Thane Municipal Transport slashes new electric AC bus fares by 40-50%

THANE: The Thane Municipal Transport (TMT) undertaking has slashed its AC bus fares between 40-50% benefiting thousands of daily commuters travelling intra-city and Mumbai, municipal commissioner and administrator Abhijit Bangar announced recently.
While the revised fares have been implemented on the newly inducted electric powered AC buses that are operating on existing routes on an experimental basis, the same is yet to be passed on to commuters using the Thane-Borivli Volvo services. Officials said the transport committee and the municipal administrator have okayed the revised fares but the same will be implemented after a formal approval from the Regional Transport Authority.
“The intention is to compete with rising competition from BEST and NMMT services overlapping its routes and also provide comfortable travel to passengers who seem to have switched to cheaper alternatives in the last few years. Presently, we are plying the AC buses on existing routes within the city at new fares. The Volvo bus fares will be implemented soon after the RTA nod arrives,” explained transport officials requesting anonymity.
As per the revised rates, the minimum fares for the TMT AC buses would now be Rs 10 instead of Rs 20 for the first two kilometres, which is a sharp 50% drop while the maximum fare has been drastically slashed from Rs105 to Rs65, a near 40% cut.
The fare cut is likely to prove beneficial for the commuters who would get cool comfortable rides at affordable rates while the undertaking is likely to benefit by an increase in average daily passenger count. The reduced fares are also likely to draw a sizable volume of passengers from using autos and fleet cabs.
Officials said the operating cost for the diesel-powered Volvo buses may be higher but they hope to recover the difference by plying higher passenger volume on the Thane- Borivali and Mumbai bus routes.