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Service and
Business Plan for City Bus Operations -
Mira Bhayandar
Project Consultancy-7 (PC-7)
Service and Business Plan for City Bus Operations for two ESCBS Cities Chandigarh and Mira-
Bhayandar under the World Bank – GEF assisted Efficient and Sustainable City Bus Services
(ESCBS) Project
December 2020
Volume I – FINAL REPORT
Submitted by:
Centre of Excellence in Urban Transport
CEPT Research and Development Foundation
Service and Business Plan for City Bus Operations for Mira Bhayandar and Chandigarh
Final Report – Mira Bhayandar
Acknowledgement
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India, assigned the work of
preparation of “Service and Business Plan for City Bus Operations for Mira Bhayandar and
Chandigarh” to the Centre of Excellence in Urban Transport, CRDF, CEPT University. CoE-UT,
CRDF are grateful to the MoHUA for having reposed trust in us for carrying out the important study
as part of the World Bank GEF aided Efficient and Sustainable City Bus Services (ESCBS), to
promote bus based public transportation in the country.
CoE-UT, CRDF hereby acknowledge that the precise expert advice received from the World Bank’s
experts Mr. Brian McCollom, Mr. Brendan Finn and Ms. Nupur Gupta, Senior Transport Specialist,
was of immense value in bringing out these reports. Direction and advice provided to the study team
by Mr. I. C. Sharma, National Project Manager for ESCBS is highly appreciated and acknowledged.
Continual guidance and suggestions from Mr. Sudesh Kumar from Mott MacDonald added value
from the stage of initialisation till completion of the study. CoE-UT, CRDF are thankful to the Project
Management Unit’s team for their support all through.
Outcomes of this exercise would not have been possible but for the efforts made by the officers of the
Mira Bhayandar Municipal Transport Undertaking (MBMTU) and Chandigarh Transport Undertaking
(CTU)/ Chandigarh City Bus Services Society (CCBSS) and their continued support in providing all
required data and other inputs at various stages of the study.
CoE-UT, CRDF are also thankful to Mr. Hiren Joshi and Mr. Nirav Joshi from Coordinates
Consultants for the technical inputs in the project.
CoE-UT Team
Service and Business Plan for City Bus Operations for Mira Bhayandar and Chandigarh
Final Report – Mira Bhayandar
Project Team
Project Team Leaders
Prof. H. M. Shivanand Swamy
Dr. Shalini Sinha
Technical Advisor Mr. A. S. Lakra
Socio-economic Specialist Dr. Nitika Bhakuni
Core Team Mr. Khelan Modi
Ms. Maitry Shah
Mr. Suraj Sunil
Support Team
Ms. Hemangi Dalwadi
Mr. Jignesh Panchal
Ms. Yaksha Chakravarti
Ms. Anushree Jain
Mr. Preet Amin
Mr. Ritesh Suthar
Ms. Nisha Pramanik
Ms. Grishma Mehta
Ms. Diti Upadhyay
Mr. Jaydeep Kalaria
Service and Business Plan for City Bus Operations for Mira Bhayandar and Chandigarh
Final Report – Mira Bhayandar
List of Abbreviations
AMTS Ahmedabad Municipal Transport System
BA Boarding-Alighting
BEST Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport
CAGR Compound Annual Growth Rate
CAM Chief Account Manager
CAMC Comprehensive Annual Maintenance Contract
CEO Chief Executive Officer
CMP Comprehensive Mobility Plan
COM Chief Operation Manager
CPKM Cost per Passenger Km
CVC Classified Volume Count
DTC Delhi Transport Corporation
EPKM Earning per Passenger Km
ESCBS Efficient and Sustainable City Bus Services
ETM Electronic Ticketing Machine
ETVM Electronic Ticketing Vending Machine
EV Electric Vehicle
F & A Finance and Account
FU Fleet Utilisation
FY Future Year
GCC Gross Cost Contract
GR Growth Rate
HDW Headway
HH House Hold
HRD Human Resource Department
IPK Index Passenger Km
IPT Intermediate Public Transport
ITMS Intelligent Transport Management System
JnNURM Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission
KCR Kilometre Charge Rate
km Kilometre
KPI Key Performance Indicators
LF Load Factor
LOS Level of Service
MACT Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal
Service and Business Plan for City Bus Operations for Mira Bhayandar and Chandigarh
Final Report – Mira Bhayandar
MBMC Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation
MBMTU Mira Bhayandar Municipal Transport Undertaking
MC Municipal Corporation
MIS Management Information System
MoHUA Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
MVT Motor Vehicle Tax
NCC Net Cost Contract
OD Origin-Destination
OEM Original Equipment Manufacture
OR Operating Ratio
PO Private Operator
PPHPD Passengers Per Hour Per Direction
PPP Public Private Participation
PSO Public Service Obligation
PT Public Transport
R & M Repair and Maintenance
RfP Request for Proposal
RTO Regional Transport Office
SLA Service Level Agreement
SMF System Management Fees
SQ Service Quality
STU State Transport Undertaking
TCO Total Cost of Ownership
TCRP Transit Cooperative Research Program
UT Union Territory
VGF Viability Gap Funding
VU Vehicle Utilisation
WFPR Work Force Participation Rate
WPI Wholesale Price Index
Service and Business Plan for City Bus Operations for Mira Bhayandar and Chandigarh
Final Report – Mira Bhayandar
CoE-UT, CRDF, CEPT University, KL Campus, University Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad-380009, India Page ii
Table of Contents
Executive Summary .......................................................................................................................................1
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................9
1.1 Study Background ..............................................................................................................................9
1.2 City Background ................................................................................................................................9
1.2.1 Existing Transport Characteristics and Overview ................................................................12
1.2.2 Travel Characteristics ..........................................................................................................16
1.3 Overview of the city bus services ....................................................................................................17
1.4 Vision and Objectives ......................................................................................................................17
1.4.1 User and Non user perceptions (Primary survey and Mott Report) .....................................18
1.4.2 Past Studies ..........................................................................................................................19
1.4.3 Mission, Vision and Strategies .............................................................................................19
2 Service Plan for city bus services ........................................................................................................21
2.1 Model Development .........................................................................................................................21
2.2 Existing bus services ........................................................................................................................23
2.2.1 Bus Routes ...........................................................................................................................24
2.2.2 Fleet Size ..............................................................................................................................25
2.2.3 Bus Terminals and Depots ...................................................................................................25
2.2.4 Fare Structure, Ticketing and Concession ...........................................................................26
2.2.5 Bus Network Analysis .........................................................................................................27
2.2.6 Passenger Ridership .............................................................................................................33
2.2.7 Operations Performance Assessment ...................................................................................33
2.2.8 Financial Performance .........................................................................................................37
2.2.9 City Bus Demand .................................................................................................................37
2.2.10 Existing Intermediate Public Transport (IPT) System .........................................................44
2.2.11 PT and IPT Demand in 2020 ................................................................................................46
2.2.12 Private Demand Patterns ......................................................................................................55
2.3 Observations ....................................................................................................................................55
2.4 Proposed Bus Network.....................................................................................................................56
Service and Business Plan for City Bus Operations for Mira Bhayandar and Chandigarh
Final Report – Mira Bhayandar
CoE-UT, CRDF, CEPT University, KL Campus, University Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad-380009, India Page iii
2.4.1 Future Network Scenarios ....................................................................................................56
2.5 Service Plan Output .........................................................................................................................77
3 Bus Service Infrastructure Plan ............................................................................................................79
3.1 Bus Stops .........................................................................................................................................79
3.2 Terminals .........................................................................................................................................81
3.3 Interchanges .....................................................................................................................................83
3.4 Depots ..............................................................................................................................................85
4 Future Demand Assessment and Fleet Requirement ...........................................................................87
4.1 Demand Assessment ........................................................................................................................87
4.1.1 User and non-users’ preferences ..........................................................................................87
4.1.2 Previous Studies ...................................................................................................................87
4.2 Proposed Business Plan Scenarios 2030 ..........................................................................................88
4.3 Fleet requirements ............................................................................................................................89
4.3.1 Vehicle types and capacities ................................................................................................89
4.3.2 Fleet Size and Mix Selection Criteria ..................................................................................90
4.3.3 Fleet Size and Mix Scenarios ...............................................................................................91
5 Financial Analysis ................................................................................................................................95
5.1 Cost Estimates ..................................................................................................................................95
5.2 Existing Operation Expenditure .......................................................................................................95
5.3 Cost Estimation ................................................................................................................................95
5.3.1 Lifecycle cost for different bus types ...................................................................................97
5.3.2 Cost estimates for fleet mix scenarios ..................................................................................98
5.4 Revenue Estimation .......................................................................................................................103
5.4.1 Demand Estimation for fleet mix scenarios .......................................................................103
5.4.2 Fare structure .....................................................................................................................104
5.4.3 Fare Proposal .....................................................................................................................105
5.4.4 Ridership Buildup ..............................................................................................................109
5.4.5 Fare Box Revenue ..............................................................................................................109
5.5 Financial Evaluation for fleet mix scenario ...................................................................................111
6 Operating Model ................................................................................................................................113
Service and Business Plan for City Bus Operations for Mira Bhayandar and Chandigarh
Final Report – Mira Bhayandar
CoE-UT, CRDF, CEPT University, KL Campus, University Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad-380009, India Page iv
6.1 Service Delivery .............................................................................................................................113
6.1.1 Overview of Bus Operations Model ..................................................................................113
6.1.2 PPP Operating Model Contract types ................................................................................114
6.1.3 Existing PPP contract for bus operations in Mira Bhayandar ............................................117
6.1.4 Proposed Operating Model ................................................................................................117
7 Key Performance Indicators...............................................................................................................121
7.1 Performance Measures and Vision & Goals of MBMC ................................................................122
7.2 Proposed performance measures ....................................................................................................124
7.3 Performance measures – existing and proposed scenarios ............................................................128
8 Organizational Structure ....................................................................................................................132
8.1 Existing structure of MBMT ..........................................................................................................132
8.2 Existing structure of operator .........................................................................................................133
8.3 Observations and Recommendations .............................................................................................134
8.3.1 Proposed Divisions and functions ......................................................................................134
8.3.2 Bus Fleet ............................................................................................................................136
8.3.3 ITMS ..................................................................................................................................137
8.3.4 Branding and marketing of services ...................................................................................137
8.3.5 Revenue collection .............................................................................................................137
8.4 Proposed Organisational Structure .................................................................................................137
8.5 Summary ........................................................................................................................................143
9 Complementary Measures..................................................................................................................144
9.1 Managing Road Congestion in Mira Bhayandar ............................................................................145
9.1.1 Road network assessment on proposed routes ...................................................................146
9.2 Parking Management .....................................................................................................................150
10 Business Plan Summary .................................................................................................................152
10.1 Fleet size and mix ..........................................................................................................................152
10.2 Fleet Procurement Plan ..................................................................................................................152
10.2.1 Depot requirements ............................................................................................................153
10.2.2 Drivers/Conductors halt facilities ......................................................................................156
10.3 Capital Costs ..................................................................................................................................157
Service and Business Plan for City Bus Operations for Mira Bhayandar and Chandigarh
Final Report – Mira Bhayandar
CoE-UT, CRDF, CEPT University, KL Campus, University Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad-380009, India Page v
10.4 Operating Costs ..............................................................................................................................158
10.5 Revenue estimation ........................................................................................................................158
10.5.1 Proposed Fare Structure .....................................................................................................158
10.5.2 Estimated revenues ............................................................................................................159
10.5.3 Sources of Funding ............................................................................................................159
10.6 Operating Model ............................................................................................................................160
10.7 Management Structure ...................................................................................................................160
10.8 Other Measures ..............................................................................................................................161
List of Figures
Figure 1: Mira Bhayandar as part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region .......................................................9
Figure 2: Population Density (2011) ............................................................................................................10
Figure 3: Road Network (2020) ...................................................................................................................13
Figure 4: Road widths (2020) ......................................................................................................................14
Figure 5: Network Speeds (2020) ................................................................................................................15
Figure 6: Commuter preferences for bus service improvement areas ..........................................................18
Figure 7: Strategic Directions ......................................................................................................................19
Figure 8: Overall Study approach ................................................................................................................22
Figure 9: Base year transport network (2020) .............................................................................................23
Figure 10: Depots and major terminals in the city .......................................................................................25
Figure 11: Fare Structure .............................................................................................................................26
