BEST to cut down its fleet by 1,000 buses

The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) on Wednesday, April 21, has decided to cut down its fleet by almost 1,000 buses during this partial lockdown.

According to reports, the number of bus services has been cut by 10 per cent due to the dropping passenger numbers. The BEST has already approached the BMC to buy 200 double-decker buses which now stands at 45 buses.

This development comes amid ongoing lockdown-like restrictions where only essential workers are allowed to travel through buses and trains.

The daily bus passenger count has fluctuated anywhere between 11-16 lakh since the curfew was announced earlier this month. Earlier, it used to be 25-27 lakh.

As per the current bus schedule, the BEST owns a fleet of 2,068 buses which includes 23 AC ones. Their total owned bus fleet was over 3,000 buses which are being slowly reduced. The BEST is instead operating wet-lease buses, which are owned by private contractors. There are around 1,150 such buses running throughout the city.

From April 22, the BEST is replacing the regular buses on three routes with wet-lease ones, starting from Deonar depot. Meanwhile, on April 19, the BEST operated 3,311 buses and ferried 16.19 lakh passengers.

Moreover, the BEST Undertaking is again pushing to get additional double-decker buses in their fleet. This financial year, at least 100 of these buses could come in, reports suggested.