With the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking’s double-decker fleet strength going down from 120 to 48 in the last two years, the city’s iconic bus might stage a comeback soon.
The BEST committee has approved the procurement of 900 air-conditioned (AC), electric double-decker buses on a wet lease for 12 years to alleviate the city’s traffic woes.
BEST’s original plan included inducting 2,100 AC electric buses that included 200 double-deckers. The undertaking wants to convert 50 per cent of its fleet to electric by 2023 and go completely electric by 2027. As part of this move, it wants to procure 1,400 regular buses, 400 mini-buses and 100 mini-buses, all air-conditioned and electric. However, the number for the double-deckers has now gone up to 900.
The change in procurement has now led to a fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Sena in the BEST committee. The BJP has stated that the earlier proposal for 200 buses was to be funded by the Central government’s Ministry of Heavy Industries under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme. The BJP has asked where the funding is coming from and has questioned the scope of the tender given that any increase in expenses will have to be borne by BEST. Questions have also been asked how the tender has been merged with the state government’s clean energy policy.
Four manufacturers had evinced interest in the original tender with prices ranging from ₹56 to ₹160 per kilometre. Sources say BEST will likely ask the second bidder to bring in 200 buses while the lowest bidder will supply the rest.
Transport experts have questioned how BEST is able to get double-deckers at such low prices when single-decker buses (AC and electric) cost between ₹54 and ₹72 per kilometre.
Minister Aaditya Thackeray meanwhile took to Twitter to share an image of London’s Metroline Double-Decker buses with the BEST logo (बेस्ट) photoshopped on it, thus misleading many people.
This in turn led to a series of hilarious, satirical tweets with vehicles from across the world being shared as achievements of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government.
The best (pun intended) among them was shared by Maithun with a hilarious caption: Under the disable leadership of Priyanka Chaturvedi, Mumbai is all set to get BEST mini flying taxi. Aaditya Thackeray personally monitored the project.
Meanwhile, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) undertaking, which has been having a golden run with its electric AC fleet, has floated a tender to procure a single electric AC double-decker. The undertaking has said that it wants to run a pilot project and if it is economically viable, it may increase the fleet strength.
The tender document stipulates that NMMT would buy a fully built bus with a 12-year long annual maintenance contract (AMC). The manufacturer would have to provide a two year warranty for the bus and a five-year warranty for the battery while also installing a charging station.
A sad thing to note is that NMMT will soon scrap its 12 Volvo buses as they are more than ten years old and their operating costs have become too high.
To read more about how NMMT turned things around with its electric buses, do read Gandharva Purohit’s excellent article on this: How NMMT Grabbed An Opportunity And Made The Best Out Of It
To read more humorous and satirical takes on BEST, do check out the Satire section.
Let’s hope BEST gets the new double-deckers without any issues. The political slugfest and sharing of fake images do not bode well for the transport body.
If you are stepping out, make sure you wear a mask, follow COVID-appropriate behavior and keep your hands sanitised at all times. Maharashtra is still the top state by total cases and deaths.
Featured Image: Ashok Leyland’s Switch Metrodecker bus
