Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (AC buses from home to work place) that was published in Newsband

AC buses from home to work place?

 New buses will pick up passengers and drive them to office areas during peak hours. The Maharashtra government plans to introduce point-to-point BEST airconditioned buses to connect the business districts with  residential hubs so that Mumbaikars are dissuaded from using their own cars and take to comfortable public transport.

A network of dedicated bus services will connect the various residential complexes of the city to Nariman Point, World Trade Centre, South Mumbai, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Navi Mumbai and other important work centres. Under this plan, the AC buses will pick up passengers and drive them to their office areas during peak hours either stopping at a few initial pick-up points or without stopping anywhere on the route, like the fast suburban trains.

Currently, the BEST (Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking) runs 210 AC buses on 28 routes which are not direct and stop at various points to pick passengers.

The BEST AC buses will be of quality design and will provide add-on features like coat hangers, laptop plug-in points, special handles,  route maps and information to the passengers.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan needs to be congratulated for having initiated this project that was  conceptualized by the state-appointed Mumbai Transformation Support Unit (MTSU) in consultation with Mumbai traffic police and BEST to  provide a comfortable journey to middle and senior management executives as well as the general public that prefers a cool commute.

The implementation of this plan is bound to improve the quality of life in Mumbai and transform it into a world class metropolis. It will also make public transport more comfortable, citizen friendly and affordable.

The government plans to approach corporate houses and companies to encourage their employees to use this service in order to reduce the rapid increase in private cars on Mumbai’s roads.

A survey is being conducted to assess the demand so that the routes can be decided. The government has even created a website, www.bestcommute.org, to obtain the opinion of the commuting public.

The need to bring in a better class of public bus transport is all the more urgent since crowded suburban trains and the ordinary quality of public bus services has forced many office-goers to use personal cars,  thus putting pressure on the limited road space in a linear city.

The implementation of this plan is bound to overcome the ever-growing traffic congestion in the city. It will prevent pollution too. It will reduce pressure on transport systems at business districts at peak hour. Senior executives working in the private sector and businessmen would benefit from the services as they will get point to point connectivity without using their own cars. This will reduce transportation cost for the consumers as well as take off the pressure on parking lots and roads.

This is a brilliant plan and it should materialize at the earliest.