The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) administration has formalised new fare chart with base fare starting from Rs 5. This drop in fares will dissuade people from taking the share-autos and share-taxis especially outside railway stations during peak hours; and most importantly their own vehicles, say BEST officials. As per the proposal drafted on June 20, the Undertaking has revised the base fare at Rs 5 for first 5 kms. Gradually up to 10 kms and 15 kms, the BEST will charge Rs 10 and Rs 15 respectively in the revised fare structure. At present, it is Rs 8 for first 2 kms, and the fare increases every 2 kms. At 10 kms, people are paying Rs 18. Passengers will now make minimum savings of Rs 3 for minimum distance travelled with at least Rs 8 if they travel long distances upto 10 kms. The fares of AC buses will start from Rs 6 for first 5 kms and then Rs 13 for 10 kms so on and so forth. Currently the total number of daily passengers travelling in BEST buses has dropped to 25 lakh or so; which couple of years ago was 42 lakh. Off these around 55% of them travel for first 5 kms in BEST buses. Sources said that they expect another 10-12 lakh people to use these red coloured buses once this change comes into play. "This is first move towards reducing bus fares. We intend to restructure public transportation in Mumbai which will incentivize people to take public transport. We will also take the total fleet to 6000 buses in the near future," said Surendrakumar Bagde, General Manager, BEST Undertaking. Now, this proposal will go the the BEST Committee, which will meet on June 21, whose approval is needed for implementing it. The next step is to the BMC whose committee need to give clearance before it finally goes to Maharashtra government's Mumbai Metropolitan Region Transport Authority (MMRTA). The BEST officials feel that for the entire procedure to complete a full circle, it will take at least a month or so before this new revised fares can be implemented. Sources on the other hand claim that with the reduction in fares, the loss making Undertaking will have to take additional burden of Rs 100-150 crore per month. Already the transport wing of BEST has cumulative losses of Rs 1100 crore. "We are glad that fares are dropping. But the fact remains that once the revised fares are implemented, everyday at least 60 lakh passengers will have to be ferried for reaching break-even of the lost earnings. The main problems are dropping average speed of BEST buses and its punctuality," said Sunil Ganacharya, member, BEST Committee. Sources said that under the present bus fleet of 3337 buses, the maximum that it can carry everyday would be 35-37 lakh passengers. Moreover the share-autos and share-taxis provide convenience as the wait time is less as compared to waiting at bus stops which varies between 20-40 minutes on an average. Also the average speed of buses have dropped to 10-12 kmph from 18-20 kmph due to the road traffic. Over the past decade, the number of vehicles on road in Mumbai has gone up from 22 lakh to 35 lakh now. Meanwhile, the BEST will be getting 450 Midi/Mini buses that are smaller in size. These will maneuver on narrower roads and as per future plans, become modes of transport for connecting Metro rail stations on various routes.

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