Shameful to be told to buy a valid bus ticket

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The loss-making BEST undertaking has deployed an additional 382 ticket-checking inspectors to crack down on ticketless travellers. They caught about 945 passengers one day on January 2, levying a fine of Rs 58,457. This is one of the biggest checking drives since COVID-19.

There were more complaints of ticketless passengers in conductorless buses as tickets are only provided at the originating point. Conductorless bus services were started on select routes in October 2019, later expanding to more routes. The BEST is planning on sustaining this drive. It is a matter of great shame that we need to be policed in this way to ensure we buy a ticket.

These are among the same Mumbaikars who enjoy the big, red bus, the accessibility and convenience of the city's iconic transport amenity. When there were reports about the BEST buses going off the roads, citing losses, legions of citizens protested that Mumbai should not lose its most identifiable symbol on the roads.

Ticket prices came down. The bus ran during COVID times, on skeletal routes, which was understandable given the restrictions. The bus has been the city's saviour when floods have crippled Mumbai on many occasions.

Given the sentiment and service, it is shameful that Mumbaikars have to be told to buy tickets on BEST buses and travel. That we need punishments and penalties to ride a BEST bus correctly. You need to pay for any public service, plain and simple. Otherwise, it is cheating and you are committing a crime, caught or not caught.

That is reality. Buy a ticket which is not cumbersome at all. Practise honesty and prove that we deserve a facility which, with all its problems, is still one of the best in the world.