BEST going through worst crisis, has less than 3000 buses on roads

The deteriorating Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport BEST undertaking has been facing a severe crisis and progressively shutting down its key and important bus routes as the undertaking is falling short of buses The bus routes started declining in the third decade of the 21st century starting in 2021At one point the BEST had a fleet of nearly 3600 selfowned buses operating about 500 bus routes Today the number of routes has come down to 300350 with a bus fleet of 2911 buses with only about 1000 or so being selfowned onesShashank Sharad Rao general secretary BEST Workersrsquo UnionWhile its own fleet is just about 1000 buses the rest of the buses are operated on a wet lease The situation worsened after a wet lease supplier withdrew 280 buses from service in October this yearHere are a few key popular bus routes that have been shut in the last few yearsThe first electric AC doubledecker BEST bus at the BMC headquarters on February 22 2023 File picRoutes discontinuedBus Route No 1 connecting Bandra Reclamation to RC Church was discontinued in mid2023 Travellers now need to switch between three buses to cover the same route The only remaining longroute bus in the area is C1 operating from Colaba Depot to Santacruz Depot WestBus Route No 180 running from Malwani Depot to the international airport was a popular service from 2007 to 2014 jointly operated by Dharavi and Malwani depots This route uniquely connected Link Road SV Road Western Express Highway LBS Road and Eastern Express HighwayCommuter Rupak Dhakate said ldquoIt was a vital EastWest connector for Malvani and Malad West residents Since it was curtailed to the airport it no longer attracts crowds BEST also introduced route 182 which failed as it terminated at Malad Depot Dharavi Depot has enough buses to restart route 180rdquoRoute No 306 from Mulund to Santacruz was another essential service Passing through Mumbai University it was crucial for staff and students traveling to Kurla and Santacruz Similarly Route No 166 connected hospitals residential areas and railway stations aiding Girangaon residents while Route No 70 linked Tulsi Pipe Road to other parts of the city Lastly Route No 506L initially ran from Jijamata Udyan to Nerul It was cut back to Deonar in 2021 and fully suspended in mid2023ldquoItrsquos now 1217 am and there are long queues for buses at Andheri Station Eastrdquo commuter Shubham Padave said urging BEST to restore servicesCommuters SpeakldquoIt is high time that BEST improves its service and restores its frequency with adequate number of buses and also focuses on bus lanes at several locations in the city because whatrsquos the use of 10000 buses if all the buses are getting stuck halfway As of now only one bus lane has been operational for more than a decade which is the ldquoChakala Vishal Hall Andherirdquo benefiting all passengers travelling towards Andheri Station Such lanes will be more helpful to usrdquo Padave addedldquoMany bus routes were curtailed giving reasons of Metro construction and trafficrdquo commuter Himanshu Mukherjee saidldquoA large number of long routes that the BEST used to ply which crisscrossed the city have also been systematically shut The routes have either been split temporarily discontinued diverted or shut altogetherrdquo said commuter Vishal BorkarldquoAlmost a lakh crore to be spent on Metro rail which has such a poor record And they are starving the BEST causing misery to millionsrdquo transport activist Vidyadhar Date saidldquoLast few years BEST has been making empty promises Out of 900 AC DD buses promised by the earlier general manager three years back only 50 buses have come Hope the new government takes some action to save BEST from doomsdayrdquo AV Shenoy of Mumbai Vikas Samiti and Mumbai Mobility Forum saidldquoIt is the right of Mumbaikars to get good public transport service at low cost and the Municipal Corporation must provide that service For this the BEST undertaking needs to have 3337 selfowned buses Today the BEST has only 1078 33 per cent selfowned buses left which is alarmingrdquo BEST Workersrsquo Union general secretary Shashank Sharad Rao saidThe BEST General Manager Anil Diggikar while presenting its annual budget estimates said ldquoThe liability of around Rs 9200 crore is chiefly due to its transport wing They had presented the budget and it was for the BMC to decide on the total estimate of the budget for FY 202526rdquoBEST officials said their plans envision a fleet of 10662 buses by 202627 and are working with manufacturers to expedite the process of procuring busesOn Thursday Delhibased PMI Electro Mobility Solutions Pvt Ltd signed a deal with the BEST to supply 250 electric buses in different lots by the end of the second quarter of FY262911Total buses currently in service250No of electric buses signed on Thursday280No of buses withdrawn through wet lease model3337No of buses requiredOne of the biggest success storiesBus route 340One of the biggest success stories of the BEST undertaking has been route 340 which runs from Ghatkopar East to Andheri East This route was predicted to be doomed and shut when the Mumbai Metro Blue Line 1 started but today ten years after the Metro has started succeeded and now overflowing with passengers the bus route continues well packed and very well patronised with buses running fully crowded While the Metro shuts around 11 am the bus continues crowded well till 2 am