Nearly two years after the first batch of AC minibuses hit the roads of Andheri, BEST finally seems to have given in to a long pending demand.
Till now, the two AC buses connecting Lokhandwala Complex to Andheri Station (West) A-266 and A-268, both terminated at Swami Samarth Nagar Circle. While A-266 went via Four Bunglows, A-268 went via Monginis Cake Company. There was no direct AC bus from Lokhandwala Complex to Andheri Station. The only air-conditioned connection from Lokhandwala Complex was A-234 that went to Jogeshwari Bus Station (West).
This was brought to light by our friends at the Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizen’s Association (ALOCA) via an Instagram Post.
The route change took effect from 1 September 2021, just a fortnight short of the second anniversary of BEST launching these postvans.
I’m not sure about how the fare would work yet though. If the existing non-AC fare is ₹10, then this falls under the second stage and BEST would then be required to have two AC fares as well, which would be a problem with mini-buses. I will update this post as I get more information.
As the Central Government’s rollout of FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles) continues at a rapid pace, we’re in for a new visual treat.
This time, it’s a simple photograph of new buses. After getting hold of its first full length, electric buses at the start of the month, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking has got another set of buses from Tata Motors’ plant at Dharwad in Karnataka.
Clicked by fellow transit fan, Gandharva Purohit, this is a batch of 25 Tata Starbus Urban Electric Buses, parked adjacent to the Mulund (East) Toll Plaza on the Eastern Express Highway on 28 August.
Here are some images of the buses:
New Tata EVs parked at Anand Nagar Toll Plaza (Gandharva Purohit/G.P. Busfanning)
This photograph was taken from in front of the buses.
New Tata EVs parked at Anand Nagar Toll Plaza (Gandharva Purohit/G.P. Busfanning)
This photograph was taken from the footbridge across the highway between the main toll plaza and its extension.
New Tata EVs parked at Anand Nagar Toll Plaza (Gandharva Purohit/G.P. Busfanning)
This picture was taken from behind the line of buses.
While it is unsure which depot these buses will be allotted too, they are likely to head to either Worli or Malvani Depots.
If you’re active on Twitter, please do retweet Gandharva’s tweet (included below) and don’t forget to follow him.
In 2019, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis approved a rubber-tyred metro – the first in the country called the Metro Neo for the city of Nashik. While other smaller cities were considering light rail transit – now called MetroLite – Nashik went on a different route.
Two lines have been proposed by the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (MahaMetro) for the Metro Neo in Nashik, totaling 30 stations across 32 km.. Below is a map of the same.
Nashik Metro-Neo Map
A rubber-tyred metro is essentially a hybrid of road and rail technology. In many ways it is like a combination of a bus rapid transit system (BRTS) and a light rail transit system (LRTS).
Nashik’s Metro Neo system got approval from the state government in August 2019, and the detailed project report (DPR) was sent to the Centre in June 2020. It was approved by the Centre in 2020 and eventually ₹2,092 crore was allotted to it by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in January 2021 as part of the annual union budget.
In April 2021, MahaMetro invited an Expression of Interest (EoI) for manufacture and supply of the trolleybuses that would run using an overhead catenary.
Now, on 27 August 2021, Praveen Mudholkar, a journalist working for BBC Marathi, tweeted out two videos of what looked like prototypes for the rolling stock. You can take a look below.
One can make out the MahaMetro logo and the Metro Neo logo on the sides of the vehicle as well as the vestibule. While it is not clear who is the manufacturer, the rear windshield resembles that of Tata Motors’ Marcopolo/Starbus series of buses. However, the video was taken in Nagpur, and Tata Motors manufactures its buses at Dharwad, Karnataka.
A thought did occur to me on this. In 2018, when MahaMetro awarded the tenders for Pune Metro’s rolling stock to Titagarh Firema, it was reported that while 25 per cent of the trains would be manufactured at Firema’s plant in Italy, the remaining would be manufactured at MahaMetro’s facility in Nagpur.
