The BEST officials are happy about the surge in daily passengers which has revived their fortunes despite fall in earnings.
Fortunes have turned around for the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST), ever since they decided to reduce the minimum fares to Rs 5 from July 9. In the last six days, the BEST has carried more than 36 lakh extra passengers, which is more or less what the Western Railway ferries every day.
According to figures collated by the BEST, the number of daily passengers have seen an increasing trend; especially during the week. It started with an increase of 5.02 lakh on July 9 which on July 12 saw a rise of 7.83 lakh. This jump is an addition to the total daily passengers carried by them which ranges from 22 lakh to 24 lakh.
During the weekend, there was drop again with on Sunday seeing 4.84 lakh that got added to 14.63 lakh passengers travelling. The negative earnings – namely from reducing minimum fare from Rs 8 to Rs 5 – too was an improvement. On day 1, which was July 9, the BEST suffered revenue drop by Rs 66.98 lakh. Since then losses in earnings have considerably dropped, that varies anywhere between Rs 51 lakh to Rs 63 lakh; while on Sunday the revenue loss was mere Rs 31 lakh.
The BEST officials are happy about the surge in daily passengers which has revived their fortunes despite fall in earnings. "Many people are seen waiting for buses at bus stops and depots. It is a good sign. We are sure that when the number of buses increase then the outcome will improve further," said BEST official.
This number are the ticket sales which contributes more than 90% of the total sales of bus tickets while rest are season passes. Off the 27 bus depots from where their bus fleet of nearly 2900-3000 buses depart every day, at least 4-5 depots have seen over 50% rise in number of passengers ferried by the buses. The total bus fleet stands at 3,337, of which 200-250 buses are out for maintenance at any given day. The BEST will be introducing 400 AC buses by November of which 25% of it will be here by mid-August.
The Big Plan
The BEST also plans on giving orders for another 1000 AC buses very soon. They intend to take the total fleet to 6000 buses which can ferry around 50 lakh people daily
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