To strengthen its depleted fleet, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply And Transport (BEST) this week received its first set of non-AC buses. Soon in Mumbai, a total of 200 non-AC buses will be delivered to BEST and will be operated on wet lease.
Now, with 2950 buses, the BEST is undertaking is at its lowest ever when it comes to fleet strength. Yet, it transports more than 30 lakh passengers daily.
The new non-AC buses will be available for passengers to make a commute by next week. According to a BEST representative, this 41-seater single-decker non-AC CNG bus has not yet been deployed. Before it is put on the road, trials and registration procedures will be undertaken.
The new 200 BEST buses are manufactured by Ashok Leyland and the firm will be delivering all the buses in the next six months. The state government stated that non-AC CNG bus delivery could happen more quickly in light of the delays in the production and delivery of electric air-conditioned buses.
All these figures are acceptable, according to former BEST Committee member Sunil Ganacharya, but the reality is that passengers are still suffering as a result of the lack of buses on the road. The administration cannot procure buses on schedule.
Although there is no deadline, the process of obtaining 250 AC electric buses under the wet lease model is currently underway. By 2027, BEST plans to have 10,000 electric buses in its fleet. To attain this goal, they have ordered 2,100 AC single-decker e-buses, issued tenders for 2,400 AC single-decker e-buses, and are currently building 900 AC double-decker e-buses.
After getting all the buses there will be a challenge to stall all the buses at the depot after work hours. In order to increase the capacity of their depots, BEST has contacted the International Finance Corporation, a World Bank Group member, to conduct comprehensive research and analysis on the available floor space index (FSI) at three bus depots. At the moment, the maximum parking capacity within their 27 depots is 3,941 buses, while 511 buses can be accommodated in satellite parking lots at bus stations. Additional factors that will be examined include the viability and revenue models for building the spaces.
Apart from the depleted fleet of buses, Mumbai's suburbs are still waiting for air-conditioned, double-decker, e-buses. On the other hand, BEST is busy conducting surveys for route safety where these buses will run.
BMC is busy identifying potentially harmful tree branches, speed breakers, and height barriers installed on roads. Once the survey concludes, the double-decker buses will be ready to run through BKC and Andheri routes within a fortnight.
A batch of 19 AC double-decker BEST buses will be running on roads soon. Out of these 19, a batch of 10 AC buses will operate between Bandra and Kurla via BKC said BEST officials. In the next phase, nine double-decker buses will be operating on the Andheri-Marol-Seepz route.
This was the same route on which non-ac double-decker bus used to run before retirement in September.
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