Figure 12: PT network coverage (2020) ......................................................................................................27
Figure 13: Routes in Mira Bhayandar ..........................................................................................................30
Figure 14: Route frequency distribution ......................................................................................................32
Figure 15: Revenue vs cost chart .................................................................................................................37
Figure 16: Temporal variation of bus system demand .................................................................................41
Figure 17: Ridership changes from September 2019 to February 2020 ......................................................41
Figure 18: Bus supply vs demand analysis ..................................................................................................44
Figure 19: Shared auto rickshaw nodes and network...................................................................................45
Figure 20: Base year PT (bus passenger) flows (2020) ...............................................................................47
Figure 21: Base year year IPT (shared auto passenger) flows (2020) .........................................................48
Figure 22: Travel pattern of city bus users (Top 100 OD pairs and other OD pairs) ..................................49
Figure 23: Travel pattern of IPT users (Top 100 OD pairs and other OD pairs) .........................................50
Figure 24: Trip length frequency distribution – PT & IPT ..........................................................................51
Service and Business Plan for City Bus Operations for Mira Bhayandar and Chandigarh
Final Report – Mira Bhayandar
CoE-UT, CRDF, CEPT University, KL Campus, University Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad-380009, India Page vi
Figure 25: Major boarding locations of Bus users .......................................................................................51
Figure 26: Major total boarding locations of IPT users ...............................................................................52
Figure 27: PT and IPT demand pattern in Mira Bhayandar .........................................................................54
Figure 28: Travel pattern of private vehicle (2W & 4W) users ...................................................................55
Figure 29: Additional routes to be implemented .........................................................................................59
Figure 30: Route Structure for Scenario 1 ...................................................................................................61
Figure 31: Conventional routes planning vs. network planning approach ...................................................67
Figure 32: High Demand PT Routes ............................................................................................................68
Figure 33: High Demand IPT Routes ..........................................................................................................68
Figure 34: Proposed feeder, complementary and sub urban routes .............................................................71
Figure 35: Proposed feeder, complementary and sub urban routes .............................................................73
Figure 36: PT network and bus stops (2020) ...............................................................................................79
Figure 37: Existing and Proposed stops .......................................................................................................80
Figure 38: Stop locations by number of bays ..............................................................................................81
Figure 39: Existing Infrastructure Facilities ................................................................................................83
Figure 40: Proposed Interchange Locations .................................................................................................84
Figure 41: Life cycle cost in Rs/km (at current prices) for one sample bus type .........................................98
Figure 42: Total cost of ownership by cost components at constant price ................................................103
Figure 43: Frequency distribution for proposed routes/ services ...............................................................104
Figure 44: Suggested fare options and comparison with competitive modes ............................................107
Figure 45: Future ridership builds up – Fleet mix scenarios ......................................................................109
Figure 46: Bus Operation models ..............................................................................................................114
Figure 47: PPP contract types ....................................................................................................................115
Figure 48: PPP Contracts –Merits and Demerits .......................................................................................116
Figure 49: Vision, Mission and Strategic Directions .................................................................................123
Figure 50: Objectives and Performance Measures of the Service Plan .....................................................123
Figure 51: Current organizational structure of Mira Bhayandar ................................................................132
Figure 52: Proposed Organizational Structure ...........................................................................................139
Figure 53: Major congestion locations in Mira Bhayandar ......................................................................145
Figure 54: Images of the major congested locations in Mira Bhayandar ..................................................146
Figure 55: Depot locations and fleet distribution for FY2030 ...................................................................156
Figure 56: Locations with halt facilities ....................................................................................................157
Lists of Tables
Table 1: Comparison of population growth in nearby urban areas (1991-2011) .........................................11
Table 2: Population (1991-2020) .................................................................................................................11
Service and Business Plan for City Bus Operations for Mira Bhayandar and Chandigarh
Final Report – Mira Bhayandar
CoE-UT, CRDF, CEPT University, KL Campus, University Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad-380009, India Page vii
Table 3: Vehicles Registered in Mira Bhayandar and Thane (2011 and 2017) ...........................................12
Table 4: Road lengths by type (2019) ..........................................................................................................12
Table 5: Mode share inside and outside MBMC – 2016 .............................................................................16
Table 6: Average trip lengths by different modes within MBMC ...............................................................17
Table 7: Details of data collected .................................................................................................................21
Table 8: Data inputs for model ....................................................................................................................22
Table 9: Details of MBMTU bus routes ......................................................................................................24
Table 10: Concessions on various ticket categories .....................................................................................26
Table 11: Details of daily and monthly pass ................................................................................................27
Table 12: Areas to be connected by bus services in Mira Bhayandar..........................................................28
Table 14: Distribution of routes based on headways ...................................................................................29
Table 15: Indexed Passenger km by service type ........................................................................................34
Table 16: Distribution of total vehicle km between peak and non-peak hours ............................................34
Table 17: Distribution of total vehicle km by service headways .................................................................34
Table 18: Route level performance assessment ...........................................................................................36
Table 19: Operating Ratio for last 3 years ...................................................................................................37
Table 20: Boarding and Alighting Survey details-Mira Bhayandar ............................................................38
Table 21: Route wise performance parameters details ...............................................................................39
Table 22: Ridership and Frequency difference from Sep 2019 to Feb 2020 ...............................................43
Table 23: Major auto rickshaw nodes within the city ..................................................................................45
Table 24: Fare of Shared Autos ...................................................................................................................46
Table 25: Ridership Details .........................................................................................................................47
Table 26: Scenario description .....................................................................................................................57
Table 27: BAU Routes 2020 ........................................................................................................................57
Table 28: List of proposed routes by MBMC – Scenario 1 .........................................................................62
Table 29: Proposed routes ............................................................................................................................74
Table 30: Number of bus stops and bays requirement ................................................................................80
Table 31: Terminal Points ............................................................................................................................83
Table 32: Interchange types .........................................................................................................................84
Table 33 User and Non-user preferences .....................................................................................................87
Table 34: Mode Shares 2031 as per CMP ....................................................................................................88
Table 35: Mode shares as per Bus Modernization Plan ...............................................................................88
Table 36: Demand Scenarios and Bus Mode Share .....................................................................................88
Table 37: Fleet type .....................................................................................................................................89
Table 38: Capacities offered by fleet type and headways ............................................................................89
Table 39: Buses per 1000 population by cities categories ...........................................................................90
Table 40: Fleet type scenarios ......................................................................................................................91
Service and Business Plan for City Bus Operations for Mira Bhayandar and Chandigarh
Final Report – Mira Bhayandar
CoE-UT, CRDF, CEPT University, KL Campus, University Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad-380009, India Page viii
Table 41: Existing fleet procurement and scrapping plan ............................................................................91
Table 42: Fleet requirement – by scenario ...................................................................................................92
Table 43 Total fleet (on road + extra fleet) procurement plan – Fleet mix scenarios ..................................93
Table 44: Existing Operational Expenditure (In lakhs) ...............................................................................95
Table 45: Bus type and price on road ..........................................................................................................96
Table 46: Operational Cost (at current price) per vehicle km by components ............................................96
Table 47: Total Operational Cost Estimates comparison (2023-2030) ........................................................99
Table 48: Demand estimation for fleet mix scenarios ...............................................................................104
Table 49: Existing fare structure and previous fare revision .....................................................................104
Table 50: Suggested fare options ...............................................................................................................106
Table 51: Revenue per pax km (Fare/ pax km) ..........................................................................................108
Table 52: Future fare revision on shortlisted fare option ...........................................................................109
Table 53: Concessions and Discounts for regular users .............................................................................110
Table 54: Fare box revenue estimation for fleet mix scenarios .................................................................110
Table 55: Evaluation Framework (Dashboard) – Fleet Mix Scenarios ......................................................112
Table 56: VGF per kilometer for operation of city bus operations ............................................................117
Table 57: Responsibility matrix – Operator and Authority .......................................................................118
Table 58: Service quality standards for the bus service operator under NCC ...........................................121
Table 59: Penalties for defaults and service deficiencies as per NCC contract .........................................121
Table 60: Proposed performance categories and status .............................................................................124
Table 61: Proposed indicators for performance measures .........................................................................125
Table 62: Indicators and values for existing and proposed service scenarios ............................................128
Table 63: Road network assessment on proposed routes ...........................................................................147
Table 64: Fleet-mix Scenarios ...................................................................................................................152
Table 65 Total fleet (on road + extra fleet) procurement plan – Fleet mix scenarios ................................152
Table 66: Depot area requirement for future .............................................................................................153
Table 67: Fleet allocation to depots – shortlisted business plan scenarios ................................................154
Table 68: Dead km and expense by scenarios ...........................................................................................154
Table 69: Total Capital Cost (in Cr.) Investment (2020 to 2030) ..............................................................157
Table 70: Cost Assumptions ......................................................................................................................157
Table 71: Operating cost for Scenario 2A, 3 and 4 ....................................................................................158
Table 72: Proposed fare structure and comparison with existing bus and IPT fare ...................................158
Table 73 Farebox revenue estimation for fleet mix scenarios ...................................................................159
Service and Business Plan for City Bus Operations for Mira Bhayandar and Chandigarh
Final Report – Mira Bhayandar
CoE-UT, CRDF, CEPT University, KL Campus, University Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad-380009, India Page 1
Executive Summary
Project background
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India under Efficient & Sustainable City Bus
Services has commissioned the study to prepare Service and Operations Plans for bus services in the
cities of Chandigarh and Mira-Bhayandar to the Centre of Excellence in Urban Transport, CRDF. The
main objective of Service and Business Plan is “To optimize the effectiveness and viability of the
public transport network and services in Mira Bhayandar city”.
City Context
Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) with an area of 79 sq. km and a population of 8.1
lakhs (2011 Census) has witnessed a rapid population growth due to a significant increase in
economic opportunities in Mumbai and its peripheral regions. With this increasing growth trajectory,
the city’s current population is estimated to have reached nearly 12 lakhs. The average household size
in the city is 4.43 in 2011 which is higher than the national average household size.
MBMC started bus services in the city since 2005 which has been predominantly operating on a Net
Cost Contract (NCC). In 2019, MBMTU signed the Net Cost Contract with M/s Bhagirathi to carry
out city bus operations for six years as per which the operator manages bus operations, its scheduling,
fare collection, bus maintenance, etc.
Study Approach
The study was undertaken in four stages a) baseline analysis which involved assessment of existing
bus service levels, operational areas of intermediate public transport (IPT) services, demand patterns
of bus, IPT and private mode users and concurrence of demand and supply levels; b) Stakeholder
analysis which included inputs from MBMC and MBMTU regarding future vision and strategies as
well as user perception survey to capture their priority service attributes; c) Developing the bus
service plan which was based on a detailed analysis of route wise ridership and demand structure and
evaluated using a PT model; and d) Business Plan which included fleet type and infrastructure
requirements, bus operations, performance monitoring framework, financial analysis and investment
requirements over the next ten year period.
Key observations
The baseline analysis of the bus system shows that the services cover about 82% developed area in the
city; however the high frequency network covers only 48% of the city’s developed area. The existing
route structure completely neglects Bhayandar East area which is a major residential zone in the city.
Majority of the routes are originating from Bhayandar Station and Mira Road station terminal with
two routes originating from Uttan Naka terminal. Initially, MBMTU used to park its buses at Pleasant
Park (a land located near Mira road), with no depot available in the system. Currently, with the
introduction of additional fleet in the system, Mira Bhayandar has a newly constructed Ghodbunder
depot for maintenance and parking requirement of buses.
In terms of fleet size, Mira Bhayandar would require about a total of 120-500 buses by 2030
depending on the Level of Service targeted. As per MoHUA Service Level Benchmarks, cities should
Service and Business Plan for City Bus Operations for Mira Bhayandar and Chandigarh
Final Report – Mira Bhayandar
CoE-UT, CRDF, CEPT University, KL Campus, University Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad-380009, India Page 2
have a minimum of 0.1 buses as per LOS3, 0.25 for LOS2 and 0.4 as per LOS1. As against this, the
city has only 66 buses i.e. 0.07 buses per 1000 population, which translates to LOS 4. The average
fleet utilization as per Feb 2020 data is 86% which is below the average benchmark level of about
92% in other Indian cities. The daily average vehicle utilization in the city is 237 km per bus per day
including the dead km which is reasonable. Load factors for most of the routes are ranging from 0.3 to
0.4 in a day, which seems lower compared to standard of 0.7. Nevertheless, city buses witness a load
factor of 0.5 during city peak hours.
