No longer the BEST

Representation pic

There was a time when migrants were advised to rely on Mumbai's public bus transport for road commutes in the city. I'm one such migrant who shifted from a place where city bus transport existed only symbolically. My first intra-city commute after getting down from the train at Dadar was bus travel to my friend's place in the western suburbs. It cost me less than what I paid for a plate of snacks. I fell in love with BEST buses. I wondered how skilfully and carefully the well-mannered drivers worked on congested city roads. The conductors amazed me with their ‘stand-up' performances. They moved consistently up and down to sell tickets to joyful and cranky passengers with same ease. I would wish bus conductors on state (MSRTC) transport buses, too, extended the same courtesy to their valued passengers. There were so many things I would compare between BEST and MSRTC, which, as a public undertaking, had been working very well then. Over the past two decades, both have lost their glory. Nevertheless, I would still prefer BEST if it suits my travel needs.

Even now, BEST, despite its weaknesses and inefficiency, continues to be the most affordable mode of transport along with the suburban railway network. No matter the fatal accidents that killed about a dozen people in separate incidents involving BEST buses over the last week, city commuters haven't entirely lost faith in the age-old mode of transport. They both curse and praise. They hope BEST recovers from the bad phase and doesn't go bust or get privatised. Fears are plenty. Solutions are not. The long routes have been cut down, forcing passengers to switch over/change buses twice or thrice on their way to far-off destinations. Insiders say that 550 routes have been reduced to 350. Popular routes have been discontinued. Newly acquired double-decker buses are too tall to ply on certain routes. It is a planning/survey handicap.

BEST's decay has been visible for many years now. It has been bleeding because of financial losses incurred because of several factors. As per its recent annual budget, BEST's losses have mounted from R6,400 crore to Rs 9,200 crore in only two years. The transport division's share is the highest in losses and liability. Left with a fleet of 2,800 buses, the undertaking struggles to service 30-35 lakh passengers who use its services daily.

First and foremost is the lack of willpower to run the show. Gone are the days when the posting of the BEST general manager was considered prestigious. Of late, bureaucrats desist transfers to the civic undertaking. When posted against their wishes, they work at BEST as if on holiday. The reason is that they feel there is nothing to be changed. The situation is so bad, thanks to political interference of the past many years in the transport wing, while its electricity business makes some profits despite facing stiff competition from other suppliers. Some years ago, electricity consumers were burdened with TDLR (transport division loss recovery) but it was stopped later. The electricity business has been cross-subsidising the transport wing, but that doesn't suffice. It affects the efficiency of the electricity wing which is still one of the country's best and most affordable in providing service. Yet, the BEST routes are not surveyed for passengers' footfall. Instead, political influence dominates decisions on routes, many of which continue to operate at a loss.

Being a municipal undertaking, a subsidiary of the BMC, BEST relies heavily on financial grants from its parent. The BMC expects the state government to bail out BEST from the worst. The parent body and its undertaking are governed by elected representatives and political appointees, who have their own interests, the politics of trade unions and their parties included. Top bureaucrats hold the key to important decisions in the civic body and its undertaking. Currently, the civic body and BEST are under administrative rule.

Recent road accidents have further dented BEST's image. Insiders blame it on a wet-lease contractor, who shares the city routes with the undertaking's permanent staff and owned buses. The wet-lease company earns by kilometres clocked. So, the drivers, mostly untrained on how to steer modern buses, go recklessly to log in higher distances in less time. The congested and encroached roads, where pedestrians are left with no space to walk safely, fall to the speedy behemoths. With no administrative control over them, the wet-lease drivers (hired by a sub-lease contractor), have been let loose on the city roads. It is said that BEST has been planning to expand its fleet by many thousands in the next few years. We don't know whether it would be an existing model of wet-lease or the old-time system. Till then, it won't be too much to expect the new state government to ask BEST to ensure safety, restore profitable routes, and most importantly, ask incumbent officers, be it from elite IAS or lowly transport wing, to be proactive and get inspired by the BEST spirit of yesteryear that has become a memorable part of Mumbai's transport history.

Dharmendra Jore is political editor, mid-day. He tweets @dharmendrajore
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