Identity crisis for BEST bus?

Concerned about the BEST logo not being visible enough on its air-conditioned buses, undertaking's chairman visits bus depots to remedy the situation

THE chairman of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), which has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately, made a whistlestop tour to various bus depots recently to ensure that the undertaking's logo is visible enough on its air-conditioned buses.


A KingLong bus covered with advertisement does not show the Undertaking's logo

The visit comes at a time when the undertaking's buses have been gaining notoriety for the increasing number of accidents involving them and for their frequent breakdowns.

BEST officials said they were getting many complaints about the BEST logo not being visible on air-conditioned buses due to the entire body space being covered by advertisements. This drove BEST Chairman Sanjay Potnis to visit depots personally to ensure this doesn't happen.

The new Volvo fleet being inducted will now have around one-and-a-half feet of space reserved for the logo. "It was a genuine cause for worry. I went personally to ensure that a proper, visible place was made available for the logo. In the new Volvos, the BEST logo will be seen above the tyres."

'Prestige issue'

The BEST is also concerned about its logo not being displayed properly on the 50 King Long buses that are plying at the airport to ferry passengers to and from the aircraft.

BEST officials claim that they were assured by airport authorities that they would display the logo in a big font, which is not being done. Mohsin Haider, committee member, BEST, said, "The BEST logo is hardly even visible on buses plying inside the airport. This is a matter of our prestige and we are losing our identity."

Regular passengers share the undertaking's concern. Vikas Sachdeva, a Goregaon resident who travels by AC buses daily, said, "If you look at the King Long buses plying on the roads, you will never know that they are run by the BEST.

The ones with advertisements, especially, look very similar to AC buses run by private travel agencies. The undertaking should do something about this."

50
The number of new Volvo buses being inducted into the BEST fleet. The new fleet is scheduled to be on the road by March next year.