BEST’s electric bus fleet to see six-fold increase this year

Mumbai: The fleet of electric buses in BEST will be increased six times this year with orders for 2,100 more such buses to be placed by January 2022. This will bring it close to its target of electrifying 50% of the entire fleet in the near future.
What is significant is that BEST is now going for 1,400 “bigger” single decker AC electric buses which measure 12 metres in length (as against 9 metre Midi and 7 metre Mini buses). This will increase the carrying capacity of office-goers and reduce wait time at the stops.
“We have had enough of smaller buses that can access any lane and bylane of the city. We now want to focus on expediting journeys for office-goers and carrying maximum people in a single ride,” said BEST general manager Lokesh Chandra. The 12-metre buses will be deployed on longer routes, arterial roads and also on all office-going routes during peak hours, he added.
The other buses scheduled to be ordered in early 2022 are 400 AC electric Midis and 100 AC electric Minis, besides 200 AC electric double deckers.