BEST adds 24 eco-friendly electric buses to its fleet

In recent developments, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) has added fully air-conditioned and electric buses.

On the occasion of BEST day, Maharashtra Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray flagged the 12-meter long buses. Already there are 198 electric buses in operations and with the addition of 24 more, the total fleet of buses now stands at 222.

According to reports, these new vehicles can travel up to 200 kilometres with one single charge. Moreover, the organisation is constructing electric vehicle charging stations in its bus depots and stations at Dharavi and Worli bus depots have already been set up. In addition, the 24 buses are 12 meters long and can accommodate 59 passengers. The buses have wheelchair access and are equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS) and panic buttons.

Earlier, during the unveiling of the Electric Vehicle Policy for the state, Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray said that they are keen on adding more e-buses to BEST and MSRTC’s fleets. “I had launched the initial six electric buses in BEST a few years back and now numbers have gone above 200 and will soon cross 300 buses,” Thackeray said.

Separately, BEST has sent tenders for 100 new double-decker buses with two staircases. These double-deckers should reach Mumbai’s streets in a few months from now.

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