“The additional fleet of buses would be bought by March 2009. BEST currently has 3,400 buses in its fleet. With the purchase of 600 more buses in the current financial year, the total number of BEST buses will be 4,000,” said Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport General Manager Uttam Khobragade. The new fleet of buses will include 50 King Longs and 50 Volvos.
More than 35 lakh passengers utilise the services of BEST every day. Under Phase-I of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP), BEST bought as many as 644 buses for Rs 125 crore over a period of three years.
Many BEST buses, both ordinary and the newly introduced King-Long buses, cater to the travel needs of schools and the corporate sector. “It would be a blend (of buses) as per demands,” Khobragade said.
“There has been a demand for more buses after we started catering to schools and the corporate sector. We have been getting more requests from these two sectors. With the existing fleet, it’s difficult to provide quality services,” he added. “With the new buses in the fleet, we can also start new routes.” BEST is currently offering its services to 22 schools and corporates like Bank of Baroda and Indian Oil.