Vision and Objectives
Taking into consideration MBMC’S inputs and commuters’ perceptions, MBMTU’s Mission has been
defined as “Providing reliable, efficient and high-quality bus services for residents of Mira
Bhayandar”.
The vision for the bus service is -- Making bus a preferred mode of travel in Mira Bhayandar
To support this vision, following strategic objectives have been defined:
Provision of a bus system which is integrated with rail and upcoming metro system where
commuters can travel easily between modes.
Commuter-centric bus system with ‘turn up and go’ frequency and responding to local
demand patterns in different times of the day
Bus system connecting existing developed areas and upcoming areas with high quality and
safe services
Efficient operations and financial management for long-term sustainability of MBMTU.
Proposed Bus Network
The existing routes were analysed for the passenger demand and load factor at different route
segments. This along with proposed demand patterns were used for modifying existing routes and
proposing new routes. Some key principles adopted are:
Retaining existing high demand PT routes without any major modification to ensure not to disturb
major passenger flow.
Connecting neighbouring towns or suburban areas with major city terminals/ nodes and providing
frequent services to ensure good connectivity for the commuting population.
Consolidating routes along major corridors to reduce the number of routes overlapping and
simplify route structures
Based on the IPT and private vehicle demand pattern, provide routes in the major demand
interaction zones.
New routes to improve the coverage and provide complementary movement within city.
The following types of routes have been proposed:
1. Feeder routes: In the city of Mira Bhayandar, there are a high number of daily commuting
passengers to Mumbai travelling by rail; for them high frequency feeder services have been
Service and Business Plan for City Bus Operations for Mira Bhayandar and Chandigarh
Final Report – Mira Bhayandar
CoE-UT, CRDF, CEPT University, KL Campus, University Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad-380009, India Page 3
developed connecting different parts of the city to Bhayandar and Mira road railway stations.
A total of 9 and 7 routes have been proposed to Bhayandar rail station and Mira road rail
stations respectively.
2. Complementary routes: Current route structure is centralized predominantly serving only two
railways stations and does not connect other parts of the city directly. Five complementary
routes are proposed based on the IPT demand interaction patterns.
3. Sub urban routes: Six routes are proposed providing connectivity to Thane, Uttan, Garoi and
Mumbai with high frequency.
Business Plan
Trajectory of vision realisation and the timeline is a function of the agency’s intent and drive along
with constraints like financial resources and land availability for infrastructure facilities. Alternative
scenarios are developed and presented as part of the business plan, which the cities could choose from
for deciding on an appropriate business strategy for bus services in the city.
The existing mode share is 4% and for the year 2030, three alternate mode share scenarios have been
outlined – 11%, 20% and 25%.
Mode share realisation is a function of the service levels (fare levels, bus quality, frequencies and last
mile connectivity) delivered to the commuters along with the proactive communication on the bus
service improvements being undertaken. In the plan period of 10 years, moderate scenario (mode
share 20%) has been considered for developing the service and business plan. However, in case a
proactive approach is taken by MBMTU in the short to medium term in terms of fleet addition,
infrastructure development and roll out of the service plan, a higher trajectory for achieving 25%
mode share could also be considered.
Fleet size and mix: Three possible fleet-mix scenarios for fleet mix and type has been proposed:
a) Standard buses: 182 buses
b) Standard-midi mix: 288 buses (24 standard and 264 Midi)
c) Midi and mini mix: 369 (229 Midi + 140 Mini)
Guiding principles for selection
The target mode share of 20% -25% by 2030 would require significant quantitative as well as
qualitative improvements in the bus services.
The city has re-introduced bus service with standard buses in 2019 and should monitor the build-up of
the ridership levels. Keeping in perspective the target PT mode share over the next decade, the city
may consider transitioning to midi/minibuses to be able to offer high frequency services in order to
induce a mode shift to buses. Also, measures like information availability through apps and websites
apart from at-stop information would help passengers plan their journeys better.
Service and Business Plan for City Bus Operations for Mira Bhayandar and Chandigarh
Final Report – Mira Bhayandar
CoE-UT, CRDF, CEPT University, KL Campus, University Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad-380009, India Page 4
Auto-rickshaws operating as shuttle service pose a big competition to the buses and facilitating a shift
from them would require buses which are affordable, frequent and easily accessible. With smaller bus
sizes (Midi / Mini), it would be possible to offer a high frequency service with better load factor
levels. In addition, these buses may have a much higher penetration in the congested city centre
having narrow roads (Bhayandar East).
The requirement of number of smaller buses would be more compared to requirement of standard
buses because of lesser capacity; however it is estimated that the operating ratios would improve due
to the potential of higher passenger ridership levels with better service headways and connectivity.
The fleet-type to be assigned on routes should be decided based on criteria such as passenger demand
levels, routes on narrow streets or in congested areas. Switching to a different bus type should not
pose a big challenge as the average age of a bus is 8-10 years and hence the transition could happen
gradually as old buses get phased out.
Depot requirements: There is one existing depot at Ghodbunder that can accommodate 45 standard
buses. Apart from this, another depot location has been identified at Uttan. In addition to these two
depots, one additional depot would be required to accommodate these buses. The tentative location
proposed is adjacent to the metro depot near the Mira Road station.
Scenarios 2A 3 4
All Standard Stand + Midi Midi + Mini
Total Depot Area Requirement (in acre) - 2030 9.08 11.77 13.71
Existing Depot Area available (in acre) 2.5 2.5 2.5
Additional Area Requirement for Depots (in acre) 6.58 9.27 11.21
Additional number of Depots 1
(Uttan)
2
(Uttan +
additional
location near
metro depot)
2
(Uttan +
additional
location near
metro depot)
Capital costs: Cost estimates have been worked out for the entire plan period 2023-2032 for the 3
alternative scenarios at constant prices.
Cost heads 2A 3 4
All Standard Stand + Midi Midi + Mini
Capital infrastructure cost
(incl.bus stops, terminals, depots,
ETVMs etc) in Cr
110 138 171
Fleet cost in Cr 143 130 133
Total Cost in Cr 253 268 304
Overall investment for all three scenarios by 2030 would be around Rs.250 to Rs.300 crore, where
cost of fleet i.e. around Rs.130 Cr to Rs.143 Cr may/ may not need to be borne by MBMTU
depending up on the operating model that MBMTU selects.
Operating Costs: The total operating costs vary from Rs.940-1200 Cr over the plan period depending
on the fleet mix scenario.
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Cost component \ Scenarios Scenario 2A -
Standard Buses
Scenario 3 -
Standard + Midi
Scenario 4 -
Midi + Mini
Fuel Cost 362.9 345.5 375.3
Lubricant Cost 5.4 5.2 5.6
R & M Cost 159.0 209.2 210.4
Insurance + MVT + MACT + RR Tax 17.4 16.5 16.1
Staff Cost 218.3 338.9 407.8
ITMS Operating Costs 9.0 9.2 9.4
Cost of Depreciation - Total 80.3 75.8 74.1
Cost of Fund - (Expected returns & Interests) 48.3 45.7 44.8
Miscellaneous Cost 41.7 48.4 52.6
Operational Cost (excluding cost of fund and
cost of depreciation) 814 973 1077
Total Cost 942 1095 1196
Operating Model: While the bus market is being developed, bus routes would need to be flexible and
may have to be tweaked based on the travel patterns of passengers. At the same time, while the new
routes are being introduced, the existing routes may have to be removed, modified or gradually
withdrawn. The current Net Cost Contract may not provide enough flexibility in such an evolving
scenario. The services would also need to be adapted due to uncertainties of demand – hence, it is
suggested to consider a Gross Cost operating model.
Proposed fare structure: The proposed fare structure is as below;
Distance Range
(km) Existing NAC Fare Existing AC Fare IPT Fare
Proposed Fare
(all NAC)
0 – 2 6 20 10 5
2 – 4 8 30 20 10
4 – 6 11 35 30 10
6 – 7 / 7 – 10 13/15 40 30 10/15
>10
17,18,19,20,21,
22,23,24,25,26
(Fare changes every 2kms)
50,55,60,
70,75,80
(Fare changes every 2kms)
15
It is proposed to revise the fare structure every two years based on a fare revision formula.
Sources of Funding: The operating ratio for Standard, Midi and Midi-mini fleet scenarios is estimated
to be 0.40, 0.58, 0.68. Hence, the farebox revenues will not be entirely sufficient to recover the cost of
operations. Identification and earmarking of alternative funding sources are important. Innovating
funding sources like green tax, parking charges, and developing depots and terminals on a PPP basis
can be explored. There is an opportunity for Mira Bhayandar to develop terminals located at the city
center. Similarly, depot land can also be developed with high FSI to contribute more in non-fare box
revenue. With such measures, non-fare box revenue could be further increased which could be used
for covering operating deficits and improving service levels. Further, any operating deficits would
have to be covered through Viability Gap Funding by the Government of Maharashtra. One of the
major capital expenses is the cost of the fleet of around INR 130-143 crores over the next 10 years.
Various operating models could be tested – for example in GCC the operator could bring in buses as
per MBMC’s specifications.
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Management Structure: In comparison to existing structure, one significant change in existing
positions – removal of Depot Manager - is suggested. Since Gross Cost Contract is being suggested,
revenue management would be a major task, hence a separate finance department would be essential.
Creation of four divisions namely Operations, Technical, Administration and Finance is proposed.
The overall staff requirement of MTBT can be limited to 0.15 personnel per bus for upto 100 buses,
where after it may be limited to 0.10 per bus upto 200 buses. Depending on the fleet size and mix
scenario, the manpower requirements would have to be worked out. In case of a standard bus scenario
with a fleet size of 180, three divisions of operations, technical and finance could be set up. For e.g. in
the initial phases, three divisions of operations, technical and finance could be set up and functions of
administration could be handled by MBMC by adding a dedicated administrative assistant and as fleet
size increases, a separate administration division under MBMTU could be added.
To ensure that a quality bus system is delivered, apart from monitoring of the outcome, setting up of a
process monitoring system is essential. Depot level technical staff could undertake this task of
checking of service schedule preparation as per SLAs, regular maintenance of buses, etc, and also
help in ensuring coordination with operator, ITMS agency and revenue collection agency. A process
monitoring system along with outcome monitoring may prove to have a better effectiveness in
achieving delivery of quality services.
Other Measures: Apart from putting in place an efficient service, marketing and branding are crucial
to improve the overall image of the bus system. Some of the possible measures could be targeted
marketing campaigns, color branding of routes, awareness and sensitization towards sustainable
transport modes, etc. Also, the provision of accurate and reliable real-time information to existing and
potential users is also important in improving the visibility of the system and building trust in the
MBMTU. Apart from the route, service and fare information at bus stops and terminals, websites and
apps should also be developed. Prioritising buses on road to eliminate delays would make the service
more reliable. Discussions with local authorities could be undertaken for prioritizing of bus services at
junctions along with regulated usage of private vehicles on highly congested routes. Regulation on
private traffic in terms of high parking charges or control on the availability of parking spaces could
also influence the shift from private to PT modes.
A phased implementation of new bus routes would be required. New buses should be gradually
inducted on new routes to allow for development of demand. At the same time, modification and
withdrawal of the old routes should be implemented with prior information regarding alternate routes
to ensure a seamless transition with minimum inconvience to transit users.
Performance Indicators: Performance indicators are useful tools for ensuring monitoring the quality
of the delivered transit services. It is important to identify indicators of relevance as “what gets
measured, gets attention”. A performance measurement system should take into consideration the
vision and objectives set by the transit agency. Hence, apart from the existing MBMC indicators,
additional indicators have been identified for monitoring of services. These 21 indicators relate to
both user and agency set of measures and can be categorized as service availability, service delivery,
service effectiveness, safety, efficient operations and cost efficiency. The proposed service plan
demonstrate an improvement in terms of various indicators – service availability in terms of buses per
1000 population improves to LOS 3 with 183-374 buses from LOS 4, transit access area in Mira
Bhayandar increases to 94% and 92% of that has access to high frequency stops as against 54% in the
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current scenario. Also, with improved bus supply and area coverage, the average passenger wait time
for bus journeys is around 3-7 mins.
