MUMBAI: BEST ridership is likely to double as citizens will depend more on buses with ease of restrictions and more people going to work or outdoors from Monday.
The undertaking will be allowed to operate buses with 100% occupancy.
At the same time, queues are also expected at bus stops as BEST will not allow standees to travel in buses although it will ferry more passengers than it did last week.
“With suburban trains still being denied to several office-goers, shop workers etc, they will depend entirely on BEST for transportation,” said a senior official.
Sources said that the ridership is likely to increase from 9 lakh daily to nearly 18 lakh in the next few days.
Sources said there are plans to operate double deckers on Express highways.
Although BEST spokesperson Manoj Varade said that the maximum fleet will be on roads, committee member Sunil Ganacharya was skeptical.
“The fleet size of BEST’s own buses has dropped to 1,995 while it has 1,250 buses on wet lease.
How will it cater to the rush of citizens? There could be chaos at bus stops if there is no proper planning,” he feared.
Newly appointed general manager Lokesh Chandra took stock of the situation and has directed officials to provide maximum services to commuters from Monday.