BEST bus ticket sales witness monthly drop of Rs 11 crore in 2017-18

In a major jolt to BEST Undertaking, its bus service has witnessed a dip of around 11 crore per month in the last financial year.

The overall earnings by ticket sales of BEST buses has reduced to Rs 1,051 crore in 2017-18, down by Rs 130 crore from Rs 1,181 crore in 2016-17, reports The Times of India, stating data released by the department. The dip in ticket sales, estimated to be around 11 percent, is attributed to poor bus frequency and shrinking of fleet by at least 20 percent.

The decline in revenue is followed by reduction in passenger count. While BEST attracted around 27 lakh passengers a day in December 2017, the number fell to 25 lakh in February this year, BEST committee member Sunil Ganacharya told the publication.

However, BEST is considering measures to reverse migration of passengers, who has switched from BEST to other modes of transport such as share taxis and auto rickshaws. As a part of this, announcements are made on megaphones outside railway stations about bus routes available to commercial hubs and thickly populated residential areas, BEST general manager Surendrakumar Bagde said.

The transport undertaking has also introduced new non-AC buses and hybrid buses, as well as a new route connecting WEH Metro station to BKC has also been started a few weeks ago, in order to woo passengers.