BEST gets better

City gets first route map at Kalanagar bus stop in pilot project that aims to make BEST travel
simpler.
In a first, a suburban bus stop will display a map of the routes taken by the BEST buses that ply
through it. An acrylic advertising board beside the Kalanagar bus stop in Bandra East encases the
map on which the Central, Western and Eastern lines have been assigned three colours. Bus
numbers plying on each line are also listed on the map.
The bus route map is an initiative of Mumbai Environmental Social Network (MESN), a nongovernmental organisation that addresses the city's traffic woes. The project has been funded by the
Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry and was rolled out on Thursday at a bus stop managed
by the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA). Bus stops in Mumbai are
looked after by either the BMC or the MMRDA.
According to Ashok Dattar, chairman, MESN, 20 maps are expected to come up across city bus stops,
including at Andheri, Dadar, Chembur and tourist-heavy Flora Fountain in Fort. The BEST has
4,000 stops in the city.
"We want to 'sell' bus stops to the public. This is a strategy to attract new commuters to buses and
make bus travel less confusing." There seems to be a need for this. In the past decade, while the
number of passenger trips per day has increased from 55 lakh to 70 lakh in Mumbai's trains, the
number has remained constant at 40 lakh for BEST buses.
This means that the number of people using BEST buses - by buying tickets or using a pass - hasn't
grown. According to Dattar, lack of information at bus stops, on routes and connectivity to the
nearest railway station, for instance, discourages more commuters from taking the bus. They don't
face this problem in trains, as there is a system of information dissemination in place.
The Kalanagar route map lists the 18 buses and shows the five bus routes that ply from the stop. It
also displays the train tracks, and the stations in the vicinity. Pramod Purandikar, a 47-year-old
surveyor who was waiting at the stop for bus number 473, offered feedback on the map. "The names
of the stations need to be in a larger font."
Dattar said the map will be revised soon as a new bus route will be started at the Kalanagar bus stop
from July 1. "A new route, C 198, from Sewri to Mira Road, will start on the Central line. The map
will have to be modified. They should print the date of publication, since we update routes often,"
said Prasad Dharankar, assistant department manager of the Dharavi bus depot.

Some interesting facts of present-day BEST buses:

BEST has introduced A/C Kinglong services on certain routes.

From 19 November 2004, route SPL-8 travelling from Churchgate to World Trade Centre has
started accepting cashless smart cards for automatic fare collection in BEST buses.

BEST currently has over 1500 environmentally friendly Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)
buses on its fleet and plans to increase the number of buses.

Due to the 9/11 bombings, BEST has installed an audio-visual surveillance system (CCTV)
on each of its buses to monitor suspicious behaviour on board its vehicles.

Almost all buses have two LCD TVs per bus. BEST buses are well maintained buses.

Air conditioned buses are very popular with office goers. The A/C bus "AS-4" from Oshiwara
Depot to Backbay Depot, is the route with the highest revenue for BEST. The "AS-4" is most
popular bus with morning office goers, as it covers a distance of about 30 km from Andheri to
Mantralaya in only one and half hours.

BEST A decade of reforms and improvements

As pioneers in adopting and implementing multiple new technologies and innovative processes, BEST
has achieved significant operational improvements. Recent upgrades in technology include Electronic
Ticketing Machine (ETMs) in all 4,200 buses.
Surveillance cameras have been installed in all 4,200 buses with recording abilities in almost 2,000
buses. This is a first step towards ensuring safety and security of passengers. However, linking with the
cameras with a Traffic Management Center would be more beneficial for inspections from the control
center.
The next level BEST expects to introduce is the computerised scheduling of buses and depots to match
the efficiency in staffing requirements. Although the agency is facing challenges due to staff acceptance of
the scheduling changes, negotiations are presently underway to set a way forward.
- The 5-day workshop includes classroom trainings on fuel-efficiency, safety and customer service. The
sessions are used to emphasize a collective approach in maintaining low fuel efficiency through a sense
of team spirit aimed at motivating and monitoring each other. The training also incorporates an on-road
practical session. In the customer service section of the programme, drivers and conductors were taught
how to respond to commuters. The training was aimed to help drivers understand that they were the

primary point of contact between the organisation and the public and hence their interaction with the
public was a key aspect of public perception.