In what will come as relief to the city's long-distance commuters, the black and yellow taxis — on a shared basis — will now be available directly from the eastern suburbs to south Mumbai. This will be the first time that long-distance share routes will be available for people, as taxis usually operate on share basis between railway stations to places of work or residences nearby.
These long-distance share routes have been started from Vikhroli and Mankhurd all the way till Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT). "We want to directly compete with the mobile aggregators and illegal tourist taxis that ply on highways. So, we have started these two routes. We have also demanded for more routes," said KK Tiwari, union leader, Swabhimaan Taxi and Rickshaw Sanghatana.
The drivers will charge a fixed rate of Rs 90 for the ride, going via the Eastern Freeway, that will drop passengers to Carnac Bunder or CSMT without any halts in between.
The union claims that the mobile aggregators charge more than Rs 150-200, even on sharing or pool basis, which can go up further during surge pricing.
"During peak hours, it becomes very difficult to board a local train from Mankhurd. This will be a great option for us as the Expressway and Freeway will ensure a smooth ride," said Santosh Patil, a Mankhurd resident of Mankhurd.
On the western suburbs, the taxi unions have demanded that similar share taxi services from Kala Nagar, Bandra till CSMT or Nariman Point be started. The possible fares for these could be Rs 100, as there is more traffic on the route, and the fuel cost incurred is higher.
However, the union claims that as work on metro rail is underway on the Western Express Highway, they do not want to start the share taxi routes from Andheri or Borivali, as there is usually bumper-to-bumper traffic jams.
Officials from the Transport department said that they have approved two routes and will approve others depending on their feasibility.
