BEST to add new buses, plans common mobility card, passenger information system in Mumbai

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) administration has announced 2,462 new buses to be introduced by 31 March, 2022. The administration in its

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) administration has announced 2,462 new buses to be introduced by 31 March, 2022. The administration in its budget for 2021-2022 that was presented to the BEST committee on Saturday stated that it plans to increase and maintain the fleet of its buses to 6,337 by March 2022.

HT Image

National common mobility card as a pilot project for BEST buses along with passenger information system at 800 bus stops and terminals will also be introduced.

The BEST administration showed a budget deficit of ₹1,887.83 crore of which ₹1624.24 crore is from its transport department and ₹263.59 crore from the electricity department.

An outlay of ₹446.07 crore has been proposed as the expenditure for 2021-2022.

Presently, the BEST has a fleet of 3,857 buses by October inclusive of 1,099 buses are on wet lease. Under the wet-lease model, BEST does not own the buses but get them from contractors for a fixed per kilometre rate.

The administration will also procure 900 buses, of which 300 will be electric and 600 will be single-decker buses.

“The buses that will be added to the fleet will be a mixture of buses procured by the administration and buses on wet lease. Finalisation of air-conditioned (AC), mini or midi buses will be done in the later stage,” said Surendrakumar Bagde, general manager, BEST.

The organisation has also proposed implementation of the national common mobility card for its buses. The testing of the card and inspection of requirements is ongoing at Wadala and Colaba BEST bus depots. The testing began in October.

“The initial testing and setting up of infrastructure for the implementation of the common mobility card has started. Only after discussions with other organisations including MMRDA, the implementation will begin,” said a senior BEST official.

The passenger information system that will display the expected time of arrival of buses and information regarding the bus routes, will be placed at 800 locations in the city.

The passenger information system is a part of the organisation’s Intelligent Transport Management System (ITMS) and will be installed on bus terminals and bus stops.

“BEST has always been a neglected mode of transport for the longest time. It is welcoming to see that improvements are being done and long-term planning in being undertaken. New buses, passenger information system and common mobility card will help the organisation to grow, and the citizens as well. Every public transport in the world is bound to make losses. Just due to losses the improvements should not be stopped, the parent organisation Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) or the state government should compensate,” said transport expert, AV Shenoy.