Here is a better quality video of the same coaches, courtesy Devesh Shah’s Infra Vlogs on Youtube. Don’t forget to subscribe to Devesh’s channel!
Anyway, let’s hope that Metro Neo comes to Nashik soon! It’s Neo time for something Neo.
If you intend to step out please wear a mask, carry sanitizer and maintain social distancing.
A new rumour, aided by a photoshopped image has been floating around social media that claims that the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking is launching red-coloured electric taxis. Interestingly the picture features a Volkswagen Polo which is a diesel-powered car manufactured by Volkswagen AG which has been mired in controversies relating to its emission standards. (Do read up on Dieselgate and Emissionsgate)
Below is an image of the so-called taxi. In it, one can see a red-coloured car with what looks like a sticker of BEST’s logo on the rear door and BEST Electric Taxi written on the front foor. However, the positioning and angle of the text is a clearly giveaway that this is a ham-fisted photoshop job.
On being asked on Twitter, the undertaking responded saying it was fake news.
BEST then issued a press note with a clarification that image was indeed fake. In their clarification, they have stated that due to the image surfacing on social media, there were questions among the general public if such a service existed or if BEST was planning on starting one. BEST stated that it neither had such a service nor planned to start one in the near future.
Press Note from BEST clarifying that the taxi service is fake news
Fellow transit fan Akshay Marathe (not to be confused with Akshay Marathe of the Aam Aadmi Party) joked that this could be real given the shrinking size of BEST buses.
That’s all folks. BEST is not launching any taxi service. This seems to be a case of the BEST Fake Taxi. Or is it BEST Baitbus?
If you intend to step out please wear a mask, carry sanitizer and maintain social distancing.
In what seems to be a welcome break from the constant rivalry between different municipal transport bodies within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), the Birhanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking and the Thane Municipal Transport (TMT) undertaking have set up a combined bus shelter for both their buses at Mulund Station.
While the rivalry between BEST and TMT was predominantly along the coveted Thane-Borivali Route (AS-700 and AC-65), it eventually expanded to other routes including non-AC ones as well. Thankfully, it never went as bad as the relationship between BEST and the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) undertaking went when in 2010, NMMT refused entry to BEST’s AS-505 to its bus station at CBD Belapur while BEST refused entry to AC-125 at Santacruz and Bandra Bus Station.
While BEST and TMT (also NMMT) buses do enter each others’ bus stations and halt at each others’ bus stops, they are always clearly demarcated. For example, at Agarkar Chowk, TMT buses stop at a unipole marked with TMT’s routes, similarly on the Thane Belapur Road, bus shelters will see a separate unipole for BEST buses.
The bus stop at Mulund is an initiative of the local corporator Prakash Gangadhare of the Bharatiya Janata Party, representing Ward No 104 of the T-Ward in the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) who is also a member of the BEST committee. It was built by combining three existing bus stops –Dr Rajendra Prasad Road and Sardar Vallabhai Patel Road and Mulund Railway Station (West) and is located at Jata Shankar Dosa Road (JSD Road). The earlier TMT bus stops have been demolished by the MCGM.
BEST buses that earlier stopped at Dr Rajendra Prasad Road include the following: 303, 396 Ltd, 398 Ltd, 422, 424, 460 Ltd, C-16 Exp. BEST feeder buses that earlier stopped at Sardar Patel Road include the following: 391, A-402, A405, A412. TMT buses that stopped nearby earlier include: 85, 88, 102, 104, 110, 115, 122.
Fellow transit fan and BEST enthusiast Vishal Naik took some photographs of the bus stop. Another BEST enthusiast, Rupak Dhakate pointed out that the bus stops should be segregated since they would cause confusion between BEST and TMT users. He also pointed out that the current route signage did not differentiate bus routes based on the colour coding that BEST uses – black for regular, red for limited, blue for air-conditioned and green for express routes – another potential situation that may cause confusion.
