MUMBAI: There is an estimated deficit of 1.3 lakh buses in urban areas across the country and there is a need to rapidly ramp up the bus system, especially the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking in Mumbai. This was part of an online workshop session on Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) to scale city bus services on Wednesday.
The workshop was part of ongoing global series titled ‘Connect Karo 2021’ organised by the World Resources Institute, India which has over 150 speakers for various sessions.
Senior IAS officer and former BEST general manager Surendrakumar Bagde, one of the speakers, said while in some cities public transport was stopped completely during the Covid-19 pandemic, in Mumbai, buses were never stopped.
“For bus transport, the focus should be on inducing efficiency in bus operations. There is a need to raise public transport to service-level benchmark,” he said.
Buses are the best mode of public transport on roads as it can carry more passengers and occupy less road space.
Bagde further added, “The adoption of a PPP model along with other technologies is fundamental to making the bus sector work as was done in Mumbai where several buses were procured on wet lease. The PPP model offers bus bodies an opportunity to achieve improved efficiency at a lower initial cost. Due to this, PPP will have a huge impact in the future.”
Bagde, who is now the additional secretary of, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs at Delhi, informed that the Central ministry was launching a scheme to support cities procure more buses.
“The funding is being offered over a longer period too,” he said. In Mumbai, the BEST already has over 1200 buses on wet lease and plans to take this figure to over 4,000 in future, mostly with Central funding for electric buses.
Shashi Verma, Chief Technology Officer, Transport for London said that Metro Rail was not the “only solution” to India’s transportation demand.
“Buses are not seen as attractive and should be encouraged. While India has a successful model to develop capital infrastructure for roads and Metros, a successful service delivery model for public bus service is missing,” he pointed out.
“There is a need to shift from the approach of allocating PPP contracts stating the total km to be completed by a private agency. Instead, the focus should be more on the output required — route operations, schedule adherence etc and this will be in the larger interest of commuters,” he stated.
WRI India CEO OP Agarwal said there was a need to change the narrative from delivering “low-quality service” for those who have no other option but to use the bus. We need to improve quality and at the same time, make buses an option also for those using private modes of transport like personal cars and bikes, he said.
Said another WRI official, “If cities have developed bus lanes or BRTS across the country, such cities need to flood these lanes with buses, improve quality and encourage more citizens to use them for daily travel.”
The workshop was part of ongoing global series titled ‘Connect Karo 2021’ organised by the World Resources Institute, India which has over 150 speakers for various sessions.
Senior IAS officer and former BEST general manager Surendrakumar Bagde, one of the speakers, said while in some cities public transport was stopped completely during the Covid-19 pandemic, in Mumbai, buses were never stopped.
“For bus transport, the focus should be on inducing efficiency in bus operations. There is a need to raise public transport to service-level benchmark,” he said.
Buses are the best mode of public transport on roads as it can carry more passengers and occupy less road space.
Bagde further added, “The adoption of a PPP model along with other technologies is fundamental to making the bus sector work as was done in Mumbai where several buses were procured on wet lease. The PPP model offers bus bodies an opportunity to achieve improved efficiency at a lower initial cost. Due to this, PPP will have a huge impact in the future.”
Bagde, who is now the additional secretary of, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs at Delhi, informed that the Central ministry was launching a scheme to support cities procure more buses.
“The funding is being offered over a longer period too,” he said. In Mumbai, the BEST already has over 1200 buses on wet lease and plans to take this figure to over 4,000 in future, mostly with Central funding for electric buses.
Shashi Verma, Chief Technology Officer, Transport for London said that Metro Rail was not the “only solution” to India’s transportation demand.
“Buses are not seen as attractive and should be encouraged. While India has a successful model to develop capital infrastructure for roads and Metros, a successful service delivery model for public bus service is missing,” he pointed out.
“There is a need to shift from the approach of allocating PPP contracts stating the total km to be completed by a private agency. Instead, the focus should be more on the output required — route operations, schedule adherence etc and this will be in the larger interest of commuters,” he stated.
WRI India CEO OP Agarwal said there was a need to change the narrative from delivering “low-quality service” for those who have no other option but to use the bus. We need to improve quality and at the same time, make buses an option also for those using private modes of transport like personal cars and bikes, he said.
Said another WRI official, “If cities have developed bus lanes or BRTS across the country, such cities need to flood these lanes with buses, improve quality and encourage more citizens to use them for daily travel.”
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