HERE is how buses became the favourite mode of transport in Mumbai, which has dedicatedly relied on its train network for decades. An assessment of the figures over the past two months found that for the first time, due to curbs, BEST and State Transport buses ruled the roost, having been put to test as the number of passengers swelled. 

With the daily average figure of bus commuters touching 10 lakh this week, they have left the suburban railway — that is ferrying 2 to 2.5 lakh passengers daily on the Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) — far behind. "Buses are the new lifeline and the favourite mode of transport, primarily for two reasons — because they kept running even when trains were not there and second, they have always been offering last-mile connectivity, unlike trains where one has to depend on feeder routes," a BEST official said. The CR and WR in Mumbai are running 700 local train services, 350 each while the BEST buses have been plying about 3,000 buses on average. MSRTC (Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation) buses further contribute about 10,000 passengers in MMR.