Mumbai: The city’s road lifeline, BEST , which observes its foundation day on Wednesday, has experienced a decline in ridership by nearly 2 lakh over the past five months, an official in the undertaking said. The daily ridership, which stood at 35 lakh in February, plummeted to 33 lakh by July-end. This drop is primarily attributed to poor frequency on numerous routes, paucity of buses, prolonged and exasperating wait times at bus stops, cessation of several long routes, and dilapidated condition of small (Mini) buses, among other contributing factors.
Many commuters have migrated towards alternative means of transport such as shared autorickshaws, shared taxis, or even opting to go on foot. The citizens’ group, Aamchi Mumbai Aamchi BEST (AMAB), is set to embark on a campaign on Wednesday, advocating for BEST to double its fleet to 6,000 buses. “We will strongly oppose BEST’s complete reliance on contractual buses.
In the next few years, the BEST-owned fleet will disappear altogether,” said Vidyadhar Date, convenor of AMAB. When contacted, BEST general manager Anil Diggikar, who took charge a few months back, told TOI that he was serious about changing the scenario and bringing in more buses in the fleet very soon. “I have personally contacted suppliers of e-buses, which will now give us 150 buses every month, and by Diwali, the fleet size will go up by at least 600 buses,” he said.
The BEST’s present fleet strength is 3,182, which includes 1,070 own buses and 2,112 buses on wet lease (contract). On Tuesday, BEST Workers’ Union leader Shashank Rao also made a written plea to the city’s legislators to rally behind its ‘BEST Bachao’ campaign and insist on BEST procuring its own buses, as its own fleet has dwindled from 3,337 to a mere 1,100 buses at present. “There is fear of the BEST’s own fleet reducing to zero if no new bus is purchased by December 2025,” he pointed out.
TOI has a copy of the AMAB petition, which will be made public on Wednesday, and a copy will be sent to BEST and BMC. It mentions: “We demand to know: why one of the richest municipal corporations in India is refusing to merge their budget with BEST budget in order to subsidise this city bus service? Why are the safer, larger BEST buses being replaced by smaller, badly maintained wet-leased or contractor-owned private buses which frequently break down or even burst into flames?”.
