BEST budget: No fare hike, 713 more buses to ply on Mumbai roads

In a bid to attract more passengers the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) have proposed to introduce 713 new buses within 18 months. It will also do away with the old rugged buses plying on Mumbai roads. No hike in bus fares is the icing on the cake. These sops are planned despite BEST anticipating a deficit of Rs 720.54 crore.

All this was proposed on October 8, after the BEST Undertaking proposed its budget for 2019-20. As per the budget estimate, it intends to increase the bus fleet from 3337 buses to 4050 buses so that the number of commuters can increase to 45 lakh from the current 29 lakh.

More AC buses

As per plans, the BEST will procure 40 AC MIDI electric buses under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (FAME) scheme funded by the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. 11 MIDI AC buses running on diesel and 200 Mini AC buses on wet-lease will ply on city roads. The BEST will continue to operate 25 hybrid electric buses. “We aim to induct more buses of every kind into our fleet,” said Surendra Bagde, General Manager of BEST Undertaking.

Software enhancement

The BEST also intends to introduce a single card ticket for all modes of transport with the help of MMRDA. The common mobility card will be extended to the suburban railway, BEST, metro rail and Monorail. Also, by the end of this year, GPS devices will be installed in the buses and you can track buses on your route. All one has to do is to install an app which will allow you to check the running status of buses, time of arrival, the route taken etc. “In the first stage, it shall be implemented between Backbay and Colaba depots, with its control room at Wadala depot. We intend to cover areas all the way till Carnac,” said Bagde, adding, “Despite these additions and improvements in the system, we have not proposed any fare hike nor change in fare structure”.

For the 10 lakh electricity consumers, the BEST plans to have another App that will allow them to check real-time electricity consumption and even bill details.