Broken down BEST no longer the best-run bus service

Something is going awry with bus transport in the city as poor maintenance is leading to safety risks in BEST buses that are now running without headlights and with broken fittings. BEST was once considered the best-operated public transport service in the country.

Buses are not only running with rattled window frames, broken seat handles and missing seats, but also without safety accessories like headlights, which are crucial on many stretches of road which are in darkness.

“This is a public transport undertaking and is expected to have basic standards of safety and regulations. If they do not have these, they should not run the buses,” said Akshay Kumar, who has filed a complaint.

“These buses belong to Magathane depot. I have not only filed a formal complaint with the BEST, but also called up the toll free number to inform them as the matter concerns passengers safety,” he said. When informed about the problem, RTO officials said they would take up the matter with the BEST.

Buses are also breaking down frequently due to lack of maintenance. “Did you ever see a BEST bus stranded in the middle of the road in the past? But now you this every now few days and this are leading to major traffic jams in the city. This rate of bus breakdowns has gone up from two percent to nine percent due to poor maintenance. All this is because of lack of adequate staff. The existing staff is overburdened and is not able to complete routine maintenance schedules, leading to such problems,” a Congress corporator said.

The traffic police has also been receiving frequent complaints on BEST buses getting stalled, leading to traffic jams. “I saw a bus stranded outside Andheri station in the middle of the road, which stopped traffic on the entire route. Earlier buses were either towed away quickly or repaired on the spot. But the standards seem to be failing day by day,” another committee member added.

“We had warned the administration that just buying new buses and increasing the fleet will not be sufficient. When you add buses, there has to be parallel development of other factors like the staff, maintenance network and facilities and infrastructure to repair them,” he added.  

BEST officials said they were trying to fill up vacancies and develop skilled staff to look after the problem.