Dinesh Kamath's news item 'BEST plans new fast-track route between Navi Mumbai and Thane' that was published in Newsband

BEST plans new fast-track route between Navi Mumbai and Thane

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: BEST has planned at least 20 new fast-track routes on the Eastern Freeway. They also include the buses which will ply between Navi Mumbai and Thane.

Transport expert Ashok Datar, while welcoming the new BEST routes, said that more buses should be encouraged on the freeway while private cars should be asked to pay a toll. "We should dissuade people to use private cars and they should be asked to travel in buses. If we are spending crores of rupees on a freeway, it should be utilized to improve the public transport system,'' he pointed out.

"The buses will also save a lot of fuel on the freeway as it can go at high speed. There should be more frequency of buses and they should charge lower fares from passengers,'' he demanded. "We can also give a different look and logo to buses on fast track routes along the freeway. The BEST should promote the use of such buses which will help people from far flung suburbs, including those in Thane and Navi Mumbai, to reach CST in a record time,'' he stated.