#BESTBachao: Officials to seek transport experts’ help to tide over crisis

The BEST have called a meeting on Saturday to discuss the suggestions made by a group of eminent transport experts who took note of HT’s campaign and wrote to the chief minister

Hindustan Times’ BEST Bachao campaign has triggered efforts to improve the working of the utility that runs the city’s public bus service.

The BEST have called a meeting on Saturday to discuss the suggestions made by a group of eminent transport experts who took note of HT’s campaign and wrote to the chief minister.

The BEST chairperson Anil Kokil, who has called the meeting, said, “The ideas suggested in the letter by the transport experts are good and can help us out of the financial crisis in the transport division.”

Read: It’s time for #BESTBachao: All the ways to save Mumbai’s iconic buses

He has asked the members of the policy making committee of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) and general manager Surendrakumar Bagde to consider the suggestions and act immediately.

The recommendations include enforcing 500-metres-to-one-km dedicated bus lanes at congested stretches, including at Haji Ali, Sion, Dindoshi, and Dharavi, during peak hours; and providing information on bus timings on mobile phone apps and at major bus stops. According to sources, the BEST management is also planning to contact these transport experts to work with them.

The committee also passed a resolution saying the BEST budget should be merged with the BMC’s. “The BEST is a part of the BMC; when the railway budget has been merged with the Union budget, why can’t the same be done with the BEST budget,” asked committee member Sunil Ganacharya.

Read: Mumbai minister calls meeting to discuss BEST crisis, parties demand steps to save transport body