Soon, a BEST bus every five minutes for long hauls

Soon, there will be a BEST bus every five minutes on express corridor routes that connect the city to distant suburbs.

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking is in the process of modifying its present corridor routes to enable maximum mobility in the least possible time for its commuters.

A senior official from BEST’s transport wing told DNA: “The undertaking is trying to capitalise on the fact that many new flyovers are likely to be thrown open for traffic in the next couple of months. They will facilitate speedy long-distance commutes between the suburbs and city.”

There are 14 express corridors. There are at least eight buses per route. The number is likely to be increased to implement the five-minute frequency. Post-implementation, the routes will be “rationalised”. Buses on the 14 corridors will stop only at a few bus stops and mostly keep to flyovers.

The official added that the new services will encourage more commuters to use BEST buses. This will help reduce congestion on roads.

A bus every five minutes on express corridor routes spells a considerable improvement over the previous frequency of a bus every 20 minutes. When the new ‘Corridor’ services were launched in mid-2010, BEST had received a lot of flak from commuters who had been using long-distance ‘Limited’ buses for years, as BEST abruptly terminated or modified services on those routes.

BEST general manager OP Gupta said, “We modified the ‘Limited’ bus routes because the ‘Corridor’ services were started. The new services are better, and commuters should opt for them.”