Single card for travel not anytime soon

Instead of carrying a single smart card to travel across four different transportation modes in the city public bus, suburban locals, metro and mono rails Mumbaikars will have to carry four smart cards. Reason being, it will take time for the integrated smart card to made be available to the public.

These cards are based on the lines of the national common mobility card called ‘More’ that was unveiled in December 2011 and meant to facilitate cashless travel in different modes of transport across India.

“Initially, there will be different smart cards once the metro and monorail is opened for public use,” said UPS Madan, metropolitan commissioner, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). “We are working towards a common smart card and it should be ready in the coming months,” he said.

Till then, Mumbaikars will have to carry a card each for metro and mono rails, a card issued by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) and another issued by the Central-Western Railways.

According to an earlier plan, the MMRDA, through Unified Mumbai Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMMTA), was to integrate Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Transport, Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport, Thane Municipal Transport, BEST and the Central-Western Railways. However, only metro, mono rails and BEST will be part of the plan now.

Four different cards?
UPS Madan, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA said that an integrated smart card should be ready in the coming months. Till then, Mumbaikars will have to carry a card each for metro and mono rails, a card issued by the BEST and another issued by the Central-Western Railways.