Below are some pictures of the bus stop, clicked by Vishal Naik.
The new bus stop when viewed across the street (Vishal Naik)A unipole marking BEST buses that stop at this bus stop. Note that all of these buses are AC routes, and thus should have an A prefixed to them, which they don’t. (Vishal Naik)A name board marking the bus stop as Dr Rajendra Prasad Road (Dr R. P Road) (Vishal Naik)A name board marking the bus stop as Sadar Vallabhai Patel Road (S. V. P Road) (Vishal Naik)
Of course, there is a small problem. Apart from the congestion issues that Rupak mentioned earlier, there is also the issue of auto-rickshaws.
When BEST launched its AC mini-buses in Andheri in late 2019, auto-rickshaws cried foul as they quickly lost patrons. In the case of Mulund, it seems the auto-rickshaw fleet pre-empted that and decided that they’d park right in front of the new bus stop. Looks like the Mumbai Traffic Police have a task on their hands.
Auto-rickshaws waiting to pick up passengers right outside the new bus stop (Gandharva Purohit)
Let’s hope this bus stop does well for both BEST and TMT!
Featured Image: Photo of Prakash Gangadhare at the new bus stop (Gandharva Purohit)
Do follow Rupak on Twitter (slzrupak) and Instagram (@mlv.rupak). Do follow Vishal on Twitter (@vnaik23) and Instagram (@not_huge). Do follow Gandharva on Twitter (@gp30543).
If you intend to step out please wear a mask, carry sanitizer and maintain social distancing.
A recent rumour has been spreading that the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking is shutting down its Oshiwara Depot on 1 August 2021.
The rumour was started by a group called Aapli BEST (आपली बेस्ट आपल्याचसाठी) on Facebook. In a series of tweets, they shared the same fake news, which was soon shared by several bus fans on both Instagram and Whatsapp stories. Below is a screenshot of one such story.
Fake News spread by Aapli Best on Oshiwara Depot shutting down
The post makes allegations that according to information received from “sources”, the Oshiwara Depot will shut on 1 August 2021 and the routes from the depot will be handled by the adjacent Goregaon Depot. It then says that staff from Oshiwara too will be transferred to Goregaon and that discussions between the undertaking’s administration and staff happened over the last few days. It then goes on to say that the sudden decision left the workers at BEST in a panic and that the reason behind BEST’s decision was not certain. The post then makes the allegation that BEST employees have reported that the land was sold to the builder lobby before completely changing topic to talking about private buses. It then says BEST has already got private buses and private staffers (buses on a wet lease) before asking the undertaking if it planned on completely privatising the service. The post ended with the question asking if the alleged closure of the Oshiwara depot was not a precursor to complete privatisaion.
The entire post makes little no sense. As a former journalist, one thing I have learned over the last few years is, never rely on any report that directly says “sources”. Two, if BEST was intending on privatising itself, why would land for the Depot be sold? Wouldn’t the private player also require the depot land to maintain and operate buses?
BEST put all doubts to rest by responding to the tweets, stating that the information being spread was incorrect.
आपण प्रसार करत असलेली माहिती चुकीची आहे. आपण बेस्टची अधिकृत माहिती प्राप्त व खात्री करून सोशल मीडिया वर प्रसार करणे अपेक्षित आहे.
In another plan to get more people to use public transport, the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) has introduced its new air-conditioned midi-bus, the Punyadasham. Fifty CNG-powered Eicher buses will be used as part of the Atal Seva Shuttle Scheme which will see these buses ply in the Peth areas of Pune with a flat fare of ₹10 which operates as a bus pass and can be used multiple times. The service was inaugurated on 9 July this year by former Chief Minister and current Leader of Opposition Shri Devendra Gangadharrao Fadnavis who travelled in the inaugural bus from Mahatma Phule Mandai to the Mayor’s House.
