In the next few weeks, 75 BEST buses will be fitted with smart card validators in the second phase of this Rs 1.25 crore project, whose first phase was the introduction of AC buses. Bus routes on trial will include the 84 Ltd and Special 1 and 5 buses plying between Nariman Point and CST station.

The entire fleet of 11 AC buses will be fitted with validators by Friday. The project, the first of its kind in the country, will be on until February next year. Its success will determine whether the BEST will retrofit validators on all its 3,500 buses at a price tag of approximately Rs 50 crore.

Commuters just need to walk into a bus and wave their prepaid cards before a validator fitted inside the bus, from which the fare iscomputed in seconds. The credit card sized smart card has a microchip embedded in it which beeps a tiny radio signal to a small TV-sized validator.

The card is a rough equivalent of the Simcard in cell phones, and is worth Rs 100, which diminishes on usage. A Rs 25 returnable deposit will form part of the amount to ensure that the cards are not discarded. The card can be recharged by a validator once its cash capacity is exhausted. Besides doing away with ticket printing, its makers aver that one of the greatest advantages to BEST will be the collection of money in advance.

``This system totally eliminates cash transactions and also the tendency towards malpractices,'' N S Naveen, an executive with VJ International, said. Laid out before him is the entire paraphernalia of the system, validators, cards and keypads. Listening in rapt attention are nearly 20 BEST staffers, who are being trained by Phillips and its collaborators VJ, at the Oshiwara depot.

The contactless cards don't even have to be insertedinto the validator. They could be in your wallet, handbag or pocket and still beep your fare if you come close enough to the machine. ``Our heavy passenger load does not permit insert or swipe cards as the wear and tear and time increases,'' says Philips executive Pushkar Kulkarni.

However, as in developed countries, smart cards will not phase out conductors, as is widely feared. ``At present, a conductor spends over 90 per cent of his time collecting fares. With the smart card, his job will be enriched to changing fare structures on the validators and actually conducting the bus,'' Kulkarni claimed. Passengers will be checked by BEST's ticket examiners armed with hand-held validators, which will tell at a glance whether the passenger has beeped his card on entry.