Mumbai: Taking BEST to station 5km away? Fares to fall by almost a third

MUMBAI: To make bus commute attractive again, new municipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi has asked BEST to fix Rs 5 as fare for journeys within 5km of railway, metro and mono rail stations in the next two weeks. At present, the minimum fare for up to 2 km is Rs 8, it’s Rs 10 for up to 4 km, and Rs 14 for up to 6 km.
In a win-win for all, the BMC chief also told TOI that BEST would wet-lease around 2,500 buses this year apart from the 450 for which orders have been issued.This means the fleet will go up by nearly 88% from the present 3,337 buses. He asked BEST to deploy around stations areas many of the 450 new buses being wet-leased now.
Pardeshi told TOI, “We are providing feeder services for smoother journey from mass public transport stations. The work order for the first batch of 450 buses has been issued already. We have suggested hiring more buses in the next few months. Commuters travelling to and from stations will be charged Rs 5 for up to 5 km which we want to be implemented in two weeks.”
When TOI contacted BEST GM Surendra Kumar Bagade about the move, he said, “I will have a discussion with the commissioner on the ideas that he has come up with.” The BMC will refund BEST for the losses incurred due to the reduced fare, he added.