Bus stops to have fans, charging ports & rooftop gardens
The bus stops in Mumbai will see a much-required upgrade in the days to come. The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) are looking at making bus stops solar powered. The Free Press Journal had reported about BEST's plan for LEDbased passenger information systems to be fitted at bus stops, apart from having plantations on the roof as well.
According to officials, the BEST Undertaking is working on a pilot project for a solar-powered bus stop. It is likely to have cell phone charging points that can be used by passengers waiting at the bus stop. These charging points will be powered by solar panels installed on the roof. “In fact, they are also working on a concept of motion-sensor small cassette fans which will switch on when a passenger walks in,” said Ketan Kadam, the mind behind the green bus stop concept. Kadam and his team are already working on the green bus stops, with one such system being installed at Famous Studios in Mahalaxmi. This too will be powered by solar panels.
The stops will be equipped with a 48-hour battery backup solar panel system. The likely specifications of each bus stop are a 250W solar panel, with an inverter, 150 mAh lead acid tubular solar battery etc. The locations for these stops are yet to be finalised.
The BEST will also be installing a LED-based passenger information system at 300 bus stops across the city. They are also going to install 40 green-bus stops having plantations on top and fitness equipment on the sides. These would be on the lines of those bus stops found in other international cities in the world.
Of the 40 bus stops, 10 will be in Worli. The watering for these open rooftop gardens will be done using drip irrigation. The BEST plans to get corporates to take over maintenance under their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs. The cost of each bus stop with a roof garden and fitness equipment on the sides has been estimated at around Rs 7-8 lakh.
Sources also said that the bus stops will be linked with the GPS installed inside buses that will also display the expected time of arrival (ETA) of bus route numbers as well. In the future, the public toilets, which presently are in poor shape, will also have these rooftop gardens, likely to first come up in South Mumbai.