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1 Introduction
1.1 Study Background
With increased dependence on personalised modes for travel and declining ridership on public
transport, cities are now struggling with traffic congestion, delays, air pollution and road accidents. As
outlined by the National Urban Transport Policy 2006, cities need to focus on sustainable modes of
transport like public transport and non-motorised modes to move towards a sustainable future. Several
cities are now concentrating on improving the service levels of existing public transport systems. It is
in this context that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India under Efficient &
Sustainable City Bus Services has commissioned the study to prepare Service and Operations Plans
for bus services in the cities of Chandigarh and Mira-Bhayandar to the Centre of Excellence in Urban
Transport, CRDF.
1.2 City Background
Mira Bhayandar is one of the eleven sub-regions of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and is
part of the Thane district of Maharashtra as seen in Figure 1. Mira Bhayandar is surrounded by hills
on the eastern side, along with Arabian Sea on the west side of the city. The North side of the city is
surrounded by Vasai Creek. The Municipal Area of Mira Bhayandar is about 79.4 sq.km and includes
nine Gram Panchayats namely Bhayandar, Kashi, Mira, Navghar and Ghodbunder, Chena, Varsova,
Rai-Murdhe, Dongri-Uttan.
Figure 1: Mira Bhayandar as part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region
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The city is well connected with surrounding regions as the Western Express Highway (NH8) passes
through the Kashimira Junction near Ghodbunder. Kashimira also leads the city to Mira Road,
Bhayandar, and coastal villages of Uttan, Gorai, Manori, and amusement parks. City also comprises
of two railway stations falling on the major Mumbai Suburban Railways with both fast and slow
trains to Mumbai.
The Western Railway line (Dahanu Road- Church Gate) divides the city, in two halves. The eastern
part of the city is more densely populated than the other part. It is observed that the wards closely
located on the east and west side of Bhayandar station have a high population density ranging from
760-1000 persons per ha. However, wards further west in the city - Murdha, Rai, Morwa Gaon and
Dongri have low density of less than 100 persons per hectare.
The average household size in Mira Bhayandar was 4.43 in 2011 which is higher as compared to 3.8
in Mumbai and less as compared to the average national household size. The average household size
in India and Maharashtra is 4.9 and 4.6 respectively (Census 2011). From the population density map
(Figure 2), it is evident that the areas of East Bhayandar and Mira have higher concentration of
households in comparison to other parts of the city. Apart from the growth potential in East
Bhayandar, city, on the other hand, has tourism attraction opportunities on the western part that
houses several recreational and leisure destinations.
Figure 2: Population Density (2011)
Based on the population growth rate of Mira Bhayandar from 2001 to 2011, population for the current
year has been estimated as 12 lakhs. This also matches with the estimates in the Draft MMR Regional
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Plan for the year 2036. Table 1presents the population and its growth from 1991 to 2011 based on
census publication. There is negative population growth rate in Mumbai along with a massive increase
in population in the adjoining sub-urban region of Mumbai. The major population growth is seen in
Mira Bhayandar and Navi Mumbai as 55.6% and 59.2% during 2001-2011 period respectively. Thane
has also seen a positive decadal population growth rate of 55.2% during this period. The projected
population for Mira Bhayandar for the year 2031 as per the Draft MMR Regional Plan (2016-2036) is
17.13 lakh with 2021-31 growth rate of 3.1%.
Table 1: Comparison of population growth in nearby urban areas (1991-2011)
City Population1 GR
91-01
CAGR
91-01
GR
01-11
CAGR
01-11
1991 2001 2011 20202 (%)
Mira Bhayandar 1,75,400 5,20,301 8,09,378 12,06,912 196.6 11 55.6 5
Thane 52,41,000 81,31,849 110,60,148 1,45,87,317 55.2 4 36.0 3
Mumbai 94,49,897 33,38,031 30,85,411 28,74,441 -64.7 -10 -7.6 -1
Navi Mumbai 3,87,206 7,03,947 11,20,547 17,02,673 81.8 6 59.2 5
Vasai-Virar 97,381 6,37,529 12,22,390 21,96,082 554.7 20. 7 91.7 6.7
Source:1 Population (Census Tables), Growth Rate (GR), Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) 2. Draft MMR Regional Plan (2016-2036).
Table 2 illustrates that Mira Bhayandar witnessed rapid growth during the last two decades. The
growth rate in the period 1991 – 2001 has been the highest for the city. The population crossed 8
lakhs in 2011, after a significant increase in population from 1.75 lakh in 1991 to 5.2 lakh in 2001.
Table 2: Population (1991-2020)
Year Area (sq. km) No. of Households Population CAGR (%)
1991 79.4 38,361 1,75,605 -
2001 79.4 1,17,276 5,20,301 11.47
2011 79.4 1,87,059 8,09,378 4.52
2020 79.4 2,78,410 12,06,912* 4.52
Source: Comprehensive Mobility Plan Interim Report, 2012 (For 1961-1981), Census India (For1991- 2011)
* Draft MMR Regional Plan (2016-2036).
Sex ratio in Mira Bhayandar was 885 which is below the national average sex ratio of 943 and state
average of 929 as per the latest report of Census 2011. It has however increased from 817 in 2001,
indicating an increase in the female population as the city is developing as a residential hub due to the
increasing migrating population.
The total number of vehicles registered in the city of Mira Bhayandar in the year 2011 is around 1.25
lakh out of which 1.09 lakh were passenger vehicles and about 33 cars per 1000 population. There has
been about 50% increase in passenger vehicles from 2011-2017 as seen in Table 3 below.
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Table 3: Vehicles Registered in Mira Bhayandar and Thane (2011 and 2017)
Sr No Category Total no. of vehicles
Mira
Bhayandar
(2011)
Thane
(2011)
Mira
Bhayandar
(2017)*
Thane
(2017)
1 Passenger Vehicles
i. Motor cycle 65,851 5,26,862 98,715 7,89,801
ii. Scooter 6,553 1,81,588 9,803 2,71,642
iii. Moped 374 13,255 393 13,921
iv. Car 27,128 3,12,489 35,128 4,04,645
v. Jeep 676 36,884 599 32,702
vi. Taxi Tourist Cab 2,076 24,302 3,061 35,835
vii. Auto Rickshaw 6,320 86,668 8,895 94,549
1,08,978 11,82,048 1,51,484 16,43,095
2 Freight Vehicles
i. Container Carriage 430 7316 723 12,302
ii. Truck and Lorries 2,262 70,460 2433 75,779
iii. Tankers 2,326 9,405 3142 12,704
iv. Deliver van (4-Wheeler) 4,350 50,709 6011 70,076
v. Deliver van (3-Wheeler) 6,270 45,324 7953 57,487
vi. Tractor Trailers 249 8,418 347 11,738
15,887 1,91,632 19,904 2,40,086
3 Others 26 1,210 37 1,701
Total 1,24,891 13,74,890 1,71,217 18,84,882
Source: Motor Transport Statistics of Maharashtra, 2011 and 2017 and https://vahan.parivahan.gov.in/vahan4dashboard/
* Estimated based on Mira-Bhayandar and Thane proportions in 2011
1.2.1 Existing Transport Characteristics and Overview
1.2.1.1 Existing Road Network and Hierarchy
NH8 is a major corridor connecting key western cities in India and passes through the eastern part of
the city. Mira Road is the spine that connects the city to surrounding areas through NH8. Table 4
shows the road network distribution with respective road lengths and percentage share of each type:
Table 4: Road lengths by type (2019)
Sr. No. Road Type Length (km) Share (%)
1 NH/SH 9.9 3
2 Arterial 28.4 9
3 Sub-Arterial 58.9 20
4 Collector 99.3 33
5 Local Road 102.5 34
Total 299 100
Source: Computed based on Google imagery 2019
Figure 3 represents the major road network in the city. Around 17% of the developed area is under
roads and the road density is 3.8 km/sq.km. Within 79.4 sq.km of the municipal area, NH8 and Mira
road contribute to 12% of the total road network. Figure 4 shows that the road providing access to
stations has a varying roadwidth ranging from 7.5 m – 19 m carriageway width. Also, the important
commercial centres in East Bhayandar are located on collector and local roads with 3.5m-7m
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carriageway width. The road providing access to the fish markets and east Bhayandar railway station
is also having similar road widths. Small-scale commercial shops and informal vendors are all along
these roads in the city.Due to unsignalized intersections and narrow road widths, roads in East
Bhayandar get congested during peak hours.
Figure 3: Road Network (2020)
Source: Google Imagery 2019
Only 23% of the road length in the city has divided carriageway. The majority of the roads in East
Bhayandar do not have divided carriageway and dedicated footpaths for pedestrians. In comparison,
Mira Road and sub-arterials in the western part of the city are developed with signalized intersection,
NMT facilities and divided carriageway thereby ensuring accessibility to all types of vehicular modes.
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Figure 4: Road widths (2020)
Source: Google Imagery 2019
1.2.1.2 Travel Speeds
The speed profile of the network, as seen in Figure 5 , is poor with the morning peak travel speed at
15 kmph and the evening peak travel speed at 13 kmph (Google Maps 2019). The worst affected is the
access road to Bhayandar station since the road width is quite narrow with heavy traffic flow with the
average travel speed at 9.22 kmph. The traffic going towards Western Expressway has added to the
congestion on the road and reducing the travel speeds to 10 kmph on the connections (towards
Kashimira Junction).
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Figure 5: Network Speeds (2020)
Source: Google Imagery 2019
1.2.1.3 Railway
The Mumbai suburban rail is the primary mode of transport for people in the city travelling to
Mumbai. There are two railway stations in the city namely Mira Road station and Bhayandar station.
According to rail passenger statistics for Mumbai Metropolitan Region, a seasonal pass holder makes
on an average 1.77 trips daily across the western railway during the year 2009-10 (Mira Bhayandar
Municipal Corporation, 2013). In addition, the statistics estimate that approximately 56,034 pass
holders performed daily 99,370 trips through Mira Road Station and 64,312 pass holders performed
1,14,050 trips through Bhayandar station (CMP, 2013).
1.2.1.4 Bus Services
Buses are the second most popular mode of transport for intercity trips. The city bus system consists
of buses operated not only by the local municipal corporation but also those from surrounding
municipalities/organization. The bus operating authority MBMTU is a municipal undertaking of Mira
Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) and has been constituted under the provisions of Bombay
Provincial Municipal Corporations Act in year 2006. There are 13 routes – 13 regular services and 2
AC services (February 2020) with an operational fleet of 54 buses. All routes except one originate
from the two suburban rail stations i.e. Mira Road and Bhayandar Railway Station. The Mira
Bhayandar bus system serves a total of 83 km with a total of 234 bus stops.
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The current sub urban and regional travel demand is also catered to by the Thane Municipal Transport
(TMT), Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) and Maharashtra State Road Transport
Corporation (MSRTC) undertakings.
1.2.1.5 Intermediate Public Transportation
As per 2011 vehicle registration details, city had about 6300 auto rickshaws on road and it is
estimated that there are 9000 auto rickshaws in the city currently. Most of the auto rickshaws also ply
on a shared basis along major corridors in the city. Further, road widths also constrain the bus
operations particularly in the eastern part of Bhayandar, leading to connectivity needs being
predominantly served by auto rickshaws and/or private vehicles. As per CMP 2016, about 20% daily
trip are using auto-rickshaws.
1.2.2 Travel Characteristics
1.2.2.1 Mode Share
Table 5 below shows the mode share of the city in the year 2016. It is observed that walk trips
dominate the internal trips generated in the city and 22% are private mode trips. As per this report,
three wheelers (majority operating as shared services) carry 20% of the trips and buses carry another
15%. However, the bus ridership in 2014 was 56000 passengers, which translates to around 5% share.
Therefore for this study, bus share has been considered as 5%.
Table 5: Mode share inside and outside MBMC – 2016
Mode Internal Trips within MBMC External Trips Access to Station
Walk 41.90% - 26.80%
Cycle 0.10% - 1%
2W 9.50% 5% 7.90%
3W 20.30% 1.40% 9.90%
4W 12.80% 16.70% 5.60%
Bus 15.40% 36.20% 48.90%
Train - 40.70% -
Total 100% 100% 100%
Source: CMP Mira Bhayandar 2013
It is also clear that 78% of the external trips are covered by public transport services as Mumbai
suburban Rail, MBMT, BEST, MSRTC and TMT. Around 21% of the external trips are on private
vehicles and only 1.4% are IPT trips. It can be observed that fewer number of 3-wheeler trips are
made for longer trips outside Mira Bhayandar. In terms of the access and egress modes of the rail
trips, about 49% of the trips are covered by buses, 27% of trips to/from station are by walk and 10%
by three-wheelers.
