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The Bombay Electric Supply and Transport now christened Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking is an electricity and public transport undertaking of city municipality. It is responsible for mass public transportation in the city and suburbs of Bombay, (Mumbai). It also handles electric supply in parts of the city.
Bombay city is composed of two districts. The southern district is the city district also called (Old Bombay) and the northern one, the suburban district (also called Greater Bombay). The BEST is part of the Bombay Municipal Corporation.
The BEST provides electricity and a public transport service for the city of Mumbai.
Transport The BEST runs a large fleet of buses covering the entire city limits as well as linking the neighbouring districts of Thane and Raigad. These ubiquitous red buses are an important part of the city’s zeitgeist and character. There are two types of buses run, the single decker and the double decker. The entire fleet of the BEST numbers 3380 and carry 4.5 million passengers daily on 335 routes. In addition to the buses, the BEST also runs ferries across creeks in the northern reaches of the city. It is also the only public service provider in India to ply air-conditioned buses. BEST bus fares valid from 26 January 2005 | Distance in km | Adult (Rupees) | Concession fare | | 3 | 4.00 | 2.00 | | 5 | 4.50 | 2.00 | | 7 | 5.00 | 3.00 | | 10 | 7.00 | 3.00 | | 15 | 9.00 | 4.00 | | 20 | 11.00 | 5.00 | | 25 | 13.00 | 6.00 | | 30 | 14.00 | 7.00 | | 35 | 15.00 | 7.00 |
Electricity The BEST also powers up only the city district. The BEST obtains its power from the Tata Electric, a private electricity generator company. An islanding system is in place that shields the city from other national electricity grids which would have otherwise crippled the city. Despite this, however, the city does experience a blackout for about 3 hours each year. Though the electric division offers cheaper rates as compared to other electric service providers and yet manages to make a tidy profit.
History
Before 1920 The Bombay Tramway Company Limited was formally set up in 1873. After a contract was entered into between the Bombay Tramway Company and the municipality, the Government of Mumbai enacted the Bombay Tramways Act, 1874, under which the Company was licensed to run a tramway service in the city. The tram_cars were of two kinds_those drawn by one horse and those drawn by two. In 1905, a newly formed concern, The Bombay Electric Supply & Tramways Company Limited, bought the Bombay Tramway Company and the first electrically operated tram-car appeared on Mumbai's roads in 1907. The passing years aggravated the problem of rush-hour traffic and to ease the situation, double decker trams were introduced in September, 1920.
1920-1940 Mumbai saw its first bus run on July 15, 1926. The people of Mumbai received the bus with enthusiasm, but it took quite sometime before this means of conveyance really established itself. 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, carried one all the way from Sassoon Dock to Dadar for a mere anna and a half, that was nine paise. The bus fare for the same journey was four annas, that is 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. Double deck buses were introduced in 1937 in order to cope better with the growing traffic. The first Limited Bus service in Mumbai, and probably the first in the country as well, started running in 1940 between Colaba and Mahim.
Post 1940 Pursuant to the option given to it under the Deed of Concession granted to the Bombay Electric Supply and Tramways Co.Ltd, the Brihan Mumbai Mahanagarpalika acquired on August 7, 1947, the assets of the combined Undertaking, namely the operation of tramways and distribution of electricity in the city of Mumbai as a going concern. By mutual agreement, the Corporation also took over the operation of the bus services, which was run by the B.E.S & T Company Ltd.
Thus, the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport Company was municipalised and came to be known as Bombay Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking.
When the Corporation took over the Company in 1947, there were 242 buses in operation on 23 routes and these buses carried 2.38 lakh passengers per day. At present, there are 3380 buses carrying 45 lakhs passengers daily on 335 routes.
On January 9, 2004, BEST announced that it will replace its "aging" fleet of 200 double-deckers with new ones.
Timeline - 1873: Bombay Tramway Company Limited set up
- July 15, 1926: First bus runs in Mumbai
- 1926: 600,000 passengers use the bus service in its first year.
- 1937: Double deck bus introduced
- 1940: First limited bus service started between Colaba and Mahim
- 1947: 242 buses plying on 23 routes carrying 238,000 passengers per day
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