All public utilities will incur losses and the government should be prepared for these losses, said senior transport economist Shankar Modak on Tuesday.

“We have to accept these losses as social cost, which needs to be paid by the local bodies or the government. Public transport everywhere in the world is subsidised by local bodies, ” he said.

Aamchi Mumbai Aamchi BEST, a citizen’s forum that has been working towards reviving the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking, had invited Mr. Modak to speak on the the measures required for reviving BEST.

Mr. Modak said the government and planners should also factor in the time cost, and in particular BEST should focus on reducing the waiting time and travel time for commuters.

“Increasing the frequency is one way to reduce waiting time for which you need more buses. We can easily have more buses, but do you have the space on roads for more buses?” he said.

The BEST’s revival plan includes increasing the fleet size in the near future to 6,000 buses by way of wet leasing buses.

Co-convenor of Aamchi Mumbai Aamchi BEST, Hussain Indorewala, said they welcome the move to reduce the fares, which had been a long-standing demand of the forum but a lot more needs to be done to ensure that the public bus system continues its path of revival, This includes having a financial plan for BEST, reviving bus routes that had been shut down, and creating a system to monitor contractors.

“If wet leasing has to be introduced, it needs to be regularised. Until now we haven’t heard of any plan or framework to monitor the contractors,” he said.

Mr. Indorewala also said it was not clear how the revenue generated from parking at BEST depots will be used for BEST. “Ideally parking at depots should be reserved for public transport and not for private vehicles. Moreover, with the fleet expansion on cards, the additional buses will need the space to park,” he said.