B.E.S.T.

STRATEGIES
FOR MUMBAIKARS

GROUP MEMBERS
NAME
MANSI MISTRY
MAYUR PALAV

ROLL NO.
519
520

CHANDNI PARIKH

521

ARCHANA PATEL

522

DHARA PATEL

523

SANKET PATHARE

524

Introduction of BEST
15

July 1926 - First bus ran between

Afghan Church and Crawford Market.
For several years, it was looked upon as
transport for the upper middle class.
Those were the days when the tram was the
poor man's transport; it carried one all the
way from Sassoon Dock to Dadar. The bus
fare for the same journey was 25 paise.
In response to the pleas made by the
Government and the Bombay Municipal
Corporation, the company extended its
services to the northern part of the city in
1934.

 It

now operates as an autonomous body

under the Municipal Corporation.
The bus transport service covers the entire
city of Mumbai
Also extends its operations outside city limits
into neighboring Navi Mumbai, Thane and
Mira-Bhayandar.
In addition to buses, it also operates a ferry
service in the northern reaches of the city.
Double decker buses were introduced in
1937 in order to cope better with the
growing traffic. The first limited bus service
in Bombay, and probably the first in the
country as well, started running in 1940
between Colaba and Mahim.

interesting facts of present-day BEST buses:

BEST has introduced A/C Kinglong services on

certain routes.
From 19 November 2004, route SPL-8 travelling
from Churchgate to World Trade Centre has started
accepting cashless smart cards for automatic fare
collection in BEST buses.
BEST currently has over 1500 environmentally
friendly Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses on its
fleet and plans to increase the number of buses.
Due to the 9/11 bombings, BEST has installed an
audio-visual surveillance system (CCTV) on each of
its buses to monitor suspicious behaviour on board
its vehicles.

Almost all buses have two LCD TVs per bus.

BEST buses are well maintained buses.
Air conditioned buses are very popular with
office goers. The A/C bus "AS-4" from
Oshiwara Depot to Backbay Depot, is the
route with the highest revenue for BEST. The
"AS-4" is most popular bus with morning
office goers, as it covers a distance of about
30 km from Andheri to Mantralaya in only
one and half hours.

BEST A decade of reforms and

improvements
As pioneers in adopting and implementing
multiple new technologies and innovative
processes, BEST has achieved significant
operational improvements. Recent upgrades in
technology include Electronic Ticketing Machine
(ETMs) in all 4,200 buses.
Surveillance cameras have been installed in all
4,200 buses with recording abilities in almost
2,000 buses. This is a first step towards
ensuring safety and security of passengers.
However, linking with the cameras with a Traffic
Management Center would be more beneficial
for inspections from the control center.

STRATEGIES

LOW FLOOR BUSES:

Introduced for the welfare of old and physically

handicapped people. Regarding need for introducing Low
Floor buses in the city of Mumbai. In response to these
demands and suggestion, BEST has launched the trial
run of Low Floor buses provided by TELCO

 MONTHLY

BUS PASS SCHEME THROUGHSMARTCARD :

In a move to aid commuter convenience, and

to mitigate its cash handling pains, BEST,
'Mumbai's Lifeline' has adopted a new
alternative method of paying for bus fares.

Segmentation:
Basis of segmentation

Segments

Income or comfort
wise

Without AC & AC bus.

Speed wise

Unlimited bus, limited

bus, super fast bus,
non stop bus

Gender wise

Ladies special bus

Distance wise

Short distance,
Medium distance,
Long distance

Better

ticketing arrangements.
Better lightings on bus stops also
inside the busses.
Clean and well built bus stop.
Proper urinal facilities at the bus
depots.
Cushioned seats inside the
busses.
Well-trained personnel for
complaint handling or grievances.

product levels in BEST

The

expected Product:

Timeliness
Safety of passengers
Brand name of provider
Proper ticket dispensation and
checking
Proper planning of structure of bus
for easy entry and exit.
Cleanliness

 The

Augmented Product:
Softer seats and air condition bus
Concessions for certain sector of society like
freedom fighters, military men.
Permanent Reserved seat for ladies, old
people and handicapped people
The

potential product :
Providing separate line to BEST bus on
maximum number of route
Less waiting plan
Disaster management
24 hour service on maximum route

QUALITY DIMENSIONS (RATER)

Reliability:

Thousands of people regularly travel by Best

buses to reach their destinations. In peek hours
many of the commuters depend on these buses
to reach their offices, workplace, etc. It is also
one of the cheapest modes of transport as
during peek hours the Taxis, Auto rickshaws, and
even private vehicles may prove costly due to
heavy traffic jams at most places in Mumbai. The
facility of these Best buses is available at almost
all the parts of Mumbai, and also the frequency
of this buses and the customer carrying capacity
is quite good.

Assurance- The commuters traveling by

the best buses are quite assured of reaching
the correct destination as the correct and
quite visible transport route of the bus is
displayed on front side and also on the left
hand side of the bus. Also the conductors
and drivers of these buses are quite polite
and helpful to the passengers in guiding
them to the right destinations. (Of course
there are some exceptions to this.) BEST do
have a good amount of credibility among the
passengers as their slogan says Safety is
our Motto and they also market themselves
as the Safest mode of Transport.

Responsiveness- The BEST is quite

responsive to its customers as they try
their best to provide immediate
solution to the problems of their
customers For E.g. - If the Best buses
while transporting people breakdown
due to flat tyre or any other kind of
technical problem then the passengers
traveling by that bus are shifted in
another best bus and they are not
charged for it and the ticket of the bus
which is punctured is also valid in the
new bus in which they are shifted.

Future Plans
The

next level BEST expects to introduce is

the computerized scheduling of buses and
depots to match the efficiency in staffing
requirements.
Although the agency is facing challenges
due to staff acceptance of the scheduling
changes, negotiations are presently
underway to set a way forward.

THANK YOU
Travel more by
Public Transport.
It reduces
pollution.