The state government of Maharashtra, on April 13, imposed strict lockdown-like restrictions across all district, to contain the spread of COVID-19. However, officials have stated that the roads in Mumbai were congested initially, despite the curfew. Meanwhile, the number of passengers have reduced in the BEST buses.
Data shared by the officials states that in the last 15 days, the number of passengers has dropped by 9 lakh and to enforce the strict restrictions, the traffic police and the local police have also started clearing vehicles. However, various services, including public transport, were allowed in the stricter restrictions.
Observing this, people operating the best buses, rickshaws, taxis, app-based taxi services, and other public transport services took to the streets. Following this, the police started searching vehicles coming from other part of the city at Dahisar, Mulund and Airoli toll plazas.
Meanwhile, Metro and flyover works are underway at various places in the city, including the East-West Expressway, which slowed down traffic as usual. As the citizens stepped out, a heavy traffic was noted, said a police officer. Over the last few days, the number of citizens on the streets has decreased and this has affected BEST's passenger numbers. Currently, only essential service personnel and citizens with very urgent work are permitted to travel.
Data states that on April 15, the number of BEST passengers dropped to 14.12 lakhs and BEST generated an income of INR 1.3. In the last 15 days, the number of BEST passengers has decreased by 9.2 lakh and the income of BEST has come down to INR 74.62 lakh.
On April 1, over 23.4 lakh citizens had traveled by the buses and BEST had garned an income of INR 1.78 crore, and on March 15, around 25.15 lakh passengers had travelled in the buses. However, on April 5, the state government imposed a statewide curfew and this has limited the BEST's passengers. Moreover, on the lockdown imposed on Saturdays and Sundays, over 14 lakh travelled by BEST.
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