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1.2.2.2 Trip Length
As per the CMP, the average trip length for intra-city trips in Mira Bhayandar is 3.7 km. Average trip
length by auto within MBMC is around 2.8 km. Table 6 below describes the average trip length
covered within city limits by different modes.
Table 6: Average trip lengths by different modes within MBMC Description (within MBMC) Average trip length (km)
Average Trip Length for Car 3.8
Average Trip Length for Two Wheelers 3.2
Average Trip Length for Auto 2.8
Average Trip Length for PT 4.9
Source: CMP Mira Bhayandar 2013
It can be seen that the trip lengths in the city are short, with trip lengths on buses around 5km. This
could be attributed to city growth concentrated around the two rail stations.
1.3 Overview of the city bus services
Buses are the second most popular mode of transport for intercity trips in Mumbai metropolitan area.
The bus system consists of buses operated not only by the local municipal corporation but also those
from surrounding municipalities/organization. The bus operating authority Mira Bhayandar Municipal
Transport (MBMT) is a municipal undertaking of Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC)
and has been constituted under the provisions of Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations Act in
year 2006.
Mira Bhayandar city has since grown very rapidly (5% per year population growth) with a significant
population commuting to different parts of Mumbai for work and education. The bus services till now
have not been able to keep pace with such rapid increase in population, and this has led to the
emergence of shared auto services and private vehicle trips. The city of Mumbai has had a public
transport culture owing to the linear city structure and the rail services being the primary mode of
commuting for people. Mira Bhayandar has two rail stations – Bhayandar and Mira Road providing
connectivity to Mumbai through the rail services. The demand pattern depicts most trips being
destined to these two stations so that the passengers can use the rail services to reach other
destinations in the Greater Mumbai region.
1.4 Vision and Objectives
Setting up of vision and objectives for the bus operations is critical to the success of the business plan.
For Mira Bhayandar, MBMC formulated the vision and the strategies based on the inputs received
from the city residents as well as the past studies.
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1.4.1 User and Non user perceptions (Primary survey and Mott Report)
In absence of an efficient bus system within the city, the passengers have to depend on shared auto
services which are not as affordable as the public transport systems. Going by the growth trends in the
city, travel demand is expected to grow very rapidly. It thus becomes important to plan for an efficient
bus service in the city, to attract people towards public transport.
Bus users and non-users’ priority areas for improvement were captured in commuter surveys
undertaken in the city in November 2019 (Figure 6). The bus users’ priority indicates a preference for
improved service frequencies followed by improvement in travel times. In the case of 3-W users,
frequent services along with safety, travel time and affordable fares are identified as important.
Further, 2-W users also indicate frequent services as key.
Bus users’ priorities
3-Wheeler users’ priorities
2-Wheeler users’ priorities
Figure 6: Commuter preferences for bus service improvement areas
Since 2005 when MBMTU started bus services in the city, they have been mainly operating it on Net
Cost Contract (NCC). Till now, MBMTU has changed three operators in last 15 years because of
losses incurred in services and inefficient service operations.
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1.4.2 Past Studies
As per a User Satisfaction Survey (Mott Macdonald, 2017-18) in Mira Bhayandar, service attributes
related to “punctuality & reliability”, “cleanliness”, “maintenance” were found to be important for the
users. Measures related to women's safety like installation of CCTV cameras, lighting inside the buses
as well as at bus shelters, women crew, etc. were also recommended in the study. Further, fleet size
enhancement along with improved service coverage was also highlighted as being important.
The objective as set out by the Comprehensive Mobility Plan 2031 is to “Provide good quality public
transport system that is accessible, efficient and effective”. The plan suggests developing 3 tiers of the
public transport system for Mira Bhayandar consisting of new metro connectivity, improving rail
services and bus services and integrating all the modes for an efficient PT system.
The Bus Modernisation Plan presents the bus service improvement plan intending to move towards
sustainable solutions and improving the public transport ridership.
1.4.3 Mission, Vision and Strategies
Taking into consideration user perceptions and past studies, MBMTU’s Mission has been defined as
“Providing reliable, efficient and high-quality bus services for residents of Mira Bhayandar”.
The vision for the bus services is:
Making bus a preferred mode of travel in Mira Bhayandar
In line with this vision statement, strategic objectives have been defined as shown in Figure 7:
Figure 7: Strategic Directions
To support this vision, the following strategic objectives have been defined:
Integrated bus network with rail and upcoming metro system: Provision of a bus system
where commuters can travel easily between modes.
Integrated with other
modes
High quality and demand responsive
service
Accessible to all parts of the
city
Financial Stewardship
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Frequent and local demand-responsive services: Commuter-centric bus system with ‘turn up
and go’ frequency and responding to local demand patterns at different times of the day
Access for all and improved connectivity to all parts of the city: Bus system connecting
existing developed areas and upcoming areas with high quality and safe services
Financial Stewardship: Efficient operations and financial management for the long-term
sustainability of MBMT.
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2 Service Plan for city bus services
Preparation of a service and business plan requires a thorough assessment of the existing situation in
terms of transport service supply, demand patterns, the operational and financial performance of the
bus services along with demand and service levels of competitive modes. Table 7: Details of data
collectedTable 7 below presents the data requested and collected for route rationalization and
proposed service plan:
Table 7: Details of data collected
Category Data collected Source Primary/
Secondary
Ro
ute
Rat
ion
alis
atio
n a
nd
Ser
vic
e P
lan
In
pu
ts
Operational
performance
assessment
Bus service expenditure details - System wide MBMTU Secondary
Route wise ridership and vehicle km
Fleet size, Fleet utilisation, vehicle utilisation
Schedule adherence and trip cancellation
Capacity utilisation (Load factor)
Indexed passenger km
Bus staff ratio
Bus operational expenditure and its breakup
Existing fare structure, ticketing and concession
details and revenue
Assessment of
existing transport
service supply
Types of Bus services MBMTU Secondary
Operational routes alignment, routes frequency and
fleet details
Stops locations and stop sequence by route
IPT routes structure and alignment Field survey Primary
IPT stops and major demand nodes
Existing demand
assessment
Bus demand - ETM data MBMTU Secondary
Bus Boarding - Alighting details Field survey Primary
IPT demand and its BA details by stops Field survey Primary
Passengers access egress pattern at terminals Field survey Primary
Private vehicular demand Field survey Primary
2.1 Model Development
A public transport demand model has been developed using EMME 4.4.3 software to analyze the
existing bus demand and understand travel patterns of bus users as well as IPT. Figure 8 below shows
the study approach.
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Figure 8: Overall Study approach
The modelling area was taken the same as the study area. The first step was to delineate the modelling
area. In terms of the existing development area in Mira Bhayandar, it was observed that around 27%
of the MBMC area is currently developed. Since the current development area is well within the
municipal limits, it was decided to undertake the MBMC area as the study region with few suburban
areas such as Gorai and Manori.
The data inputs used for modelling are presented in Table 8 and Figure 9 below:
Table 8: Data inputs for model
Type of data Details
Demand Data Existing Bus demand – ETM data
IPT demand – OD surveys at major IPT stops
Pvt. Demand – OD surveys at major work centers/parking locations
Network Data Road network from Google earth
Public Transport network – stops, corridors, routes, service details (headway, speed etc.)
46.6 km bus network within municipal area and total 83 km PT network in city and suburban
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Type of data Details
areas; 13 routes (15 services including AC services), 234 stops (149 within city), 3 terminals
IPT network - stops, corridors, routes, service details (headway, speed etc.)
49.5 km of shared auto rickshaw network, 24 routes, 30 major IPT stops
Model
calibration
data
Travel speeds and travel time on major network (2019)
Classified Volume Counts
Figure 9: Base year transport network (2020)
2.2 Existing bus services
MBMTU started bus services in the city in 2005 and they mainly operate the services on Net Cost
Contracts (NCC). MBMTU has changed three operators in the last 15 years because of losses incurred
in services and inefficient service operations. The second operator contract was terminated in 2015
and from 2015 to 2019 MBMTU operated the services by themselves. However, because of poor
financial performance, it was decided to contract out the bus operations again in 2019.
In 2019, MBMTU signed the Net Cost Contract with M/s Bhagirathi in order to carry out city bus
operations for six years where the operator has to manage bus operations, it's scheduling, fare
collection, bus maintenance etc. The city bus operations under the new contract were initiated in Sept
2019 and the buses and services are being added incrementally.
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2.2.1 Bus Routes
As per the February 2020 data, there were a total of 13 operational routes– two routes have separate
AC services also operating (refer Table 9 below).
Table 9: Details of MBMTU bus routes
Route
no.
Service
Type Description
City /
Sub
urban
service
Length
(km)
Total Fleet
deployed
Headway
(min.)
Daily Veh. Km
(Operated_17th
Feb 2020)
1 Regular Bhayandar st.(W) to
Chowk City 14.2 5 20 1,684
2 Regular Bhayandar st.(W) to
Uttan Naka City 10.3 5 14 1,306
15 Regular
Mira Road St.(E) to
Rasmi Comp.via.
S.K.Ston Bevarly park
cine max
City 4.1 4 10 524
16 Regular
Mira Road St.(E) to
Laxmi Park Tiwari
College vai Cinemax
City 3.2 5 8 511
21 Regular
Mira Road Station [E] to
Ramdev Park Via Rasaz
Theater Bharati Park
Shivar Garden
City 3.1 3 14 595
22 Regular
Mira Road Station [E] to
Shanti Vidhya Nagari
Via Jain Mandir Vijay
Park Silver Park
City 4.4 4 13 650
24 Regular Mira Road Station [E] to
Western Park City 5.7 6 10 1,066
4 Regular Bhayandar st.(W) to
Essel World Sub 16.1 3 40 819
6 Regular Uttan Naka to Manori
Tar Sub 11.6 3 27 826
8 Regular Uttan Naka to Gorai Tar Sub 9.7 2 30 474
10
Regular
Bhayandar st.(W) to
Thane St. (E) Kopari)
Via W.E.H Majiwada
Sub 34.5 8 23 1,808
AC
Bhayandar st.(W) to
Thane St. (E) Kopari)
Via W.E.H Majiwada
Sub 34.5 3 60 751
14 Regular
Bhayandar st.( E) to
Magathane Depo Via
kashimira borivali St (E)
Sub 13.5 8 15 1,073
29
Regular Mira Road to Thane
Kopari Sub 30.2 5 28 1,572
AC Mira Road to Thane
Kopari Sub 30.2 2 70 262
Source: February 2020, MBMTU
Most routes originate from the two suburban rail stations i.e., Mira Road and Bhayandar Railway
Station. Of the total 13 routes, 7 are city routes while 6 are sub-urban routes. The sub urban routes
serve surrounding areas and two suburban routes to Thane, have separate AC services also operating.
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2.2.2 Fleet Size
As per the proposed fleet deployment plan received from MBMTU, the proposed fleet size for 21
routes is 79. However, fleet for operational 13 routes is 66 buses, hence the existing total fleet size is
considered 66. As per MoHUA Service Level Benchmarks, cities should have a minimum of 0.1
buses/1000 population as per LOS 3, 0.25 buses/1000 population for LOS 2 and 0.4 buses/1000
population as per LOS 1. As against this, the city has only 66 buses i.e. 0.07 buses per 1000
population, which translates to LOS 4.
2.2.3 Bus Terminals and Depots
There are four terminals, across the city, three out of which are located closer to the sub-urban rail
stations; Bhayandar West, Bhayandar East (not operational), Mira Road East and the fourth is located
in Uttan, a coastal town under MBMC jurisdiction.
Depot facilities are important considering maintenance and parking requirement for buses. The
regular maintenance of fleet at depot facility is important to ensure a longer life of urban buses. The
design components of the depot would include a fuelling station, minor inspection pits, major
inspection pits, washing area, and painting and denting areas, spare parts storage, engineers’ cabin and
administration unit as well as bus parking. A new depot has been constructed in Ghobundar, with the
control centre in place. Prior to this, the buses were parked on roads closer to the rail stations,
Bhayandar West and Mira Road East and Pleasant Park (another depot on the eastern side of the city).
(Refer Figure 10 below)
Figure 10: Depots and major terminals in the city
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2.2.4 Fare Structure, Ticketing and Concession
A distance-based fare structure that is currently operational in the city is illustrated in Figure 11 below
based on the type of service. The minimum fare is Rs.6 for ordinary buses and the maximum is 32
while the same for AC buses is 20 and 100 respectively. Currently, there are only two routes to Thane
where AC buses are playing. A significant difference is observed in the fares of the regular and AC
services.
