Why will Mumbai ply 10,000 electric/hydrogen buses by 2027?

In 2021, Maharashtra's then Environment & Climate Change Minister made a key announcement on Mumbai's public bus services. He claimed that by the end of 2027, Mumbai's bus agency, known as BEST, would operate 10,000 clean/green energy buses. How he came to this decision in the first place is what we examine in this article.

At the outset, it is vital to put some figures into perspective;

Mumbai’s population: 20 million .approx Fleet Size of buses in Mumbai: 3800 Mumbai's Daily Bus Ridership: 3.5 million .approx. Mumbai Suburban Network Ridership: 7-8 million .approx

London’s population: 8.9 million .approx Fleet Size of the buses in London: 9000 London's Daily Bus Ridership: 6 million. approx London Tube + Suburban Ridership: 7.4 million. approx?

It is pertinent to understand that not just in London but in many major cities worldwide, ridership on buses & rail is almost always a close first and second. Therefore, increasing capacities on both ends is significant for any city's public transport ecosystem. Here is where it gets interesting, though:

Augmenting the number & general capacity of a public bus fleet is less challenging than that of a rail network. Tendering to deliver buses at scale requires about 15-18 months. For example: Adding 2100 electric buses to Mumbai was deemed possible to achieve within a period of 18 months. Some would argue that Mumbai's road infra may be unprepared for so many buses. It is, however, pertinent to note that the Mumbai Trans-Harbour link, Mumbai Coastal Road, and a few new road linkages are all due to be operational by the end of 2023. One could also argue whether we need a growing network of roads at all. Or do we need better quality bus services to reduce the congestion of private vehicles on our streets?

There is a growing realisation within policy circles across India that the turnaround time for bus procurement is faster than any Rail network expansion, which could take well over 5-6 years before its full-scale service commission. And instead of spending billions of dollars on large-scale metro projects, one could invest about a third of a metro's project cost in buying a large bus fleet and delivering quality public transport. The best part is that you will not have to wait for five years to showcase it—a win-win for politicians and the people at large. This is not to say that Metro Rail projects are not necessary.

While former Minister Aaditya Thackeray had already realised the potential of scaling up the size of Mumbai's bus fleet, he further built his perspective on the crucial policy decision after holding a consultation with?Transport for London. It all happened during his multi-lateral mission at the COP26 for Maharashtra. At the same time, he also had considerable deliberations with the state's transport secretary, the administrative head of Mumbai's local body, and the administrative head of the city's bus service agency. Together, they figured out some key variables of feasibility for the planned expansion of Mumbai's BEST services. In addition, the government of India's FAME II scheme & funds from the Fifteenth finance commission also came in handy to facilitate this ambitious project.?

Key Results:?

1. Mumbai BEST Buses decided to order 2100 by 2023 and another 3000-4000 by 2027 electric/hydrogen buses.?

2. BEST decided to induct 900 new electric double-decks to carry on with Mumbai's historical legacy of operating double-decker buses

3. Through this expansion, Mumbai would be able to offset 1.5 million tons of CO2

4. Mumbai's ridership on buses would increase by 7.3 million within four years

Some other developments:

1. Mumbai BEST buses started working with?World Resources Institute?ICLEI?C40 Cities?Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)?Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH?to optimise, route-rationalise these buses along with working out on a plan to power them with clean energy.

2. BEST also launched?Chalo?app for its citizens to digitise its bus services. Now you can track your buses, buy flat fare passes and do so much more through the app.

Governance with some nuanced policy outlook can bring a genuine difference in our lives. The question is, are we willing to hold our governments accountable to deliver quality public services? And will the new Government in Maharashtra carry on with the legacy of policy decisions made by its former Environment & Climate Change Minister??

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