In order to buy the ticket, one must produce a government-issued ID such as a PAN Card, Aadhaar Card, etc. The existing ₹40 and ₹70 Daily Pass won’t work on these buses.
The 70 RS and 40 Rs day pass will be not work in this buses. Only 10 RS Pass. By taking these 10 RS Pass you can travel anywhere in central part of city in which the routes are allocated for this buses. The pictures of passes pic.twitter.com/n6IOkIWAvQ
In an article titledBus, Aadhaar dedo!, Pune Mirror decried this move as a bad idea, notwithstanding the fact that other cities such as Bangalore have had such a rule from 2015. They also lamented over how AC buses were violating Covid-19 norms in another article. It seems such criticism is only valid when a BJP-run Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PMC/PCMC) runs AC buses (PMPML) and not when a Shiv Sena-led Brihanmumbai and Thane MC (BMC/TMC) run AC buses (BEST/TMT) from the start of the Wuhan Virus pandemic. The Pune Mirror also cried along with the NCP when the Corporation decided to curtail 15 loss-making routes.
PMPML should however, consider using the existing Mi Card as an ID Card for these buses, since they are to be used as Common Ticketing systems for the Pune Metro.
A ₹10 AC ride in the heart of the city. Have fun, but take precautionary measures.
After a lengthy gap, I’ve managed to come across another delightful drone image, this time it is one something that I have been looking for over the last year and a half. Throughout the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, we have seen aerial drone shots of different bus stations, depots and even a metro depot.
This is an aerial view of Asia’s largest bus terminus. Now before you get confused, this is not the erstwhile Millenium Park depot from Delhi. This is the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) officially known as the Puratchi Thalaivar Dr M. G. R Bus Terminus located at Koyambedu in Chennai. Spread over 37 acres, it serves as a common bus terminus for all outstation buses operated by the six Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporations (TNSTC) and the State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) while also serving buses to other states including the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). Till 2018, it also served Andhra Pradesh and Telangana-buses and buses of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Coporation (APSRTC) and Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC), which have since been shifted to the Madhavaram Mofussil Bus Terminus (MMBT) in the northern suburbs of the city. It is also a major terminal for buses operated by the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC), that is located at the front.
Take a look at this beautiful snap clicked by Beema with a DJI Mavic Air 2.
Apart from this, CMBT also houses a Metro station (officially the Puratchi Thalaivi Dr. J. Jayalalithaa CMBT Metro Station). The bus station was built in the early 2000s to decongest the earlier terminal located at Broadway near the Madras High Court. Behind the terminus is the Koyambedu Wholesale Market, the Chennai Contract Carriage Bus Terminus that caters to private outstation buses and the depot for the Green Line of the Chennai Metro.
That’s all from me this time folks. Do follow Beema on Instagram: @my_shutter_life.
Now you know what Asia’s largest bus terminus looks like from the air.
As part of a modernisation programme, the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahanagar Mahamandal (PMPML) has decided to go in for development of 30 spaces that it owns, which includes 17 depots and 13 open spaces, reports in Punekar News and Hindustan Times have said. The project will be executed on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) basis at a cost of ₹11,666 crore.
With the gap between revenue and expenditure shooting up from ₹23 crore in 2011-12 to ₹315 crore in 2019-20, PMPML is projecting its cumulative losses to touch ₹9,600 crore in the next ten years.
The newly built depots would feature workshops for maintenance of buses, along with parking facilities for the fleet while the upper levels would house commercial establishments including hotels, hospitals and office spaces.
A feasibility study was conducted by VK Associates which estimated that PMPML could earn up to ₹1,516 crore annually by redeveloping its depots and open spaces. The proposal is currently awaiting approval from higher authorities.
Owing to the ongoing pandemic, many transport corporations have been hit. PMPML on its part has been looking at alternative means of revenue generation, including setting up small kiosks at bus stops – a move that received unwarranted backlash over frivolous reasons – and also setting up a courier service.
