‘BEST is on the roll’

Uttam Khobragade

The BEST has always had the convenience of its commuters foremost on its list of priorities, but running the fleet of 3,400 buses profitably was something that had perpetually eluded us. In the past two years the BEST had accrued a loss of Rs 300 crores owing to the steep hike in expenses incurred by the organization. Our efforts today are geared to reverse this trend and make BEST a profit making venture while at the same time being service oriented.

We have introduced various measures to streamline our services in order to achieve this objective. The first step in this direction has been the change in operational routes.

We have cut down on many parallel routes which we found to be over serviced. Several late night operations have also been discontinued as buses mostly ran empty at this time. Our surveys revealed that various short distance routes have significant number of commuters (e.g. Eros to Nariman point, CST to Gateway and CST to Dalal Street). We have introduced 100 mini buses that run on CNG in order to capitalise on this commuter traffic. To facilitate speedier transport we are working out an arrangement with the city administration for dedicated bus lanes which will cut down turn around time considerably.

Using the bus as a medium for publicity has been in vogue for sometime and has been sought after by advertisers. In order to maximise the revenue from the same we are now leasing out the rear window glasses of our buses and have also introduced drop boxes and grab handles.



Many a times the buses are packed to full capacity and it is difficult for our staff to move in the narrow gangway to sell tickets to passengers. We are in the process of identifying heavy traffic points, so that our staff can sell tickets to passengers even before they board the bus, thus avoiding unnecessary inconvenience to staff and commuter alike. Contact less smart cards is a mechanism that we would be introducing on our buses soon. Users will only be required to flash their cards before the machine installed at entry and exit points and the fare would automatically be deducted. This mechanism will not only save a lot of time but will do away with problems like coin shortage.

Some of these efforts are already showing marked signs of recovery on the BEST’s performance. We are sure that in the years to come the BEST will not only vault over the deficit but will also become a self sustaining profit making venture that will also guarantee public safety and convenience.

mumbai news
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