In the absence of local trains, transport experts have suggested that all public buses in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) should run consolidated services instead of just focusing on their townships and jurisdictions.

“An integrated bus transport system could ensure more seamless connectivity and optimisation of the vehicles and routes. However, such mergers also pose challenges, and need a robust administration that is fair and transparent. The Pune-Pimpri-Chinchwad model could be studied to understand this,” said Ranjit Gadgil, programme director, Parisar for Sustainable Urban Mobility Network (SUM Net).