Let’s hope PMPML goes forward with this development plan so that Pune can finally get the better public transport that it deserves.
For the first time in the history of Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking is facing a huge shortage of buses. Once considered the pride of Mumbai and Asia’s best bus service, often compared with London, is now in a poor shape. Back in 2004-05, BEST had 3400 buses in its fleet and carried 45 lakh passengers. Long distance routes were fewer, and priority was given to feeder routes catering to the nearest railway station. Things went downhill from 2010, when the first fare hike happened. Followed by subsequent fare hikes in 2012, 2013 and 2015, along with an increase in ownership of personal vehicles (especially two wheelers) and share autos covering many parts of city, many people have given up on using buses. Although the fleet strength was around 4500, the passenger numbers were much lower than before, touching the 30 lakh mark. The 2018 fare hike was a disaster and the passenger numbers went as low as 15 lakh per day. In July 2019, BEST announced a 50 per cent fare cut. While it did manage to get back passengers, seeing around 20-25 lakh passengers per day, revenue took a hit and the pandemic made things just worse. While this is not completely relevant to the main topic of this article, it shows how BEST lost its glory and the number of passengers over the years to other modes of transport.
History of the BEST fleet (2000- present):
Talking about non-AC buses, as a child, I remember seeing only the classic old diesel-powered Vikings buses from Ashok Leyland. All buses used Rolling cloth displays. A single Decker full sized bus accommodated 47-49 seating passengers and 20 standees (the actual number of standees definitely exceeded this number in peak hours). Double Decker Vikings, which were basically a taller version of Single decker Vikings were also quite popular back then, most of them had a single cabin for the driver which was separate from passenger area and had a single, wide rear door. Newer models which were last procured in 2008-09, had double cabin. This change in style was because the single-cab design made it difficult for mechanics to access the engine.
Later on, around 2005, BEST started introduction of new buses under the World Bank-funded Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP Phase-1). Around 644 buses were supplied under this project. Even these buses were manufactured by Ashok Leyland, but had better suspension, better speed and acceleration compared to the older buses and impressive looks.
In 1997, BEST introduced the first ever CNG-powered bus in it’s fleet which was a CNG version of the same old Leyland Vikings on its 50th anniversary post municipalisation. Post that, by 2001, BEST got it’s around 40 CNG-powered buses from Ashok Leyland (in 82xx and 87xx series). Many CNG buses were received between 2004-2006 from both Tata and Leyland (in 79xx and 3xxx series) which had the same old Vikings design. But the Tata CNG buses procured in 2007-08, the buses built by various coach builders (5xxx series) were terrible — to say the least. While I’m not sure if the Engine had less power or not maintained well, many of these buses struggled to climb flyovers and ghat sections like Ghodbunder road. As of today, many of these buses have been rebuilt and working in better condition. Some CNG Midi buses built by Ashok Leyland, with a seating capacity of 35 passengers and 15 standees were also procured. By 2009-10, BEST started to receive around 800 buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) which were manufactured by Ashok Leyland. These buses were the first ones to have a digital display, four per bus: front, side, rear and one inside the bus, displaying in Marathi and English. Quality-wise, the buses were as good as the MUTP ones, but were powered by CNG. Few Midi buses of the same model were received, too. Post that, no new buses were procured until 2016-17, when 186 brand new Tata ACGL diesel buses were procured. It had an improved design, more standing space and forced ventilation. The latest addition to the fleet was 6 electric buses manufactured by Olectra (formerly BYD Goldstone) which were housed at Backbay depot, operating on route 138 from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus to Backbay Depot.
