A cool, comfy, double-decker ride

The city may soon have air-conditioned double-decker buses, a first for the BEST undertaking and the country. BEST will run 10 such buses on city roads as a short-term experiment and later may add another 90 to its fleet.

A ride in the city’s iconic double-decker buses is all set to get cooler.

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The city may soon have air-conditioned double-decker buses — a first for the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking and the country. BEST will run 10 such buses on city roads as a short-term experiment and later may add another 90 to its fleet.

Accord Advertisement, a city firm, had offered 100 AC double-decker buses for free to the BEST in return for advertisement rights inside and outside the buses, in all sponsored buses, behind tickets, at 1,000 bus stops as well as permission for separate colours and branding on double-decker buses.

But except rights of advertisement inside and outside the buses, the BEST committee rejected all other conditions.

“Even after rejecting all other conditions the firm is ready to give AC buses — and they will be the first of their kind in BEST history and in the country,” said Praveen Chheda, chairman of the BEST committee.

As of now BEST has 147 double-decker, non-AC buses. “First we will see the results and then decide whether we should take the other buses or not,” said BEST general manager Uttam Khobragade. “The bus fare will be the same for these buses as the single-decker AC bus.”