The public transport question: How will party-goers get home?

The lifeline of Mumbai, the suburban train system, takes a break of around three hours after 1 am.

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Thereafter, only two buses (starting from south Mumbai) ply till 2 30 am, besides taxis. An overhaul of the transport system will likely have to precede a more liberal nightlife policy.

Anthony Quadros, general secretary of Mumbai Taximen Union, says, “Presently, everything comes to a standstill by 2 am. This will change if there is an active nightlife and will create more opportunities for cab drivers and owners,” he said.

Taxi and autorickshaw unions, already battling the government for more permits, say they will immediately start working extra shifts if demand rises. “This proposal for allowing nightlife will create a lot of job opportunities for cab drivers. These cabs operate on two shifts presently, they can start a third shift too,” said an official.

Especially for safety of women travelling at night, the transport department of the state government is already looking to install ‘panic buttons’ in taxis and GPS systems in all modes of public transport besides ensuring proper verification of the drivers. Also, a special fleet of taxis, for women and driven by women, are some proposals that stakeholders expect will be addressed urgently.

Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport undertaking operates two services —1 Ltd (from Colaba to Santacruz) and 66 Ltd (from Colaba to Dharavi) after 1 am till 2.30 am. The bus to Santacruz halts at Matunga, Sion, Mahim, Bandra before terminating at Santacruz. “The buses run at a frequency of half-an-hour and operate after train services end. This has met the needs of people,” said a BEST official.

BEST GM Jagdish Patil said officials were looking into the requirement of more buses at night. “We also operate two buses for film artistes working late night, from Goregaon and Madh Island. The buses operate till 12 30 am and culminate in Dadar,” he said. BEST claims it is yet to study the response to the services.

In terms of ensuring safety of passengers at night, BEST is in the process of installing CCTVs in all its buses. “CCTVs have been installed in over 2500 buses. The contract with the earlier firm was discontinued. It has now been awarded to another company and we hope to install cameras in all out buses by year-end,” said an official.

Nearly 40 lakh passengers travel on BEST buses daily, which has a fleet of 4228 buses with 94 per cent buses on road. Out of the 284 AC buses, only 162 buses are operational while the rest are under maintenance. More buses at night will increase burden on the cash-strapped BEST. There are no changes in the fare system for night services.