On Monday, the BEST said the newly introduced AC double-decker e-bus will ply from Monday to Friday on route no. A-115, which operates between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and NCPA. The bus would be running every 30 minutes and will begin operations as early as 8.45 am onwards

The 200 buses which will be introduced by BEST this year, will reduce BEST’s carbon footprint and will also save around 26 million litres of diesel per year. The BEST recently conducted a travel study across the city. The ridership of BEST has grown from 22.5 lakhs to 35 lakhs and by adding more buses across the city, they plan to cross over 40 lakhs ridership soon

The AC double-decker e-bus has a capacity of carrying 78 commuters and has doors on both sides for passengers to move in and move out easily. Digital tap-in tap-out ticketing service is made available for commuters. It will have a minimum fare of Rs 6

Also Read: Mumbai: BEST studying commuters' travel patterns to design new routes

As more AC double-decker e-buses will be operational in Mumbai in the coming months, the BEST officials have identified routes on which these e-buses will ply: Colaba depot, Majas depot, and Kurla depot, to name a few. "As we get the buses batch-wise, we will start operating them on traditional double-decker routes," said Lokesh Chandra, general manager BEST

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In the financial year 2023-24, BEST is planning to introduce around 4,000 e-buses in the city. While presently, five of the bus depots have e-charging facilities, soon the e-charging infrastructure will be ready at 27 bus depots across Mumbai