Talking about AC buses, a lot had been already said earlier. BEST had introduced AC buses way back in 1998. In 2007, BEST got the first of its 285 infamous “Purple Faeries” which were advertised as Chinese Kinglong buses but were actually built in Punjab under the brand name Cerita. Around the same time, BEST received a CNG version of Volvo 8400 for trials for a few weeks, after which it was returned without any purchase orders. Later on, BEST signed an agreement with Asian Concierge to procure 50 Diesel-powered Volvo 8400s in exchange for full body advertisements on them for 15 years. However, only six buses were procured. All of them belonged to the Oshiwara Depot and used to ply on AS-4 between Oshiwara Depot and Backbay Depot. Fast forward to 2017, all AC routes were suspended citing low passengers. A few of the Ceritas that were converted to non-AC continue to be in operation, while the six Volvo 8400 buses lie rotting in Oshiwara depot.
AC buses came into light again in 2018, when Tata gifted the MMRDA, 25 Diesel-Electric Hybrid buses, which in turn were provided to BEST for running AC buses in BKC. Buses ran from Borivali, Andheri, Thane, Mulund and Kharghar till BKC in the morning peak hours, served the Bandra Station- BKC and Kurla station- BKC routes whole day before returning to suburbs in the evening peak hours.
In 2019, after a great hue and cry over wet-leasing of buses, fearing loss of jobs of existing drivers and conductors, workers’ union agreed upon running of wet-leased buses on one condition, maintaining BEST’s owned fleet at 3337 buses which was the existing fleet in June 2019 when the deal was made. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by BEST with the BEST Workers’ Union. For every scrapped bus, BEST was required to buy a new bus. Drivers would be provided by the leasing company, while conductors would be provided by BEST (buses would operate conductorless and ticket sales would happen at the bus stop).
Finally in September 2019, the first ten wet-leased Midi buses (6 AC and 4 non-AC) were inducted into service. The electric buses were obtained under Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric vehicles (FAME-I) scheme. These were housed at the Kalakilla depot and started plying on Route 302 (Mulund Check Naka- Sion), later extending to routes C-42 (Dadlani Park Thane- Sion), 352 (Sion- Trombay) and other routes too as more and more buses started to come into service. In October 2019, for the first time in the history of Mumbai, BEST introduced Force Mini AC buses in the fleet (Tempo Travellers). The first of these buses made its appearance on route A54 and A55 plying between Kohinoor Parking Lot and Siddhivinayak Temple. The route was curtailed due to low response, but these tempos were a hit when the services were started in Andheri West. Thus, more and more of these buses started to serve other areas of Mumbai too. Later on, in January 2020, BEST got its first set of 500 Tata Marcopolo Midi CNG AC buses, which started operating in Grant road- Tardeo area under the Mumbai Central Depot, later on extending to other depots as well. The latest addition to the Wet-leased bus fleet was Tata Midi Electric AC bus in December 2020. 26 of these buses were delivered to BEST, which initially started operating on 138 (Backbay Depot- CSTM) and 25 (Backbay Depot- Sion) routes, later extending to other routes and recently allocated to Shivajinagar and Malvani depots. A total of 340 such buses are to be procured under FAME-I scheme.
Now, coming to the shortage of Buses
Since the Ashok Leyland Vikings, both diesel and CNG converted ones were becoming old, and had completed their 15 years of service (which is the validity of Registration Certificate of any vehicle in India), BEST had started the process of scrapping these buses. Before Covid-19 pandemic hit India in March 2020, BEST had a total of 3,253 owned buses. Despite the pandemic, trains being shut for common people, BEST kept on scrapping buses as they completed their 15-year life despite being in good condition. According to a notification by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), all vehicle documents including the registration certificate were extended till September 2020, and further extensions were given till December 2020, March 2021 and now up to June 2021. Why BEST continued to scrap buses after the MoRTH notification and increased demand due to local train closure remains a mystery. Let us keep that apart for a while. Why didn’t BEST legally extend the validity of the registration certificate by paying ₹1,500 per bus (the rates have increased lately in March 2021, but this was about last year) instead of procuring MSRTC buses from all over Maharashtra at ₹75 per km? A fellow bus enthusiast mentioned that BEST had difficulty in procuring spare parts for the older buses due to pandemic. BEST has managed to scrap a total of 1,200+ buses during the current pandemic which is really saddening. As of August 2020, BEST had a total of 120 Double Decker buses, which were helpful in operating on long distance routes like 440 and C-42 due to their carrying capacity in absence of local trains, are now reduced to 45.
