After being at an all-time low for seven months, the BEST fleet lastly crossed the three,000 mark on Wednesday as new buses arrived within the fleet – taking the fleet to three,008 buses in Mumbai. A senior official mentioned that the endeavor expects to extend the fleet dimension to three,500 within the subsequent 3 months — catering to the demand from 35 lakh every day commuters who now have to attend in lengthy queues for a bus throughout peak hours.
The fleet had gone under 3,000 final 12 months for the primary time prior to now 15 years, resulting in acute scarcity of buses on roads and affecting the frequency on busy routes. A BEST official mentioned that with the fleet dimension now growing regularly, there must be extra buses and higher frequency.
Nonetheless activists and transport analysts aren’t pleased with the three,000-mark. They petitioned the BEST on Wednesday, saying the fleet must be at 4,500 buses as on date to cater to commuter rush. “Additionally, the wait time at bus stops shouldn’t be greater than seven minutes,”mentioned A V Shenoy from Mumbai Mobility Discussion board (MMF), a assume tank. He additional mentioned that loads of orders for electrical AC buses had been pending, together with the AC double deckers and demanded that contractors must be penalised for any delay each month whereas on the similar time incentivised for early deliveries.
As per the newest figures, the BEST fleet includes 1,099 personal buses operated by its personal drivers, whereas ,1909 buses are working on moist lease.
