THE BRIHANMUMBAI Electric Supply and Transportation (BEST) has introduced three new bus routes along the Mumbai Metro Line 2A (Dahisar to DN Nagar Andheri West) and Line 7 (Dahisar to Andheri East) starting from January 20 for commuters. Officials said the three new routes are witnessing over 1,800 ridership every day and the number is expected to increase further with the addition of more trips, and more buses pressed into the service once the delivery of new BEST buses is obtained by the operator. Currently, three BEST buses on each route are being operated. A total of 152 trips are made by these nine vehicles in a day. The service provider said that a total of 1,825 passengers availed of the services on January 24 translating into a revenue earning of Rs 9,696. The minimum fare for 5 km is Rs 5 for a non-AC bus and it is Rs 6 for the same distance case of an AC bus. BEST also offers various discounts like monthly pass, and to those booking tickets via the ‘Chalo App’. These buses run at a gap of every 20-25 minutes on every route, as per the transport undertaking. BEST General Manager Lokesh Chandra said, “As Metro Lines 2A and 7 are expected to carry lakhs of commuters daily and are already seeing over a lakh ridership every day, the buses being operated by the BEST along the new metro lines will also see a gradual increase in ridership. The buses will act as feeder routes for metro commuters.”
