SESSION 3A - ‘Talking Transit 3’ - Planning and Design of Feeder Services and Short Routes

1. Planning and Design of Feeder
Services and Short Routes
By BEST in Association with EMBARQ India

2. BEST e-Ticketing
Project
Presented By:
Mr. Om Prakash Gupta, IAS
General Manager, BES&T
Presented By:
Mr. Om Prakash Gupta, IAS
General Manager
BEST
Presentation by: BEST
in Association with EMBARQ India.
Planning and Design of Feeder Services and
Short Routes

3. Two main modes of
commuting
- Rail
- BEST Buses
Role of BEST
- To feed & supplement
Rail Services
- Provide East-West
Connectors
MUMBAI & ITS TRANSPORT
INFRASTRUCTURE

4. About the BEST
The Brihan-Mumbai Electric Supply and Transport
Undertaking (BEST), is a leading Intra City passenger
transport organization operating from the city of Mumbai (A
City that never sleeps).
The BEST Undertaking provides Bus Transport within Brihan-
Mumbai limits and also in Navi Mumbai, Thane and Mira-
Bhayander areas.
On an average 41 lakh passengers are travelling daily
through 63,700 trips operated on 510 bus routes with the help
of 4623 eco-friendly buses.

5. Total BEST Buses- 4167
Operational Buses- 4011
Buses
Total Routes- 506
Feeder Routes – 265
(spanning less than 10 kms)
Feeder Routes – 52% of total
routes
Number of Feeder Buses –
1533 (38% of total buses)
Number of Passengers (daily
average) – 40,32,475
Statistics

6. Feeder bus services are designed to pick up passengers in
a locality and take them to a transfer point where they make
an onward journey on a trunk service.
Trunk service can be another bus, or a rail based service
such as a tram, rapid transit or train.
Feeder buses act as part of a wider local network, or a
regional network.
Planning and design of feeder services requires
understanding of the existing origin-destination
points, network connectivity, ease of transfer from/to the
feeder service, competing alternatives, fare pricing, routing
etc.
Introduction

7. Serving short distances typically between 4-6kms
High frequency service
Serving residential/commercial areas from/to trunk routes
Providing last mile connectivity
Fare pricing a key factor because of other competing modes
Characteristics of a Feeder Service

8. Circular Routes in business
districts
Origin/Destination based
feeder service
 Employment Based
 Residential Based
 Tourism Based
Peak Period Services
Long Distance routes, serving
as feeders along certain
sections along popular routes
Types of Feeder Service

9. Distance from the origin to destination
Travel Time based on actual traffic conditions (peak vs. non
peak)
Nature of stretch - congestion levels, signals, constraints
along the route
Availability of resources - Fleet Size and Personnel
Frequency of the service
Passenger potential
Coordination with trunk timings
Infrastructure at the trunk-end, eg: at the location
Planning of Feeder Services

10. 0-2 kms Rs. 6
2-3 kms Rs. 8
3-5 kms Rs. 10
5-7 kms Rs. 12
7-10 kms Rs. 15
*Returns are high for short distance
Fare Structure (Mumbai) for Feeder Service
*some loop bus routes have a flat rate of Rs 6, like the Fort
Pheri bus

11. Daily Ticket Sales:
9,09,06,731
Monthly Passholder
Sales: 3,60,426
Ticket Purchases by Feeder Passengers (January 2013)

12. Lack of proper infrastructure at station areas for feeder buses
Station areas need to be organized with proper access to
pedestrians by providing footpaths, organizing vending
area, space allocation for auto/taxi stands
Ideally feeder lengths should be 5-7 kms but have gone beyond
7-8 kms from the stations in the recent times
For feeder services running time/kms has become very high
Limited resources- Fleet/Personnel
Challenges

13. Non availability of space for maneuvering at end locations
Need for pedestrian discipline and vehicle discipline.
Challenges Cont’d…
Private vehicles, autos, taxis (off-
peak direction) pick people in off-
peak direction after doing their
actual trip
Uni-directional pattern of travel (for
trunk as well as feeders)
Competition from IPT’s and private
operators

14. Feeders are an integral part of mass transit system of a city
Provide last mile connectivity
Proper planning needs to be done to ensure safe and
reliable movement of passengers
Need for better integration between feeder services and
destination nodes
Summary

15. ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE ?
THANK YOU