the bus timings Though the timings change depending on whether the bus has got stuck in traffic it does arrive at the updated timeThe next tab is that of Explore which gives a visual of the number of buses and bus stops in the area picture 3 A glitch that the app is facing is that the GPS trackers in all the buses have not been activated yet and also one needs to be very precise with the names of bus stops The next option is Favourites where one can plan and enter their regular routes The Timetable section shows routewise bus timings Other features include a Lost Property section SOS button and a Feedback sectionAs per the test drive the app is good for starters but has scope for improvement given the fact that it would soon become a reality However BEST officials are of the opinion that it would be unfair to judge the app at this stage because it still has a number of loose endsSpeaking to midday Surendra Bagade BEST general manager said The BEST App will be the best in the market You wont even have to wait till Diwali for its launch It will be in the public domain soon It is in the final testing stage and will have interesting features The same company that developed the Transport For London app is working on it The software algorithm and the cloud data integration of the fleet are very interesting Just wait and watchAlso ReadA day after reduced fares BEST faces bus shortageTesting timeAs part of the apps beta testing process a number of transport experts and BEST enthusiasts checked it as well Senior transport expert Ashok Datar said The basics are in place and it is a good app The route part is working well The Map on Mobile section with timings is satisfactory although it does change due to traffic situations The explore part is good which shows how much one needs to walk to the nearest bus stop The timetable looks good but is it adhered to The destination part is not working We will observe how it works in the next three to four daysBEST bus enthusiast Akshay Marathe said The biggest issue is that hardly 5 per cent of the fleet is tracked right now We have submitted a feedback regarding this Another enthusiast Harshad Joshi said I have sent them a lot of feedback and got positive responses as well We will know whether the changes have been incorporated only when the app is updatedAlso ReadMumbai Despite fare cut the maths doesnt add up for BESTNavi Mumbai Bus AppThe Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation app has been in the public domain for some time now and one of its best features is the precise bus arrival time it provides which automatically gets updated if there is a delay Waiting at the Ruia College bus stop it gave a precise arrival time for the selected bus on the route and it arrived at the same time picture 4 The app also has an integrated ticketbooking feature It also has a better look and feel overall and appears to be less confusingCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates