Good, better, BEST at 150: The journey from horse-drawn trams to e-buses

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The BEST completed 150 years on Thursday. From being the literal ‘horse power' of Bombay to transitioning to buses running on diesel and embracing less-polluting compressed natural gas or CNG before introducing sleek and silent electric vehicles with zero emission in today's Mumbai, such has been the journey of Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) since May 9, 1874.

Today, BEST buses are the second biggest mode of public transport in Mumbai, after the suburban locals, which ferry around 70 lakh commuters daily. The undertaking has a fleet of 3,051 buses, including 561 battery-powered ones, ferrying around 32 lakh passengers a day in Mumbai and neighbouring Navi Mumbai, Thane and Mira-Bhayander, said BEST spokesperson Sunil Vaidya. BEST also supplies power to its 10.5 lakh consumers in the island city of Mumbai, he said, reported by news agency PTI.

In 1874, the Bombay Tramways Company, now BEST, launched the first horse-drawn tram service, giving the city a mode of public transport other than trains. Until then, horse-pulled ‘Shigram' and bullock-drawn ‘rekla' were being used for local transportation, as per the book ‘The BEST Story'.

As per the book, "The service first started on two routes: Colaba to Pydhoni via Crawford Market, and Bori Bunder to Pydhoni, via Kalbadevi. That was on 9th May 1874. The fare from Colaba to Pydhoni was three annas. The fare was brought down to two annas; it dropped down to one anna (about one-sixteenth of a rupee) in 1899." The service that started with a fleet of 20 cars and 200 horses expanded to 1,360 horses by 1905 when it was closing down, says the book. About two years later, the first electric tram service in the city was launched.

In the early 1900s, the BEST Tramways Company was renamed BEST Electric Supply and Tramways Company Limited (BEST), which decades later got the name Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking. "The passing years aggravated the problem of rush-hour traffic. The solution next thought of was the double-decker tram car. It was accepted, and the first vehicles of the kind appeared on Mumbai's roads in September 1920," the book reads.

In addition to the already functioning electric trams, BEST also introduced a fossil fuel-run bus service. It started functioning between Afghan Church and Crawford Market on February 15, 1926. As per the book, "In its first year, that is by December 31, 1926, about six lakh passengers used the service; for 1927, the figure was about 38 lakh. The Company started its operations with 24 buses. In 1927, the fleet had expanded to 49."

On December 8, 1937, the first double-decker BEST bus graced the streets of Mumbai, then Bombay. The iconic double-decker bus was born of practicality.to cater to the rapidly growing number of commuters. A single-decker bus carried only 36 passengers, while two decks could hold 58 of Bombay's burgeoning passenger crowd.

"Today, the BEST bus is ubiquitous but its origins lie in another transportation system that is now defunct," said Bharat Gothoskar, city chronicler and founder of KHAKI Heritage Foundation, adding that the trams were finally closed down in 1964 due to traffic congestion.

Besides running services on roads, BEST even ventured into water transport. It innovated the first quick ferry services from Marve Beach in Malad to Manori Beach.
With the plan to replace all fossil fuel-powered buses with eco-friendly e-buses, Spokesperson Vaidya said, the undertaking has placed orders for 5,000 buses, including 200 AC double-deckers. 50 are already plying in the city.

The anniversary celebrations have been kept lowkey this year in the light of the model code of conduct in place for the ongoing Lok Sabha Election. Except for an exhibition at its Anik Depot-based museum, no other programme has been organised, said an official.

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