Travel unlimited in Mumbai for Rs40

Now, daily unlimited travel on the BEST’s long-distance express bus corridors will cost only Rs40.

The transport wing of the BEST Undertaking has introduced a daily bus pass from Monday for the 14 special bus corridors, which will be valid for a day and there will be no cap on the distance a commuter can travel. This pass will also be valid on the ‘Limited’ and regular bus routes.

Until now, commuters could buy a ‘daily unlimited’ pass of Rs25. However, this was valid only on the ‘Limited’ and regular bus routes.

Air-conditioned and corridor bus services were excluded. To improve the commuter response to the newly introduced ‘Corridor’ bus services, the BEST administration decided to provide a top-up of Rs15 to the Rs25 pass.

Started in mid-2010 to improve connectivity from the distant suburbs to the city, the corridor services are being promoted feverishly by the undertaking. Many old routes on the ‘Limited’ bus routes are being cut short or changed so that regular commuters shift to the Corridor services.

Also, the initial frequency of 20 minutes on the Corridors is being gradually brought down to as low as five minutes by reducing stoppages and diverting routes through the new flyovers — a move the BEST refers to as ‘route rationalisation’.