The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport Undertaking or BEST Friday launched the third route in its premium bus service. Buses in the new route between Mumbai Airport and Cuffe Parade, in South Mumbai, allows the commuters or flyers to reach the final destination in just 45 minutes as the BEST buses will be plying from the signal-free Bandra Worli sea link.
According to Lokesh Chandra, BEST general manager, the premium bus service on the new route is already receiving good response. “On the first day itself 200 people travelled on this route. In fact, we are working on an option to begin service in night hours if there is any demand,” the IAS officer said.
The fare for travelling from Mumbai airport to Cuffe Parade is Rs 250. Chandra added that one can book the premium bus service through the mobile application ‘Chalo App’ and reserve a seat. The buses that are running on this route are electric air-conditioned buses, having a seating capacity of 40. No standees are allowed. With a total of five buses, the services are available between 7am to 9 pm. The halting points on this route are Airport, BKC, Worli Sea face, Marine Lines, Cuffe Parade respectively.
If a commuter wishes to get down in between, they can specify their destination in the app and the driver will accordingly halt, explained Chandra.
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The previous two ‘premium’ routes that had been launched are one between Thane and Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), and the other between Bandra and BKC. BEST has an average of 1,000 daily bookings on these two routes.
The idea to introduce premium bus service by the BEST is to provide commuters a comfortable travel experience on the lines of private cab service providers and to bring down the number of cars on roads.
Chandra asserted that the frequency of services is bound to go up with the addition of more buses to the fleet this year. The premium bus services are run by a private operator on a revenue sharing model with BEST undertaking. BEST, in return, will be allowed to use its facilities like bus stops, parking at the depot among others. The drivers for these buses will be provided by the operator.
Source: https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZWh0dHBzOi8vaW5kaWFuZXhwcmVzcy5jb20vYXJ0aWNsZS9jaXRpZXMvbXVtYmFpL2Jlc3QtYnVzZXMtbXVtYmFpLWFpcnBvcnQtY3VmZmUtcGFyYWRlLXJvdXRlLTgzOTM3MTIv0gFqaHR0cHM6Ly9pbmRpYW5leHByZXNzLmNvbS9hcnRpY2xlL2NpdGllcy9tdW1iYWkvYmVzdC1idXNlcy1tdW1iYWktYWlycG9ydC1jdWZmZS1wYXJhZGUtcm91dGUtODM5MzcxMi9saXRlLw?oc=5
