BEST to offer a host of incentives to passengers

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking is introducing a slew of sops for Mumbaiites

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking is introducing a slew of sops for Mumbaiites.

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To begin with, BEST will operate 50 open deck AC electric double decker buses as hop-on, hop-off services. It will also launch Chalo Card after a tie-up with Metro One.

The undertaking is also trying to attract corporates and office-goers for which Premium Bus services are finally getting a push. More such buses with recliner seats and other amenities will soon connect the eastern and western suburbs.

“We want to reduce people’s dependency on self-driven cars and aggregator cabs. We have already tied up with offices and are in the process of doing more,” a BEST official said.

It is already operating four such buses connecting the airport, BKC, Thane, Powai and Navi Mumbai, which are being used by up to 1,500 people every day.

BEST will launch another travel card on the lines of NCMC that will initially connect with the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar metro route. It has planned to distribute two lakh free cards on first-come-first-serve basis.

The transport undertaking is in talks with Switch Mobility to renew the designs of the open deck buses that will be operated for tourists. “We want air conditioning in the lower deck and open on the upper deck. We intend to introduce 50 such buses if they are ready,” BEST general manager Lokesh Chandra said.

The existing tourist hop-on, hop-off bus services are a hit among people. BEST has also added two new routes connecting Metro 7 – the first one is from Gundavali to BKC and the second connects Dahisar station with Mira Road.