Your painstaking wait at the bus stand will be made a little more comfortable with the launching of a telephone helpline which will inform you how long the bus will take to reach you. In a unique step, the government has announced the launching of a helpline service for the public transport system for 118 cities under which the buses, whose purchase is funded by the centre, will be run by state governments or civic bodies. A common helpline number —155220 — will be applicable to all the cities to ascertain the location of the bus and how long it will take to reach a particular bus stand, said urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy while unveiling the 100-day action plan of his ministry. The new buses procured under the JNNURM scheme will be equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS) and each city will have to establish a call centre to implement the helpline service. Commuters will be able to know the exact position of a bus on a certain route by dialling the helpline. Besides, the information will also be displayed on an electronic display board at the bus stand.