Mumbai commute to get smoother: BEST adds 185 new buses to its fleet

Mumbai city news: Passengers are happy with the new buses as they have wider doors, are well-lit and have ample leg room

Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) has added185 new buses to its fleet.

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These buses, with centralised roof-mounted ventilation systems, clutch-free automatic transmission, and onboard mobile charging points are slightly better than the existing ones, said BEST officials

The passengers are happy with the new buses as they have wider doors, are well-lit and have ample leg room, besides other features. The drivers also liked the clutch free automatic transmission, which make driving through Mumbai’s traffic smoother, officials said.

Initially, BEST was supposed to buy 303 buses with a revamped design from Tata Motors. Each bus costs around Rs55 crore. “We have received 185 of the 303 buses from the manufacturers,” said Hanumant Gophane, public relations officer, BEST.

The decision on the remaining 118 buses is still on hold, due to financial constraints.

The transport body is also expected to get the first batch of five hybrid electric air-conditioned buses from Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority for plying, next month.

With the induction of 185 new buses, ithe number of buses in BEST’s fleet has gone up to 3785, which includes 122 double decker, 468 midi (smaller) and 266 air conditioned buses.