E-Paper
BEST to lease 150 AC mini buses
Struggling to materialise plans to increase its fleet, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking on Friday decided to add another 150 air-conditioned (AC) mini diesel buses
Mumbai: Struggling to materialise plans to increase its fleet, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking on Friday decided to add another 150 air-conditioned (AC) mini diesel buses.
The addition comes at a time when BEST’s operational bus fleet stands at 3,328, which is in sharp contrast to its plans of plying 4,200-4,500 buses by mid-2023.
Senior BEST officials said they are looking for bus operators having a functional fleet, including for schools and private offices. Previously, the BEST fleet had touched 3,800 buses, but gradually it started dwindling.
“We are not looking for new buses as the wait period for newly manufactured buses is more than six months for CNG and almost 9 to 12 months for e-buses. We need these 150 buses on an immediate basis and are looking to keep them operational for at least two years as a stop-gap arrangement. Tenders have been called for the same,” Lokesh Chandra, BEST general manager, said.
The past year has seen the cancellation of 288 buses on wet lease and the wait for 50 electric double-decker AC buses and 2,100 electric buses. BEST’s current fleet includes 1,582 buses on wet lease from private contractors and 1,646 owned by the undertaking. Last month, BEST had also withdrawn 400 buses after three fire incidents but were restored in 20 days.
Buses on wet lease contracts, which hold the promise of cost savings and efficiency, are now less in number than the BEST-owned buses. Experts say this is alarming, especially given the ambitious target of a 7,000-strong bus fleet by the end of this year or early 2024 as planned and a fleet of 10,000 by 2026.
“Ideally, BEST should go back to owning more buses in its fleet. It is not as if their losses are substantially dropping,” Hussain Indorewala, Aamchi Mumbai Aamchi BEST, said.
The undertaking has also not replaced the 288-odd buses on wet lease after terminating the operator, is struggling to procure 50 double-decker AC e-buses and the plans to have 2,000 e-buses is stuck in legal trouble. BEST was expecting at least 10 such AC double decker e-buses by now, but the officials said the manufacturer is extending deadlines and quoting dates. Though the undertaking was promised the delivery of a few buses by this month’s end. BEST officials, however, would like to “see it to believe it.” Similarly, they were expecting around 400-500 single decker AC buses out of the total 2,100 buses.
BEST is currently catering to 35 lakh daily passengers. With the sweltering heat, AC buses are a respite. Moreover, the recent rationalisation of fares vis-a-vis the distance travelled is also an incentive to board the BEST buses. The super saver plans ranging from ₹9 per day to ₹299 for 28 days offer savings of ₹6 to ₹601.
“Despite the shrinking fleet, our daily passengers and revenues have remained stable, namely due to the fares and AC buses. With the existing fleet there is not much scope of increasing passenger count further,” another BEST official said.
The BEST authorities were anticipating the daily passenger count to surpass 40-42 lakh by mid this year and even up to 45 lakh by end of 2023. However, so far it has been unable to increase its fleet.
Meanwhile, passengers have also complained of an increased waiting period. The wait period for passengers varies from 10 to 15 minutes during peak hours and up to 20 minutes if there is traffic on the road. During off-peak hours, this goes up to 30 minutes as e-buses are taken for charging while trips are curtailed.
The only respite that the BEST is banking on are premium buses. It has 64 single decker premium buses in which passengers can only book seats using Chalo App. This number is expected to touch 100 buses in May.
On April 21, the Maha Mumbai Metro Operation Corporation Limited (MMMOCL) started the Gundavali-Bandra Kurla Complex bus service towards BKC from 7:30am to 11:40am, and resume its service towards Gundavali station from 3:40pm to 8:15 pm.
SVR Srinivas, Metropolitan Commissioner MMRDA and CMD, MMMOCL, said, “This service has been specially started to benefit metro commuters who alight at Gundavali station and travel up to BKC. We have been focusing on providing facilities like parking spaces near metro stations, providing electric bikes which provide crucial last-mile connectivity to commuters”.
In a day, this bus will run 29 trips with 16 being downwards (BKC) and 13 upwards (Gundavali) making 21 stops along the way. The fares will range from ₹60 to ₹90 depending on the distance.