Figure 11: Fare Structure
(Source: MBMTU, 2019)
MBMTU has started ETM ticketing system on all the routes in December 2019 and they have also
operationalized Intelligent Transit Management System (ITMS) at Ghodbunder. Public Information
System (PIS) for the bus service is being planned for a total of 15 stops and has been initiated on four
major stops.
The corporation provides concessions on its fare and/or free travel facilities to various categories of
citizens including children, physical handicapped, and senior citizens as mentioned in Table 10. Fifty
percent discount is applied on ordinary buses however no discount is applied on AC buses.
Table 10: Concessions on various ticket categories
Service
Type
Ticket
Category
Discount
(%)
Minimum
Fare (Rs)
Max. Ticket
Quantity
(Nos.)
Apply Digital
Ticket Discount
Digital Ticket
Discount (%)
AC Luggage 0 20 8 Yes 10
AC Child 0 20 8 Yes 10
Ordinary General 0 6 8 Yes 0
Ordinary HIV 50 3 1 No 0
Ordinary Companion 0 6 1 No 0
Ordinary Handicap 50 3 1 Yes 0
Ordinary Senior
Citizen
50 3 8 Yes 0
Ordinary Blind 50 3 1 No 0
Ordinary Student 0 6 1 No 0
Ordinary Luggage 50 6 8 Yes 10
Ordinary Child 50 3 8 Yes 10
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38
Fa
re (
Rs)
Distance (km)
Fare Structure
Non- AC Fare AC Fare
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(Source: MBMTU, 2019)
Table 11 below provides details on the daily and monthly pass for MBMT, the single day pass costs
50% of the actual cost, while a monthly pass is worth 20 days of fare.
Table 11: Details of daily and monthly pass
Sr No Category Cost
1 Single Daily Pass 50% of the actual cost
2 Monthly Pass 20 days fare
(Source: MBMTU, 2019)
2.2.5 Bus Network Analysis
Bus network and routes were analysed based on various network assessment criteria which are
important from the passengers’ perspective. This focuses on PT network coverage, routes structure,
routes frequency and the length of routes.
2.2.5.1 Network Accessibility
The total PT network length is 46.6 km within the study area, which seems to be less as it is only 23%
of the total road network. Taking a 500-meter buffer, the PT covers 18 sq. km area of the city, i.e.
82% of the built-up area, and also covers about 86% of the total population within the city.
Figure 12: PT network coverage (2020)
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Figure 12 above shows the coverage area in Mira Bhayandar. In Uttan and Mira East, most of the
developed area is reached out by public transport network while in Bhayandar East few pockets have
no PT network within easy reach.
The developed areas that are essential to be connected by bus services are shown in Table 12 below:
Table 12: Areas to be connected by bus services in Mira Bhayandar
Bhayandar East Mira East and other areas
• Jesal Park
• RNP park
• GaonDevi
• Amrut Nagar
• Navghar Phata
• Mandvi Pada
• Poonam Sagar Complex
• Uttan (Alibaugh road)
2.2.5.2 Bus Routes Structure
All the public transport routes were coded into the model and the PT network was analysed in terms
of its route structure. Most of the routes start from the two terminals at railway stations which provide
interchanges with rail . Distribution of Routes from major terminals is presented in Error! Reference
source not found. below.
Sr. No. Major Terminals No. of Routes
(Services)
Service nos. Percentage (%)
1 Bhayandar Railway Station 5 (6) 1, 2, 4, 10/10AC, 14 38%
2 Mira Road Railway station 6 (7) 15, 16, 21, 22, 24,
29/29AC
46%
3 Uttan Naka 2 6, 8 15%
Total 13 (15) - 100%
Source: Data from MBMTU February 2020, Compiled by CoE-UT, CRDF
As there are only 13 operational routes in the city (Figure 13), overlapping of routes is less. Mira
Bhayandar Road and Uttan road are the two corridors where overlapping of routes is observed. There
are 5 routes on Mira Bhayandar road, which have a common section of about 2 km while along Uttan
road 3 routes are overlapping for around 7 km, all originating from Bhayandar Station.
As new routes are added to improve coverage, overlapping should be avoided as this may cause
confusion for passengers and increases their waiting times at the bus stops. It may also lead to
demand-supply mismatch in the overlapping sections.
2.2.5.3 Frequency of Bus Routes
The frequency of bus services has an impact on passenger waiting time. Table 13 below shows the
routes and the service headways. All the city routes have headways of less than or equal to 20 minutes
while suburban routes have higher headways (Figure 14).
20% (3 routes) have <=10 min headways can be considered high frequency routes and 40% (6 routes)
which have between 11 to 20 min headways can be considered moderate frequency routes. Anything
beyond 20 min would not be recommended for urban bus services.
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Apart from the number of routes, it is also important to see network length covered by high and
moderate frequency routes. It can be seen from Table 13 below that about 11% (9 km) of PT network
is with high frequency routes and 37% (31 km) with moderate frequency routes.
Table 13: Distribution of routes based on headways
Sr.
No.
Headway
(min)
No. of
Routes
City Routes Suburban
Routes
Percentage
of total
routes (%)
Network
Length
(km)
% of
Network
1 < = 10 3 15, 16, 24 - 20% 9.3 20%
2 11 – 20 5 1, 2, 21, 22 14 33% 37.3 80%
3 21 – 30 4 6, 8, 10, 29 27%
4 >30 3 4, 10AC,
29AC
20%
Total 15 - 100% 46.6 100%
Source: Data from MBMTU February 2020, Compiled by CoE-UT, CRDF
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Figure 13: Routes in Mira Bhayandar
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City Routes
Sub Urban Routes
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Figure 14: Route frequency distribution
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2.2.6 Passenger Ridership
As per February 2020 data, the total passenger ridership is around 44000 per day. In comparison, in
Sept 2019 when the operations under the new contract started, around 24000 passengers were using the
bus services daily. With the addition of buses and routes, doubling of passenger ridership is observed.
The route wise ridership details are presented in Annexure 1 (Part A).
2.2.7 Operations Performance Assessment
2.2.7.1 Fleet Utilisation
Fleet utilization reflects the availability and deployment of roadworthy buses for route operations over a
period of a day, a week or any other defined period. FU may vary with the age of fleet, quality of
preventive and other repair activities, etc. The details for a week of February 2020 was analysed and it
was observed that average fleet utilisation is 86% for a week. For daily, it ranges from 83% to 91% in a
week. Average FU of 86% is below the satisfaction level against the average benchmark level of about
92% in other Indian cities.
2.2.7.2 Cancellation of Trips and Schedule Adherence
Service reliability measures like schedule adherence and trip cancellation analysis are critical from
passengers’ perspective. Irregular and unpredictable service frequencies make a bus service
inconvenient for users.
A one-week total schedule trips details and total operated trips details were provided for the month of
February 2nd week. It was observed that the daily trip cancellations were about 2% which is very good
in comparison to other Indian cities.
Taking a two-minute window (+/- 2min) trips were analysed based on departure times. It was observed
that there are 30% trips before time and 18% after time. Similarly, with five minute (+/- 5min) window,
15% trips are before time and 18% are after time. Overall, the schedule adherence was not observed to
be satisfactory
The planned and actual bus kms details were computed for February 2020. The operator is operating
about 98.6% of vehicle km of total scheduled km. The percentage of dead km is only 1% of total
operating km. The Vehicle Utilisation including dead km is 237 km per bus per day. The reason behind
high Vehicle Utilisation could be longer operating hours i.e. more than 22 hours in a day. There are
about 10% of trips from 12:00am to 6:00am. The operating VU is considered reasonably satisfactory,
considering benchmarked range of 200±10 kms per bus on road daily for urban bus services.
2.2.7.3 Load Factor
The load factor for the MBMTU bus service is around 0.39. It appears to be much lower than the
benchmarked range being 0.65-0.75 or about 0.70 as an average LF over the periods. This could be
because the bus services were recently initiated under the new contract, and bus routes, as well as
services, are being incrementally added and hence the demand build-up would happen gradually.
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2.2.7.4 Indexed Passenger Km
Indexed Passenger Kilometer (IPK) is a performance indicator commonly used to evaluate the
operational productivity of a route. It is computed by dividing the total number of passengers served by
actual bus-kilometers run. Generally, an IPK greater than 4 passengers per bus km is considered as a
good level of performance.
Table 14: Indexed Passenger km by service type
Service Type Ridership (17th Feb
2020)
Operated
Vehicle Km
(17th Feb 2020)
IPK
City routes 27,267 6,335 4.30
Sub urban 16,576 7,585 2.19 Source: ETM February 2020, MBMTU
Table 14 above shows that city routes are performing better in terms of IPK of 4.3 whereas for sub
urban service is 2.2 which is quite low. However better IPK at city level could be because of low trip
length within the city. Further route level assessment was also done and presented in section below.
2.2.7.5 Vehicle Km Supply Distribution and Load Factor
The distribution of total vehicle km between peak and non-peak hours was also analysed. Ridership and
load factors are very low in the night services. The load factors during the morning and evening peak
hour is close to 0.5. Temporal distribution is presented in the Table 15 below to understand the demand
pattern.
Table 15: Distribution of total vehicle km between peak and non-peak hours
S. No. Peak Hour Category Ridership Veh. Km Pass. Km Load Factor
1 Night Service (00 to 06 am) 635 (1.4%) 775 (6.9%) 4658 (1.6%) 0.09
2 Morning Off-Peak (06 to 8:15am) 3644 (8.3%) 1179 (10.4%) 22322 (7.8%) 0.27
3 Morning Peak (8:15am to 11:15am) 9992 (22.8%) 2139 (18.9%) 70077 (24.4%) 0.47
4 Off-Peak (11:15am to 5:00pm) 13457 (30.7%) 3727 (32.9%) 92854 (32.3%) 0.36
5 Evening Peak (5:00pm to 8:00pm) 10161 (23.2%) 1816 (16.0%) 64843 (22.6%) 0.51
6 Evening Off-peak (8:00pm to 00) 5954 (13.6%) 1687 (15%) 32720 (11.4%) 0.28
Similarly, vehicle km distribution based on headways is shown in Table 16 below, it is observed that
more than 50% of vehicle km is beyond 20min which is not recommended for urban bus services. And
about 28% vehicle km is with moderate frequency i.e. 16-20 min.
Table 16: Distribution of total vehicle km by service headways
Sr.
No.
Headway
(min)
No of Trips Vehicle kms Total no
of Trips
Total Vehicle
kms City
Routes
Suburban
Routes City Routes
Suburban
Routes
1 <=10 46 5 355 (6%) 81 (1.5%) 51 436 (4%)
2 11-15 196 16 1282 (22%) 276 (5%) 212 1558 (14%)
3 16-20 507 39 2609 (44%) 532 (10%) 546 3141 (28%)
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Sr.
No.
Headway
(min)
No of Trips Vehicle kms Total no
of Trips
Total Vehicle
kms City
Routes
Suburban
Routes City Routes
Suburban
Routes
4 21-30 129 63 1234 (21%) 922 (17%) 192 2156 (19%)
5 > 30 55 165 397 (7%) 3638 (67%) 220 4036 (35%)
Total 933 288 5878
(100%)
5448
(100%) 1221 11327 (100%)
2.2.7.6 Route Level Performance Assessment
System level operation performance has been presented in sections above, it is also important to see the
same at the routes level. Each route has been assessed for Load Factor (Capacity Utilisation), Vehicle
Utilisation, Index Passenger Km, Passenger per bus per day, which is presented in Table 17 below.
Vehicle utilisation for suburban routes is above 225 km while for urban routes, it ranges from 175-
200km. Higher vehicle utilisation is on account of longer service operations timings. In terms of
passengers per bus per day, most of the routes have more than 700 passengers per day which seems
satisfactory for a bus system that initiated operations 6 months before. However, a closer look at
average passenger trip length at route level indicated that about 66% passengers of city services have
their average trip length up to 3.5km, indicating low utilisation of the services.
Load factors for most of the routes are ranging from 0.3 to 0.4, which seem lower compared to the
standard of 0.7. It may seem that the service levels are higher in comparison to the current passenger
demand; however, it should be noted that the bus services have been initiated in August 2019. Over the
years in absence of a quality bus system, shared auto rickshaws had gained prominence with these
acting as proxy-PT services. In order to attract passengers on bus services now, it is important to
provide high frequency good quality services.
