Speak up Mumbai – Not BEST of lot: Old mode of transport losing face

The BEST Undertaking is not only bleeding financially but is also losing its presence. There is a need for the government to intervene and get it out of the mess. Being one of the oldest forms of public transport, BEST is facing a tough competition from various modes of travel, be it trains, taxis or auto rickshaws. This is the reason why the number of daily passengers which once stood at 44 lakh in 2008-09, has dropped to 26 lakh. Statistics also show that BEST buses are limping on the roads as the average speed of the buses has dropped. 

Once upon a time, every BEST bus would ply a distance of 200-210 kilometre each day. However, now they barely manage to touch 169-170 kilometre per day. Also, vehicular traffic has seen a substantial increase in the last two decades. This situation leaves little space for big buses to ply smoothly. The Undertaking has been functioning on ages'-old-timetable and hence, fails to cater to travel needs with regard to time. There is no system for the public to locate a bus. DNA speaks to experts and professionals to know their views on initiatives and efforts or suggestions to pull BEST out of the rut.

VOICES

For BEST to improve, there should be an additional fund apart from BMC’s regular budgetary allocation. The fund can be used for improvement of bus stops, maintenance of buses and other services. With the facilities, our revenue will increase. 
— Akash Purohit, ex-member, BEST Committee and corporator 

BEST should monopolise the supply of electricity. No other private player should be allowed. Also, concessions should be stopped. The state government along with the BMC should provide extra or additional funds to run BEST. 
— Sunil Shinde, ex-chairman of BEST Committee & MLA

Now, information consumption has largely moved to mobile phones and hiring developers can be inefficient and expensive. Instead, BEST can put the feeds online in a standardised format and get developers and entrepreneurs to find solutions and applications. They should try raise finance for bailout, selling of premium depot land and increasing fares as BEST struggles for a higher budget every year. It needs to focus on multi-modal integration. It needs to come up with a passenger information system available on mobile phones. 
— Dhaval Ashar, urban transport planner, World Resources Institute

These days, there are mobile app-based aggregators and then, there are taxis and auto rickshaws that operate on sharing basis outside stations. We want the state government to prevent these shared taxis and autos or the aggregators from coming too close to bus stations and stops from where BEST buses start. 
— Ashish Chemburkar, chairman, BEST Undertaking

To be frank, the way BEST buses are operating, is quite good. I don’t think changes are required. I would rather suggest BEST to make buses ply for longer routes and introduce buses in remote areas of the city where the frequency is usually low thereby creating inconvenience to the commuters who have to change buses to reach their destination. In totality, the management and administration is in place. 
— Bhavesh Sharma, Dahisar resident

Rationalising the size of buses from large to midi and mini along with doubling the fleet strength, is crucial. BEST must increase frequency of buses for better and faster turnaround. Apart from this, there should be no outsourcing of buses or staff and there should be continuous feeder service of mini buses to and from suburban and metro stations. It has to be ensured that all drivers follow traffic rules and take pride in working for BEST Undertaking.
— Jagdeep Desai, architect & member of Forum for Improving Quality of Life in Suburbs 

BEST suffers from two problems. Firstly, slow speed and secondly, lack of service on certain routes. Now, both of these issues can be solved by having mini buses. Traffic jams are caused by slow speed of the BEST buses. This is because, larger buses find it difficult to pass through smaller spaces and quickly detour in times of crisis. 
— Jitendra Gupta, transport expert 

It’s been many years since the new BEST buses were introduced but, it is sad to see only a few ply in my area. Commuters have started avoiding the old buses because climbing on to them is difficult, especially for the elderly. Buses are unpredictable with regard to time. The BEST Undertaking should be made more reliable in terms of availability so that commuters would wait for buses.
— Owais Mirza, Mazgaon resident

PEOPLE SPEAK

Recently, when two mobile app-based aggregators were on strike, we found competing cab firms advertising to fetch business. However, the AC hybrid buses of BEST were far from promotion. Forget AC buses, even normal buses do not get promoted despite some of them being lucrative in terms of passenger footfall. Currently, there is connectivity but, hardly any user. The solution to traffic is introduction of bus lanes that we have been proposing for years. 
— Ashok Datar, transport expert and chairman of MESN

BEST should be economic, comfortable, consistent and quicker. Eastern suburbs have always been a neglected part of the city. There are only a few routes. Buses that started from Chembur, now start from Shivaji Nagar and are already crowded by the time they reach this area. There is no comfort if people need to travel to CST. Buses must ply on time and should not be unpredictable. More buses should be allowed on freeways so that travel time is less. 
— Rajkumar Sharma, chairperson of federation of ALMs in Chembur