Taking the right bus in Kolkata is now just a touch away

Wednesday July 26, 2017 , 2 min Read

The next time you are in Kolkata, you need not feel lost or clueless about which bus to take to reach your destination. With the launch of real-time transit information for Google Maps app in India, passengers of West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) buses in Kolkata will now be able to get real-time information on the app on buses and their routes.

Now, all one will have to do is type in the destination and the place of departure in the app and get the list of buses plying on that route along with their arrival timings at the particular stop. The service which aims at helping people plan their commute better was started on 24 July.

Image: Shutterstock

Narayan Swaroop Nigam, Managing Director, WBTC in a statement said,

"By sharing the real-time transit information of our buses with Google Maps, we are striving to deliver an enhanced level of service for our commuters. We expect this to help increase the footfall in our buses and improve revenue realisation."

Currently enabled for key WBTC transit routes, the service will soon be expanded to the remaining routes.

"This is yet another attempt to bring smart public transport to Kolkata and to improve the performance of WBTC," Transport Department Minister Subhendu Adhikari told IANS.

To use this new feature, commuters should download the Google Maps app on Android or IOS devices, open it, enter the destination and tap the 'Get directions' icon. If it's not already selected, tap the 'Transit' icon (the little tram) to view timings, bus/train numbers, routes and more. You'll see the real-time arrival information in green.

"Tapping a recommended route lets you view more information on the route's stops. Tap the bus stop to see a listing of all arriving buses, where relevant real-time info is depicted by the green beacon," WBTC said.

(with inputs from IANS)

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