The number of buses and passengers in the fleet of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) has reduced considerably than it was around ten years ago. Additionally, the BEST is not utilising its fleet to the fullest which is leading to an increased waiting time at bus stops.
According to data, there were 3570 buses in the BEST fleet in 2007-2008. However, it has now reduced to 3411 buses in February this year. To throw further light upon its poor status, the number of commuters ferrying daily has reduced from 42.43 lakh in 2007-08 to a mere 25.95 lakh daily passengers now.
According to sources, only an average of 84-89 per cent of the total buses are running on the road while the rest are undergoing maintenance. The BEST buses fared extremely well during 2008-09 until now.
With a fleet of 4037 buses, the BEST operated 88.80 per cent of its total fleet and managed to ferry 43.80 lakh daily passengers during the time.
After 2009, they focused on increasing their fleet in the next two years. By 2010-11, there were 4700 buses which was the highest ever. However, the number of daily passengers came down to 42.06 lakh in 2010-11. During this time, the railways had started getting newer trains while share-rickshaws and share-taxis was gradually becoming popular in the city. Around the same time, the work on city's first metro rail in the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor was underway which made the bus route plying on this stretch one of the most profit making ones.
"The cost incurred per bus in a day is drastically rising while the earnings are bare minimum," said a BEST official. In 2007-08, the BEST spent Rs 10846.67 per bus each day while they recovered Rs 7032.78 per bus per day. In the initial three years after that, the BEST managed to control their cost. However in 2012-13, the cost per bus jumped at Rs 14655.22 while the earning was merely Rs 9425.62 per bus per day.
