By Apurva Bhatt

If all goes well you may get a chance to ride in a dedicate bus route. BEST is exploring at least five dedicated bus lanes across the island city and the suburbs, to increase speed and frequency of buses, attract more commuters and deploy more buses on busy routes. 

The BEST may launch its dedicated lanes very soon on the Eastern Express Highway. "The stretch from Thane to Vikhroli is being considered for uninterrupted bus travel. Another nearby route would be Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road, which will provide seamless connectivity to Powai and SEEPZ, besides speeding up east-west connectivity," an official said. In south Mumbai, the BEST will explore the busy CST area to carve out dedicated bus lanes across DN Road and SB Singh Road.

"The purpose would be to ensure more buses carry the increasing load of passengers from CST to Regal/Colaba and further to Nariman Point," an official said. While such lanes are a feature of a Bus Rapid Transit System, BEST doesn't plan to implement the BRTS model in the city. Dedicated bus lanes are also proposed on the Dahisar-Andheri corridor along the Western Express highway although its feasibility is still being examined. Another route proposed for the project is the Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road. 

BEST general manager Jagdish Patil said many passengers were unhappy about buses running late and getting caught in traffic snarls.

"The travel time of our buses has gone up and this is also one of the reasons for ferrying fewer commuters. Dedicated bus lanes will be our priority and we will introduce them soon at strategic places," he added. The issue of providing dedicated lanes for buses was also discussed in recent meetings of the Unified Mumbai Metropolitan Transport Authority. Additional chief secretary (transport) Gautam Chatterjee said such dedicated lanes can be considered part of the township policy and necessary changes made in the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act.