[desiaztec]

Originally Posted by Grr7

Unlike the popular opinion, the cluster buses are paid per km basis. ..................Rumor has it that the cluster buses are largely owned by demised Ponty Chadha and the son of the ex-CM of Delhi(the famous queen who ruled India's capital for 15 years).

Grr7,

I wasn't aware of the per Km payment plan of these buses, thanks for clearing. Also, the orange cluster buses flashing an 'Adie Broswon' sticker are the ones belonging to the Wave group (Ponty Chadha) which you will see aplenty. No idea about the Ex-CM son involved in it though.

[Grr7]

Originally Posted by desiaztec

Grr7,

I wasn't aware of the per Km payment plan of these buses, thanks for clearing. Also, the orange cluster buses flashing an 'Adie Broswon' sticker are the ones belonging to the Wave group (Ponty Chadha) which you will see aplenty. No idea about the Ex-CM son involved in it though.

One of the reasons Bluelines were put off the roads were because they were in solid competition among themselves and also with DTCs. This was leading to a sad loss of a lot of precious lives.

Now, instead of taking over or introducing similar per km scheme to the existing infrastructure of private buses(would have costed a fraction of what they are paying), the govt introduced new infrastructure ditching the older one: the cluster scheme (minimum 150-200 buses from one single company, hence monopoly of business houses instead of small businessman).

Kicking out existing resources when the problem lied in effective implementation and enforcement of law followed by roping in new resources from scratch with same faulty administrative system is/was foolishness. Its like I replace my laptop hard-disc because I had problem in a software and then I reinstall the same software with newer/costlier hard disc. Sadly, till date the problem remains, of congestion, jams, accidents and heavy loss to exchequer.

Most of us here don't travel by buses usually, we have the blessings of metro and cars. But, an entire strata of our population living in outer delhi areas have been devoid of basic public transport(due to humongous lack of number of buses) owing to this faulty policy. All the clusters and DTCs are entirely focused on the prime areas of New Delhi Municipality and within the boundaries of outer-ring road. The fancy red and green lines do their duty in core delhi while rustic tin boxes are for the 'lesser privileged'.

Ponty Chadha was no saint and his collusion with ministers is well established. Definitely, Ponty Chadha, by no means could have grabbed this tender: the 'Adie Broswon' without pleasing the minister.

PS: I am swaying too much OT. Apologies mods, shall behave now.

[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by Grr7

One of the reasons Bluelines were put off the roads were because they were in solid competition among themselves and also with DTCs. This was leading to a sad loss of a lot of precious lives.

The last 8-10 words in above lines are the only points where I disagree. The lives were never 'precious' for the people responsible for implementing the public (road) transport in Delhi.

The DTC (before Blue/Red lines came) used to run like overloaded monsters on road. It was not only difficult to board a bus, it was extremely dangerous as well. I remember plying on such buses with only a toe resting on foot board holding the window rails. That is one of the reasons why people started buying scooters that time and that is how the people in government saw an opportunity to earn more by introducing red line buses.

If you notice now, the orange cluster buses are running with same 'get out of my way' attitude. I promptly move to one side of the road to give way to them if I see them in my rear view mirror. They seem to have no fear while breaking a traffic rule.

The total number of buses plying on Delhi road has marginally increased from what they were in 1995, whereas the city and its population and private vehicles have increased tremendously, There is clearly a lack of vision or lack of willingness to improve the matter by anyone in the authority.

[TheDesertRat]

Adding my two cents to the discussion.

Having spent well over 4 years in London, I can surely vouch for public transport being a boon to everyday traveller in a busy city. When I come to think of it, the fact that there is such a huge difference in overall road etiquettes between the west and us, amazes me.

Solutions:
1. Complete privatisation of the public transport with proper government scrutiny.
2. Strict quality standards to be enforced on the fleet as well as the drivers
3. Infrastructure overhaul with more bus-stops (albeit intelligent placement rather than putting them right at the exit of a flyover), dedicated bus lanes, automated ticketing system.
4. Encouraging public to use public transport (introduction of congestion charge maybe?)
5. Last but not least, we as general public need to have more road and civic sense to make everybody's life easier.

[sachinayak]

BEST buses have always had a special place in my heart. I used it extensively

1. Route 253 - Goregaon to Mithibai - 1993-94
2. Route 253 - Goregaon to Andheri Station - 1994-2008
3. Route 415 - Andheri Station to SEEPZ - 1998 - 2008

And countless other routes that make me nostalgic as I try remember them. I have a lot of fond memories e.g. sitting on the top deck front seats of the double decker from Juhu beach back home, and always alighting at the circle near home (and almost never at the official stop). Even hanging on the footboard was fun (and scary).

In addition to the ubiquitous double deckers, i used to often use the older generation busses as in the pic below.



They had the best design for a city bus. Just about enough leg space, seat widths optimized to best fit 2-3 rows of standing passengers, with the conductor weaving in and out from front to back to issue tickets. Almost always I used to sit in the second last row (just behind the boarding steps). What good days those were.


I moved to Bangalore around a decade back, and how have things changed. While I distinctly remember staying away from a BEST bus when driving a car, I used to challenge friends (specially those from outside Bombay) to show a BEST bus that was broken down. BEST used to have truly best busses, fantastic maintenance, and was even known to sell of slightly older busses to private/public players (not sure how true this is). I could almost bet that if you would see a BEST bus on the side of the road broken down it would ONLY be a case of a punctured tyre.

Now of course I understand things have completely changed. And it is really sad to see. With share-a-rickshaw concept so prevalent in Bombay, I myself use the bus very rarely. Sad to see the pride of Bombay, decaying.