The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking seems to have come around to thinking about a basic requirement of a public bus service — dedicated bus lanes. General manager Surendrakumar Bagde told the BEST committee on Tuesday the plan was in the initial stages and had been discussed with the new Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic).
“We are exploring the feasibility of dedicated bus lanes in certain sections where there is a high density of buses, which could increase the throughput,” Mr. Bagde said. He cited the stretch between Sion and Byculla, on which a bus passes every minute across different routes, as one of the possible sections. He said BEST will explore stretches on other key roads where several routes converge. Committee members urged Mr. Bagde to also look at the stretch between Chembur and Sion.
BEST had shut down dedicated bus lanes at two locations — Bandra Kurla Complex and between Worli junction and Mahalaxmi station — due to congestion and inadequate buses. A BEST official said the depleting fleet size was making it more impractical to have dedicated lanes across the city, and hence the idea was to focus on certain sections where the density is high.
Transport expert Ashok Datar was glad the BEST administration was finally thinking about dedicated bus lanes. “Mumbai is the most congested city in the world, and we have limited road space. Bus lanes will help to efficiently use the existing road space,” he said.
Mr. Datar said while the stretch between Sion and Byculla was ideal from a traffic point of view, the project won’t be successful if the authorities don’t control parking on the street, at least during the peak hours. “People need to be convinced of the greater benefits of the bus lane, as it will improve efficiency and speed of bus travel,” he said.
He said BEST should consider setting up dedicated lanes along the Bandra to Andheri section of the Western Express Highway, which has a similar density of buses and does not have vehicles parked along the road.
Meanwhile, committee members raised concerns regarding the losses the transport division was incurring due to the closure of several key bridges, such as the Oshiwara nullah bridge, Laxmibaug nullah bridge in Ghatkopar and Juhu Tara Road bridge. “The administration should provide us with data as to the losses we are incurring on account of these diversions. At Gokhale Bridge in Andheri, BEST buses are still not allowed to ply, while private buses are,” Sunil Ganacharya, senior committee member from the BJP, said.
Committee members also urged Mr. Bagde to speak with the authorities at SNDT University to permit buses to ply on an alternative route.