The current BEST owned fleet stands at 2,010 buses. This includes around 800 Ashok Leyland JNNURM buses, around 600 Tata CNG buses, some Ashok Leyland CNG Midi buses, 25 Tata AC Hybrid buses, around 180 Tata Diesel buses, 6 Olectra non-AC Electric buses and 45 Double Deckers. The last surviving 6 MUTP buses which had its farewell ride few days back is now going to be scrapped.
The total fleet of BEST including wet-leased buses currently stands at 3,323 buses. The first violation of the MoU is the fact that BEST is not maintaining its owned fleet at 3,337 buses. BEST has not chalked out any plan to buy new buses, even before the pandemic started and buses were already being scrapped. Now one may ask, what difference does it make if the buses are wet- leased or owned as long as it runs the required no of buses? Agreed, although the MoU is of concern to existing working staff of BEST, it does not make a big difference to the passengers if BEST manages to maintain the required number of buses. So why am I writing this? Because the wet-leased bus fleet, a total of 1,313 buses are all Mini AC buses or Midi AC buses, which are now operating on routes previously operated by Full-sized buses. This basically means a huge reduction in carrying capacity (almost 40-50 per cent per bus) unless they increase the frequency of buses on all routes.
The current fleet is so less that it cannot even handle the passenger load in normal times and the pandemic has made it even worse. Adding to the woes, due to lockdown imposed by the Government of Maharashtra again from April 2021, common people were disallowed to use trains while buses were restricted to one passenger per seat and no standees. Waiting time has increased on many routes. Intermediate passengers don’t even get a chance to board the bus since the allowed number of passengers (24 per full-sized bus, 15 per midi bus and 10 per mini bus) are already filled up at the origin bus stop. Starting September 2020, BEST had started inducting hired MSRTC buses in its fleet, along with experienced drivers and conductors, which were lying idle due to lesser services across the state. A total of 1,000 buses were leased, but MSRTC started to reduce the fleet since February 2021, when local trains were partially opened to common people. By May, only 500 MSRTC buses were operating and as of today, publishing this, MSRTC has completely withdrawn its fleet from BEST. There were some operational issues too which is a completely different topic.
While BEST did manage to do its BEST, by running maximum possible number of buses on important routes (40 ltd, 440 LTD, C-71 Exp, C-72 EXP, 202 LTD along the Western line and 302, 368 LTD, C-42 EXP along Central line) during the pandemic, the shortfall of buses was clearly evident. Seeing the woes, BEST should start inducting full sized buses in its fleet as soon as possible, be it owned or wet-leased. I hope the MCGM, which is sitting on an fixed deposit of ₹60,000 crore, which can build a coastal road costing ₹12,000 crores —primarily serving the car owners — can easily help buy BEST the additional 1,000-2,000 buses its needs. Apart from the 1,300+ mini/midi buses, at least 4,000 Full-sized buses are required to be able to provide an acceptable level of bus service for the huge city of Mumbai and its suburbs. In the coming months, around 540 Full-size buses (400 CNG and 140 Electric) are supposed to arrive which will be a big relief for Mumbaikars. I also hope the proposal to buy 100 new Double Decker buses goes ahead soon. As covid cases are reducing in Mumbai, I hope the Maharashtra government considers opening up of local trains to reduce the load on already strained buses to some extent, till the time BEST manages to enhance the fleet. As a bus enthusiast and a common citizen of Mumbai, I seriously feel bad for the condition that BEST is currently in and wish to see it regain its lost glory and become BEST again.
