Around 11,000 BEST employees and 500 buses will be back to work today, following the Shiv Sena trade union withdrawing its support for the strike last night. While a majority of the buses will stay off the roads, if yesterday was any indication, the once-indispensable red buses won't be missed much. While a few regular commuters, particularly school and college students, were inconvenienced, trains, taxis and autorickshaws picked up most of the slack.

Of the 3,204 buses scheduled for service across 27 bus depots during early peak hours, not a single bus left the depot last morning, a BEST spokesperson told mid-day. BEST trade unions have gone an indefinite strike, with various demands including the merger of the BEST budget with BMC's budget, as well as the completion of wage agreements. Since Monday night, 10 buses were damaged by stone-pelting, and one bus driver was injured.