This approach has yielded results as the bus supply has been enhanced from Oct 2019 to Feb 2020 with
bus ridership increasing by 83%.
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Table 17: Route level performance assessment
Route no. Length
(km)
On Road Fleet
- Dt 17th
Feb
2020
*Peak
Headway
(8:30am-
11:30am)
(min.)
*Off Peak
Headway
(11:30am-
5:00pm)
(min.)
Total Pax
Avg Pax.
Trip
Length
Veh. Km Vehicle
Utilisation
Load
Factor IPK Pax/Bus/Day
City Routes
1 14.2 5 20 48 4,812 7.2 1,684 337 0.29 2.86 962
2 10.3 5 14 33 4,462 6.8 1,306 261 0.33 3.42 892
15 4.1 3 10 31 3,604 2.2 524 175 0.22 6.87 1,201
16 3.2 3 8 31 3,802 2.6 511 170 0.28 7.44 1,267
21 3.1 3 14 40 2,217 2.8 595 198 0.15 3.73 739
22 4.4 3 13 40 1,719 2.8 650 217 0.11 2.65 573
24 5.7 6 10 24 6,651 3.5 1,066 178 0.31 6.24 1,109
Total City:
27,267
6,335
Sub Urban Routes
4 16.1 3 40 52 1,680 8.8 819 273 0.26 2.05 560
6 11.6 3 27 60 1,975 6.5 826 275 0.35 2.39 658
8* 9.7 2 30 0 173 6.4 474 237 0.03 0.36 87
10 34.5 7 23 98 4,752 14.3 1,808 258 0.54 2.63 679
10 AC 34.5 3 60 43 408 20.2 751 250 0.16 0.54 136
14 13.5 6 15 260 4,586 4.4 1,073 179 0.27 4.27 764
29 30.2 6 28 260 2,634 14.4 1,572 262 0.34 1.68 439
29 AC 30.2 1 70 195 368 19.6 262 262 0.39 1.40 368
Total Sub Urban:
16,576
7,585 7,585
Total
43,843
13,920
*Computed headways from schedule of routes February, 2020 (MBMTU).
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2.2.8 Financial Performance
In terms of financial performance, the city bus services under MBMTU were not performing well.
Figure 15 and Table 18 below shows the overall yearly cost and revenue for city bus services from the
year 2016-17 to 2018-19. The revenue has increased marginally by 10% from year 2016-17 to 2018-19.
The operating ratio for all three years has been less than one and has declined from 0.65 to 0.55 in the
given years.
Figure 15: Revenue vs cost chart
Source: Financial Data from MBMTU
Table 18: Operating Ratio for last 3 years
Sr. No. Particulars 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19
In Lakh
1 Operating Revenue 1033.44 1086.48 1133.91
2 Operating Cost 1617.07 1897.47 2063.64
3 Operating Ratio (1/2) 0.64 0.57 0.55
Source: Financial Data from MBMTU
2.2.9 City Bus Demand
There was a total of 11 operational routes in Mira-Bhayandar in September 2019 and in absence of
ETM data of city bus services, a Boarding & Alighting Survey was carried out on 9 routes to
understand and assess the travel pattern. Two routes 10 and 29 had both regular buses as well as AC
buses operating: albeit with different fare structures.
To undertake this survey, for each of the routes stop listing was done. Based on these stop wise tickets
were prepared. These were handed out to each boarding passenger by the conductor during the ticket
issue. For the alighting passenger, this boarding stop tag was collected, and the alighting stop marked
on the same. The survey was carried out from September 26, 2019 to October 4, 2019 (excluding
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weekends and public holidays). A total of 200 bus trips and 5530 passengers were captured in this
survey. Each of the routes was surveyed for around 6 hours in both directions. Taking into account the
peak periods in Mira-Bhayandar, the time slots were fixed as 06:00 hrs to 12:00 hrs and 16:00 hrs to
22:00 hrs for the survey. While the total ridership was available by routes, the sample survey was aimed
at collecting boarding and alighting stops of each bus passenger on the sampled routes. Table 19
presents the survey details of the routes surveyed.
Table 19: Boarding and Alighting Survey details-Mira Bhayandar
Sr
No
Rou
te
From To Trips covered during
survey (Bus 1)
Trips covered during
survey (Bus 2)
Trips
covere
d per
route
Up Down Up Down
Morning (6 A.M - 12 P.M)
1 21 Mira Road
Station
KD Empire 8 8 6 6 28
2 15 Mira Road
Station
Rashmi Complex 8 8 8 8 32
3 1 Bhayandar
Station (W)
Chimaji Appa
Chowk
3 3 3 3 12
4 2 Bhayandar
Station (W)
Uttan Naka 5 5 4 4 18
5 10 Bhayandar
Station (W)
Thane (Outside) 2 2 1 1 6
6 29 Mira Road
Station
Thane (Outside) 1 1 2 2 6
Evening (4 P.M - 10 P.M)
1 22 Mira Road
Station
Shanti Vidya
Nagari
6 6 5 5 22
2 16 Mira Road
Station
KD Empire 8 8 8 8 32
3 4 Bhayandar
Station (W)
Pagoda 2 2 2 2 8
4 6 Uttan Naka Manori Tar 4 4 4 4 16
5 24 Mira Road
Station
Western Park 5 5 5 5 20
The daily ridership was estimated as 23800 passengers per day. As per ETM data of February 2020,
there were 13 operational routes and the average daily ridership on bus services was about 43800, each
route ridership is presented in Table 20 below.
This section presents the route-wise assessment in terms of ridership, boarding alighting, line loading,
maximum line loading and the load factor. This also indicates major boarding/ alighting nodes within
routes. Line loading along with boarding alighting graphs for each route are presented in Annexure 2;
the system is a mixture of routes with few routes being undersupply and others being oversupplied.
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Table 20: Route wise performance parameters details
Route
no. Dir Description
Route
Length
(km)
Avg. trip
Length
(km)
Headway
(min)
Total
B/A
Peak
Hour
Max_Pax
load Type of bus Load factor
1
U Bhayandar Station (W)-Chimaji Appa
Chowk 14.2
7.4
20
82 9 – 10 am 68 Standard 0.97
D Chimaji Appa Chowk-Bhayandar Station
(W) 7.3 117 6 - 7 am 105 Standard 1.50
2 U Bhayandar Station (W)-Uttan Naka
10.2 6.7
14 41 8 - 9 am 39 Standard 0.56
D Uttan Naka-Bhayandar Station (W) 7.1 62 6 - 7 am 49 Standard 0.70
4 U Bhayandar Station (W)-Pagoda
16.1 7.4
40 62 5 - 6 pm 54 Standard 0.77
D Pagoda-Bhayandar Station (W) 11.6 60 5 - 6 pm 49 Standard 0.70
6 U Uttan Naka-Manori Tar
11.6 5.5
27 57 7 - 8 pm 35 Midi bus 0.78
D Manori Tar-Uttan Naka 6.4 41 7 - 8 pm 36 Midi bus 0.80
8 U Uttan Naka to Gorai Tar
9.7 6.2
30 56 8 - 9 am 54 Midi bus 1.20
D Gorai Tar-Uttan Naka 6.1 43 6 – 7 pm 32 Midi bus 0.71
10
U Bhayandar Station (W)-Thane (Outside)
34.5
13.3
23
74 9 - 10 am 72 Standard 1.03
D Thane (Outside)-Bhayandar Station (W) 12.7 45 11 - 12
pm 30 Standard 0.43
10
(AC)
U Bhayandar Station (W)-Thane (Outside)
34.5
20.2
60
29 9 - 10 am 29 AC Standard 0.41
D Thane (Outside)-Bhayandar Station (W) 22.3 6 11 - 12
pm 6 AC Standard 0.09
14 U Uttan Naka to Gorai Tar
13.5 4.5
15 118 9 – 10 am 70 Standard 1.00
D Gorai Tar-Uttan Naka 4.3 150 7 – 8 pm 123 Standard 1.76
15 U Mira Road Station -Rashmi Complex
4.5 2.3
10 76
10 - 11
am 76 Standard 1.09
D Rashmi Complex-Mira Road Station 2.2 44 9 - 10 am 40 Standard 0.57
16 U Mira Road Station -Kd Empire
4.3 2.3
8 52 7 - 8 pm 49 Standard 0.70
D Kd Empire-Mira Road Station 2.5 47 6 - 7 pm 47 Standard 0.67
21 U Mira Road Station -Kd Empire 4.5 2.7 14 35 9 - 10 am 35 Standard 0.50
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Route
no. Dir Description
Route
Length
(km)
Avg. trip
Length
(km)
Headway
(min)
Total
B/A
Peak
Hour
Max_Pax
load Type of bus Load factor
D Kd Empire-Mira Road Station 2.6 19 9 - 10 am 19 Standard 0.27
22 U Mira Road Station -Shanti Vidya Nagari
5 2.5
13 28 5 - 6 pm 26 Standard 0.37
D Shanti Vidya Nagari-Mira Road Station 2.3 17 7 - 8 pm 17 Standard 0.24
24 U Mira Road Station -Western Park
6.5 3.1
10 55 6 - 7 pm 50 Standard 0.71
D Western Park-Mira Road Station 3 51 6 - 7 pm 46 Standard 0.66
29
(AC)
U Mira Road Station -Thane (Outside)
27.7
21.1
28
15 9 - 10 am 15 AC Standard 0.21
D Thane (Outside)-Mira Road Station 23.2 7 11 - 12
pm 7 AC Standard 0.10
29
U Mira Road Station -Thane (Outside)
27.7
15.8
70
50 9 - 10 am 50 Standard 0.71
D Thane (Outside)-Mira Road Station 13.4 39 11 - 12
pm 33 Standard 0.47
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2.2.9.1 Temporal City Bus Demand
The ridership variation (Figure 16) was compared for routes within MBMC and suburban routes using
ETM data for 13 routes. It can be seen that the profile is similar for both within city and suburban
services. The morning peak hour is extended from 8:30 am – 11:30 am while the evening peak hour is
from 17:00 – 20:00. The peak demand is observed to be around 10% of the daily demand.
Figure 16: Temporal variation of bus system demand
Source: ETM February 2020, MBMTU
2.2.9.2 Route wise Ridership
There has been an increase in ridership from September 2019 till February 2020 (refer Figure 17) as the
operational fleet has increased from 39 buses to 54 buses. Per bus per day ridership in September 2019
was 614 persons which increased to 812 persons in February 2020. Also, the operations began on route
no. 8 and route no. 14 which adds up to a total ridership of about 4800.
Figure 17: Ridership changes from September 2019 to February 2020 Source: BA Survey (Sept 2019); ETM Data (Feb 2020)
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It was observed in a very short span of operations that increasing frequency has resulted in increasing
the ridership by 83.17%. Table 21 below shows route wise ridership with its frequency, ridership has
increased from September 2019 to February 2020 on almost all routes. The peak headways have been
improved from about 20min to 5-12 min on all routes which result in65.73% increase in daily vehicle
km travelled. For sub-urban routes also the service headways are all less than equal to 15 minutes
during peak hours going up to 30 minutes in the off-peak hours. Overall passenger demand elasticity
computed with respect to vehicle km is 1.27; while demand elasticity to service frequency is 1. It
should, however, be noted that higher elasticity values are seen due to the introduction of a new bus
system in the city. In such a situation it is expected that ridership buildup would be high in the initial
period. With an improvement in service levels till it reaches its full potential over its build up period of
1-2 years.
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Table 21: Ridership and Frequency difference from Sep 2019 to Feb 2020
Type of
routes
Routes
No.
