Today on the special day of Bhaubeej the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) will launch 100 special buses for women.With 37 ladies special buses already In BEST fleet, with this, the total number of such buses will increase to 137.Officials said the idea about the buses came from Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who sought safe and comfortable travel for women. “Almost 90 per cent of these buses will electrical and air-conditioned and the remaining will be non-AC buses,” the official added. The buses will operate on 70 routes in the city mostly in evenings and mornings. “The routes have been decided considering the crowd during peak hours,” said the official.
Of the total 70 routes, ladies special buses will only run on 10 routes, including eight routes in the south zone and two in the central zone. The depots in these two zones include Colaba, Backbay, Worli, Wadala, Kurla, Dharavi and Majas, from where these buses will depart and arrive. There are none in the western zone. The remainder 60 routes will have ‘ladies first’ routes. “On these ladies first routes, women will get the first preference to board from the first bus stop or depot. In case most of the passengers are women, then it will automatically become a ladies special,” said a BEST official. Routes that are especially crowded during peak hours have been chosen and this will come as a relief to female officegoers and others. On Wednesday, the BEST inaugurated a newly refurbished open-deck tourist bus starting from the Gateway of India-Mantralaya-Marine Drive-Churchgate-CSMT and back. Authorities intend to operate via the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in the coming days.