BEST bans standees in upper deck of AC e-buses

Mumbai's BEST undertaking has banned standees on the upper deck of its air-conditioned double-decker e-buses due to damage caused by bad roads and speed breakers. The measure was taken after scratches and dents were found on the buses. The authorities are investigating the cause of the damage and have asked the bus manufacturer to inspect the fleet. Currently, there are 48 AC double-decker e-buses in operation.

MUMBAI: The BEST undertaking from Tuesday onwards has disallowed standees on the upper deck of its air-conditioned double decker e-buses. Not only have the conductors been informed of this, the order has also been scribbled on the grey bus ceilings with white chalk. The measure was taken after it came to light that the rear portion of the buses was being dented after coming into contact with bad roads and speed breakers.

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A couple of days ago, the authorities had said they would verify if standees on the upper deck were adding to the problem. Sources in BEST on Tuesday said that standees put additional pressure on the bus, especially during peak hours. “While moving at a higher speed, the additional weight certainly has an impact on the bus’s ease of movement,” said a member of the BEST union. “There is a distinct possibility of the bus hitting a bump on the road.”

Over the last few days, the city’s speed breakers have become a matter of concern for BEST after it was posited that they could be responsible for the damage on the rear end of the AC double-decker e-buses manufactured by Ashok Leyland’s Switch Mobility. The issue came to light when BEST officials found scratches and dents on some e-buses while they were being charged inside bus depots. HT found at least three such AC double-decker e-buses with dents parked at CSMT bus stations.

Senior BEST officials said that the metal on the rear end of the right-hand side of the buses had bent, the red paint had worn out and the door covering the electric charging point was ajar due to the damage. This affected portion is right below the electric charging point. BEST has asked Switch Mobility to gauge the severity of the problem. When HT approached Switch Mobility for a comment, it did not respond.

“We don’t know how many buses have been damaged or the extent of the damage,” said a BEST official. “It certainly seems like it’s either the height of the speed breakers or a sudden drop in road surface that is causing this portion of the bus to hit the road. We have asked the bus manufacturer to inspect the fleet and address the problem.”

The authorities, however, said that finding out which speed breakers were impacting the buses was difficult, as their dimensions varied from road to road despite there being a mandated measurement according to Indian Road Congress guidelines (radius of 17 metres, width of 3.7 metres and height of 0.1 metres).

According to BEST officials, while there seems to be no risk to the electric charging point inside the buses as there is a sufficient gap, this will be clear only after a thorough inspection. Sources said the routes on which these buses ply—South Mumbai and BKC—will also be revisited.

“Usually before operating any buses for public, the operators take them on a dry run and identify locations where the road surfaces are an issue,” said a transport expert specialising in e-buses. “Ideally, the private bus manufacturer maintaining these buses should have told BEST this. The authorities should investigate if there has been any change in the road surface quality from the time they first launched the service.”

Currently there are 48 AC double-decker e-buses on Mumbai’s roads. The EiV22 model buses are operated and maintained by Switch Mobility under the Gross Cost Contract model, with the cost of each bus being ₹2 crore.

The Undertaking received 31 new buses over the weekend, taking the total fleet to 2,940 buses, of which 1,810 buses are being run on a wet lease. These include 20 non-AC CNG single-decker buses and another 11 AC single-decker e-buses. The current fleet of BEST buses, which has come down from 2,954 in last December, is at its lowest.