Mumbai: The BEST fleet could further deplete to less than 2,700 buses this month as there is a much bigger scrapping wave in May when 170 JNNURM full-sized buses will be phased out. Also, a few midi buses are to be scrapped from the fleet.
Sources in the undertaking said that with the phasing out of 170 full-sized buses, 80% of full-sized buses owned by BEST will go off the roads. “The remaining such buses will be scrapped by Sept-Oct. After that, only one such full-sized bus owned by the undertaking will remain in the fleet for two years,” a source said.

Commuter rights activists demanded that BEST expedite the supply of new electric AC buses to replace old buses being phased out. “At present, the delivery is slow and this will impact the fleet size by month-end,” said an activist.
Currently, BEST’s fleet comprises around 2,800 buses, with around 750 being those owned by the undertaking and the remaining on wet lease (belonging to private contractors). BEST has already signed contracts to procure 2,100 electric buses and another deal for 2,400 buses from a private contractor, and the majority of buses is to be added to the fleet. “Another contract for 250 e-buses was signed last year. But we are still expecting those to hit the roads,” said an activist.
Bus fan and regular commuter Shubham Padave said: “I remember prior to Covid, the waiting period for buses was 10-20 minutes, but now it has increased to 30-40 minutes, which is a concerning factor. Mumbai is a city that runs on time. If buses are not arriving on time, these buses are of no use to us. BEST should give us assurance that it will help us reach our destination in an estimated time.”
He further said: “Being a bus enthusiast and bus fan, my expectation from BEST, MMRDA, and BMC is that they try to implement a bus priority lane in the city. A decade ago, we had more than 100 double-decker buses in the city, which were, and still are, the pride of the city. For over a year, we have got only 50 double-decker buses.”
At a recently held public hearing organised by Aamchi Mumbai Aamchi BEST, citizens expressed grievances about the poor frequency of BEST buses and an acute shortage of buses on the roads. “We don’t want to wait at stops for 30-40 minutes for buses. At the same time, we want BEST to procure its own fleet of buses, which can be managed properly as compared to leasing buses from private contractors wherein there is no control on the driver,” said a commuter.
Commuters said that there were issues with the wet lease buses, including breakdowns, fires, dissatisfied drivers going on flash strikes, and said that all of this causes inconvenience to daily passengers.