It will not be an exaggeration to say that The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport (BEST) Undertaking which has served the city and its people with its fleet of buses as much as the railways, is the running wheels of the city.

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For years, the red iconic buses have ensured that people have cheaper connectivity. One of the best among all cities, it was known for its efficiency, punctuality, expansive reach, and good upkeep. It has been the savior of the common man who could not afford taxis or on the days when railways went on strike by pumping in their extra bit to keep the city running.

Not any longer. Changing face of transport and bad planning has led to an unsustainable level of losses. Attempts to revive the transport system by commercializing the bus stops and bus advertising have failed. In 2016-17 it incurred a loss of over Rs 990 crore.

RTI plea revealed that in the last five years where the undertaking could not list 10 routes that made a profit in one month. Nearly half a year passed in some years where no route made any profit from the 504 route it runs. Experts and travelers have often blamed lack of scientific survey in deciding or maintaining routes, slow planning in the face of competition among others to be the reason for losses. After authorities nearly decided to shut the transport service, DNA asks experts and citizens how fleet can be revived.

VOICES

BEST can only be revived by innovative solutions like the introduction of micro, mini, midi services, ring routes, releasing two or three buses on each route instead of one during peak hours, prepaid tickets, ticketing while boarding to reduce the number of ticketless travelers, introduce ergonomically designed interiors, hiring law-abiding drivers.—Jagdeep Desai, resident of Andheri

Owing to India's population, every public sector service has tremendous scope for success and profit, if the quality of service provided and customer satisfaction are its priorities. Eliminating Corruption, ensuring efficiency, enforcing accountability, and rewarding hardworking employees should turn this around into a profit-making venture.—Dr Samir Dalwai, Goregaon

The best way to revive BEST is by having buses that do not break down on the way and are punctual. They should also increase the fleet; more services means more buses to travel. It would cut wait time, and accommodate more passengers. Also, politeness of drivers and conductors will increase the confidence of a commuter with the staff, making them more than willing to travel more often in busses, thus, increasing the revenue.—Bhushan Worlikar, Worli

The BEST needs to introduce more services outside Mumbai like Thane and Navi Mumbai to compensate losses bring incurred in the city. It also needs to upgrade its technology and introduce bus tracking system that will help commuters to check the timing of next bus and details of its routes. Many times, people avoid buses since they don't know the exact route. The public transport system is not meant to churn out profit. But with a systematic plan, the losses can be brought down.—Pravin Pandey, Ghatkopar

The undertaking should come up with improved schemes and facilities to make profit. BEST is still the best public mode of connectivity in the city apart from the railways. The authority should think of improving the current facilities rather than spending money on new facilities. Busier routes should have more busses, and punctuality is a must. Rather than standing in long queues, waiting for hours, people nowadays prefer using share autos and taxi.—Jayashree Nagvekar, Andheri

A large number of Mumbaikars who cannot afford luxuries of cab and autos are still using BEST buses for commuting. So it is hard to understand how BEST is running in losses. Recently it had also upped it's fares, but it still remains the cheapest mode of transport for short distances. I feel the BEST should identify the routes on which they are not generating profits. They should either stop plying or reduce the number of buses on those routes.—Suhail Ansari, Pydhonie resident

My favourite mode of environment-friendly public transport for the last 30 years of late has lost its past glory. It calls for a number of drastic measures to ensure passenger-friendly, efficient and punctual service. Introducing an app for facilitating the passengers to lodge their complaints and suggestions and to inform them about the ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) can make things better. Increasing the frequency of buses on feeder routes and introducing A.C. buses on popular routes is the need of the hour.—Sagar Rane, Dadar Parsi Colony

The BEST needs to ensure that they run more buses, especially in the routes that connect residential areas with stations. Only then people will start looking at buses as an option rather than availing autos or taxis on share basis. Busses should be punctual, and frequent. Most of the times passengers have to face huge delays as traffic chaos grinds bus services to a halt. This leads to frustration and makes commuters avoid commuting by bus.—Mansoor Darvesh, Jogeshwari

EXPERT SPEAK

Detailed analysis tells us that BRT System can provide as much as 2 lakh capacity and can also provide exclusive services at a premium fare. The concept of Rs 25 day pass valid for 24 hours, will also fetch adequate revenue to BEST and most likely will enable it to operate buses sustainably. MCGM must also make walking and cycling safe and comfortable in addition to subsidising BEST whenever its revenue falls short of expenses.—Sudhir Badami, transport expert

There has been a substantial drop in the number of passengers. They have to be brought back. That can be achieved by making buses frequent, predictable and reliable. It needs to upgrade and introduce new technologies to make that happen. People do not even know when is their bus likely to come when everyone knows the whereabouts of Ola and Uber. BMC should spare BEST a thought before focusing on alternative modes of transport.—Ashok Datar, transport expert