Before we embark on the exercise of evaluating the performance and behaviour of BEST or their staff we need to remember a few things.
1. Mumbai Streets
Mumbai being a collection of islands, has severe limitation on width of its roads. The geographical shape of Mumbai is such that it has expanded only in Northward direction. This combination means that all the main roads of Mumbai are long (South - North) and narrow. Added to this the pavements are full of encroachments and pedestrians are forced to walk on the roads.
2. Vehicle Population
Number of vehicles on the roads of Mumbai has been growing every day, due to various reasons. Problems of BEST buses, better affordability of Mumbaites, Crowded trains and so on. This large population of vehicles has been causing lot of hurdles to BEST buses. This means that bus that used to take 1 hour for a trip a few years back, takes 2 hours today! To maintain the frequency, more buses are needed.
3. Indiscipline on Roads
One look at the vehicular traffic on Mumbai roads can tell you that though it is best in India, it is highly indisciplined. Lane cutting, sudden crossing by pedestrians, Stop and Go due to signals and otherwise, Disregard to signals, incapability and corruption of traffic cops, Overtaking from left side are only some of the examples of traffic violations. This adds to problems of conductors, as the bus moves in jerk rather than smoothly.
4. Falling Virtues of Society
Everyday we are seeing increase in corruption, falling morals, short tempers, violence in the society, we are part of. Can we deny the fact that conductors and drivers of BEST are chosen from the same society?
5. Increasing Population and Crowd
The crowds in Mumbai buses in increasing every day. So the number of persons serviced by each conductor each day has gone up over the years. Added to this is the cosmopolitan nature of Mumbai, that we feel proud of. This means that conductors have to cope up with people with different languages, different cultural backgrounds, different economic levels and hence different expectations from them.
6. Spreading Localities
The Mumbai residences have been spreading far and wide. Locations never heard of have become busiest hubs. This has put tremendous pressure on BEST services. Anybody who has seen population explosion in Powai, Kandivali-East, Central Mumbai knows what I mean.
7. Added Services
Whether BEST likes it or not (remember transport section of BEST is cross subsidised by Electricity Supply), BEST has been forced ply services as far as Navi Mumbai. This puts extra burden on staff and management. Then number of buses on the roads cannot be increased due to limitations of finance as well as transports.
before we conclude, let us not forget some of the things BEST conductors go through...
(1) Long durations standing in moving bus
(2) Managing own balance, Moneybag, Tickets at the same time
(3) Facing and managing different types of people during the day
(4) odd and changing hours of the work
(5) Relatively low salaries (Remember some of the conductors are well educated!)
(6) Have to handle large crowds
In spite of all this, BEST management has been always trying to get BEST of its staff. Most of the conductors I have met are courteous, honest (compare with ST bus conductors or in any other city), methodical.
There may be instances where their behaviour is objectionable and needs to be deplored. But any complaints of such nature are usually dealt well and promptly by BEST management.
But we, as valued customers of BEST, must also do our BEST to remember what conductors go through and that fact that they are also members of same society that we are!