Mumbai: Bus ride gets cheaper as BEST reduces fares

Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) on last Tuesday decided to slash the bus fares across Mumbai in Maharashtra. The Maharashtra government on Monday issued a fresh notification which allows the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) to implement the new fares across all routes. The new reduced bus fares will come into effect starting Tuesday, July 9 in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The move has been approved by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Transport Authority (MMRTA) after BEST proposed the fare restructuring for the public buses plying in Mumbai.

As per the revised fare structure, there will be only four pricing slabs, including 0-5 km, 5-10 km, 10-15 km, and over 15 km. While the minimum non-AC bus fare has been brought down from Rs 8 to Rs 5 for the first five kilometres, the maximum fare for non-AC buses has been fixed at Rs 20. For AC buses, the fare will be Rs 6 for a 5 km ride while maximum fare has been capped at Rs 25.
The decision to reduce the bus fares in the metropolis was taken to boost ridership and income.

Hanumant Gophane, BEST’s public relations officer said, “BEST’s fare restructuring has received the approval from the regional transport authority (RTA) and the revised fares will be implemented from July 9.”

BEST officials hope, with the new fares, it would again be able to regain commuters which it lost to autos and taxis in Mumbai.

The new decision has been welcomed and hailed by other ministers as well, calling it a relief for daily commuters in Mumbai.

BEST also plans to reshuffle its bus fleet very soon, which currently stands at 3,337. According to a Mirror report, an official from BEST said: “Additional buses will be diverted to routes that have high patronage, based on the response of commuters to the fares.”

BEST officials are hiring around 450 buses on the wet-leasing model and another 80 electric buses that will have an equal share of both midi and mini buses. The mini buses have a seating capacity for 21 people; eight others can stand. Midi buses are slightly larger and have a seating capacity for 31 and 12 standing.