Sep-19 February 2020 (ETM)
%
ridership
change
%
change
in Veh
Km
Peak
headway
(Min)
Off peak
headway
(Min)
*Vehicle
Km - Sept
2019
Ridership -
BA survey Peak
headway
(Min)
Off peak
headway
(Min)
*Vehicle
Km - Feb
2020
Ridership-
ETM
(Sept 2019) (February
2020)
City
1 15 20 1,558 5,046 12 20 1,684 4,812 -5% 8%
2 20 20 1,050 2,571 8 20 1,306 4,462 74% 24%
15 20 20 432 1,819 10 20 524 3,604 98% 21%
16 20 20 413 3,784 9 15 511 3,802 0% 24%
21 20 20 210 1,016 7 20 595 2,217 118% 183%
22 25 25 230 1,011 10 20 650 1,719 70% 182%
24 20 20 684 3,755 5 12 1,066 6,651 77% 56%
Sub-total
4,578 19,002
6,335 27,267 43% 38%
Sub-
urban
4 45 55 543 993 15 15 819 1,680 69% 51%
6 25 30 830 1,436 15 30 826 1,975 38% 0%
8
- NA NA 474 173
10 30 30 1,127 1,528 15 30 2,559 5,160 238% 127%
14
- 8 15 751 4,586
29 30 45 1,127 977 12 30 1,834 3,002 207% 63%
Sub-total
3,627 4,934
7,263 16,576 236% 100%
Grand Total
8,205 23,936
13,598 43,843 83% 66%
*Operator, MBMTU
Source: BA Survey (Sept 2019); ETM Data (Feb 2020)
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2.2.9.3 Public Transport Demand vs. Supply
The passenger flows on the network were compared against the bus flows to see how well the demand
matches the supply. From Figure 18 below it can be observed that on certain corridors the supply is
quite high w.r.t. demand which could be because of overlapping/ centralized route structure. Competing
IPT routes on these corridors could also be the reason for lesser demand on PT.
Figure 18: Bus supply vs demand analysis
2.2.10 Existing Intermediate Public Transport (IPT) System
The city has around 9000 auto rickshaws operating and in absence of a PT system, these have now
evolved as a proxy-PT service providing shared service on all the major corridors in the city. With new
bus services being initiated in the city, such IPT operations act as a competitor to buses. Instead, IPT
should ideally act as a feeder to PT services.
To understand the entire operational network of shared auto rickshaw in the city, a reconnaissance
survey was carried out to identify major nodes where these are parked from where these routes are
operated. It can be seen in the map below; shared auto route/ corridor is operating till Garoi which is
beyond MBMC. An on-board survey was carried out on autos from different nodes to identify the major
corridors and stops covered by them. A total of 24 routes were identified with a network length of 49.5
km and 30 major IPT stops (refer Figure 19). Based on this, the major nodes/stands of auto rickshaws
identified are listed below and shown in Table 22 below.
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Figure 19: Shared auto rickshaw nodes and network
In terms of concentration of auto-rickshaws during the peak hours, the ten locations can be categorized
under two groups:
Table 22: Major auto rickshaw nodes within the city
High demand locations Moderate demand locations
Mira Road Station
Bhayandar Station
Golden Nest
Kashimira
Bhakti Vedanta
Hatkesh
Uttan
Shivar Garden
Maxus Mall
BP Road
For demand assessment on IPT, a sample survey of passengers at major nodes was carried out. During
the survey, auto passenger was asked the entire trip information such as origin point, auto boarding
stop, alighting stop, access and egress modes, cost of travel and time taken for each leg were collected.
A total of 700 passengers’ OD was asked as sample and were expanded using CVC counts at various
location. Total expanded IPT demand is around 2.9 lakh in a day which can be considered as potential
PT demand.
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The fare levels for shared autos are shown in Table 23 below:
Table 23: Fare of Shared Autos
Sr no Shared Auto Rickshaw Route Fare (INR)
Minimum Maximum
1 From Mira Road Station (Stops - Hatkesh, Shivar Garden, Bhakti
Vedanta, Silver park, Kashimira)
10 20
2 From Bhayandar Station (Stops - BP Road, Golden Nest, Uttan
naka, Navghar Fata, Gorai)
10 30
Source: October 2019 Primary survey, CoE-UT CRDF
2.2.11 PT and IPT Demand in 2020
The daily average PT demand is about 44,000 for 15 operational routes from ETM data of Feb 2020.
ETM data has been processed as input into the model. Similarly, IPT OD data has also been added to
the model. Table 24 below shows the PT and IPT demand summary, where about 20% demand is city –
sub urban interaction and about 20% is sub urban – sub urban.
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Table 24: Ridership Details
City Sub Urban
City Bus Demand
Internal 31470 (71.4%) 4246 (9.6%)
External 4246 (9.6%) 4112 (9.3%)
Total PT Ridership: 44,074
IPT Demand
City 288640 (98.3%) 3517 (1.2%)
Sub urban 1107 (0.4%) 316 (0.1%)
Total IPT Ridership: 2,93,580
Source: February 2020 ETM data MBMTU and Prmary Auto surveys October 2019
It can be observed that city has a total of about 3.5 lakhs daily trips which are on PT and IPT, of which
PT caters to about 12% of passengers. The income and vehicle ownership profiles of bus and auto users
also are very similar. Therefore, there seems to be a huge market opportunity for PT system if it can be
designed appropriately. The study thus considers both these demand for further analysis.
Figure 20 and Figure 21 below shows the passenger flows on the PT and IPT transit networks. It can be
seen that the auto passenger flows are significantly higher than the city bus flows. Kashimira road has
about 650 PPHPD for PT and 840 PPHPD near Mira road railway station, whereas IPT has 3600
PPHPD and 3000 PPHPD respectively which is significantly high compared to PT.
Figure 20: Base year PT (bus passenger) flows (2020)
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Figure 21: Base year year IPT (shared auto passenger) flows (2020)
2.2.11.1 Demand Pattern
Figure 22 below shows the travel pattern of city bus users. It is observed that major trip interaction from
Mira Road station is towards the east of the railway line while from Bhayandar station is towards the
west of the railway line. Major interaction is from Mira road station to Hatkesh, Kashimira and Ramdev
nagar. And major interactions Bhayandar station is to Morva, Raigaon and Hatkesh.
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Figure 22: Travel pattern of city bus users (Top 100 OD pairs and other OD pairs)
Similarly, Figure 23 below shows the travel pattern of IPT users. It is observed that the majority of trips
interaction is from Mira Road station and Bhayandar Railway Station. Trip interaction from Mira Road
station is very high towards the east of railway line while interaction from Bhayandar station is seen
more towards Jesal nagar, Navghar phata in the east and towards Maxus mall and Mira Hospital in the
west of Railway line. The interaction further intensifies from Golden nest to Kashimira Junction and
Kashigaon.
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Figure 23: Travel pattern of IPT users (Top 100 OD pairs and other OD pairs)
It can be seen from the plots that IPT users have shorter trip distances than bus users. The average trip
length of IPT users is about 2.7 km while for bus users it is 6.0 km. These have been computed from
ETM demand, BA survey for IPT and stop to stop distance computed from model. It is observed that
about 72.5% of IPT users have trip length up to 3 km and 33% of total PT trips have trip length up to 3
km. The trip length frequency distribution for PT and IPT is presented in Figure 24 below.
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Figure 24: Trip length frequency distribution – PT & IPT
2.2.11.2 Major Boarding Locations – PT and IPT
The major passenger boarding stops can be seen in Figure 25 below. It can be seen that more than 800
people board from Mira road station and about 400 passengers board from Bhayandar Railway Station
on daily basis.
Figure 25: Major boarding locations of Bus users
The major boarding bus stops in the city are:
0-1 1-2 2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6 6-7 7-8 8-9 9-10 10-11 11-12 >12
IPT Users 14.67% 27.83% 29.91% 12.73% 7.63% 3.21% 1.73% 0.05% 0.29% 0.05% 0.38% 0.32% 1.18%
PT Users 1.38% 7.68% 24.09% 14.92% 11.10% 7.72% 2.58% 2.10% 4.85% 6.56% 2.96% 3.38% 10.68%
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
30.00%
35.00%%
tri
ps
Trip Length Frequency Distribution of PT and IPT users
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1. Mira Road station
2. Bhayandar Station
3. S K Stone Police station
4. Kashimira
5. Uttan Naka
The major boarding nodes for IPT users are presented in Figure 26 below. The major boarding nodes
for IPT users are Golden Nest with about 10500 boardings per hour and Bhayandar Station with about
2200 hourly boarding each followed by Mira Road station, S K Stone police station, Navghar Phata,
Maxus Mall and Unique Gardens.
Figure 26: Major total boarding locations of IPT users
2.2.11.3 Comparison of PT versus IPT network and demand
The passenger flows on the PT and IPT network is presented in Figure 27 below. It can be seen that the
network covered by shared autos are much higher than the PT network. Along with the coverage, the
easy availability of shared autos has led to auto passenger flows being significantly higher than the
passenger bus flows. Kashimira road has about 650 PPHPD for PT and 840 PPHPD near Mira road
railway station, whereas IPT has 3000 PPHPD and 2500 PPHPD respectively which is significantly
high compared to PT. The IPT passenger flows are about 1800 PPHPD in Bhayandar East where PT
routes are not available.
In terms of the demand patterns, it is observed that major bus trip interactions are from Mira Road
station towards east of railway line while from Bhayandar station interaction is towards the west of
railway line. Mira road station has passenger demand coming from Hatkesh, Kashimira and Ramdev
nagar, while for Bhayandar station interactions are with to Morva, Raigaon and Hatkesh areas. There
are no interactions in Bhayandar East as no bus routes currently operating in this area.
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PT Network IPT Network
Demand Flows of PT users Demand Flows of IPT users
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Demand Pattern of PT users Demand Pattern of IPT users
Figure 27: PT and IPT demand pattern in Mira Bhayandar
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The major IPT trip interaction is from Mira Road station and Bhayandar Railway Station. Trip
interaction from Mira Road station is very high towards the east of railway line while interaction from
Bhayandar station is seen more towards Jesal nagar, Navghar phata in the east and towards Maxus mall
and Mira Hospital in the west of Railway line. The interaction further intensifies from Golden nest to
Kashimira Junction and Kashigaon.
2.2.12 Private Demand Patterns
Using the private vehicle survey (300 samples) at major parking locations conducted in Mira
Bhayandar, demand patterns for private vehicles was analysed. Based on the desire line diagram of
private vehicles, new areas to be connected can be identified.
Figure 28: Travel pattern of private vehicle (2W & 4W) users
The travel pattern as obtained from OD surveys of 2W and 4W users is presented in Figure 28 above.
The major nodes for 2W users are Mira Road Station, Bhayandar station, Golden Nest and Bhakti
Vedanta. The demand pattern is quite similar to the IPT demand pattern. For 4W users, Golden Nest
and Bhayandar Station are the major destinations in the city. The 4W also perform external trips to
other parts of Mumbai.
2.3 Observations
Following observations were made based on the analysis of existing city bus services, IPT demand and
private modes demand pattern within Mira Bhayandar.
Mira-Bhayandar is a small city in terms of its physical expanse and has a lot of commuting
population to Mumbai. The commuting population predominantly use rail services, As a result
of which PT is centralised with all the routes originating/ending at either Mira Road Railway
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station, Bhayandar Railway station. Considering the city size, one-many route structure is
useful in providing direct connectivity to various places in the city.
City services covers about 82% developed area in the city, howeverhigh frequency network
covers only 48% of the city’s developed area.
The existing route structure completely neglects Bhayandar East area which is major
residential zone in the city
Almost 3.5 lakhs of daily trips in the city are performed either by IPT and PT mode. The share
of IPT is about 87%.
With improvement in bus service levels, facilitating a shift from IPT to PT could be possible.
Some of the reasons are:
o Average trip length of bus trips is 6km (city and suburban) on bus and 2.7km on IPT,
however, a closer look at the intra-city trips on buses show that 66% of these trips have
an average trip length below 3.5km. This shows that intra-city passengers with short
trip lengths have also shifted to city buses as service levels have improved.
o Significant fare difference (40%) between PT and IPT services – passengers who are
sensitive to cost are also likely to shift to buses, if the service availability improves.
In terms of fleet size, Mira Bhayandar would require about a total of 120-500 buses depending
on the Level of Service targeted. As per MoHUA Service Level Benchmarks, cities should
have a minimum of 0.1 buses as per LOS 3, 0.25 for LOS 2 and 0.4 as per LOS 1. Currently,
66 buses i.e. 0.07 buses per 1000 population, are owned by MBMTU.
Since the bus services have been recently reinitiated in the city, the demand builds up will take time.
However, over 3-4 months (Sept 19 – February 20) with the addition of fleet, improvements in area
coverage and frequencies have shown results and yielded almost 100% growth in passenger ridership.
During peak hours, the service frequencies for urban services should be in the range of 5-8 minutes to
attract passengers on-board. Hence, route planning for improving coverage and service planning of the
system in terms of headway and fleet is imperative.
2.4 Proposed Bus Network
The baseline analysis was useful to understand the existing bus network structures and the issues. It
helped identify the high demand corridors in the city and helped ascertain areas that are currently
uncovered by bus services. This section presents the proposed route rationalisation scenario(s). The
concept of route rationalisation and service plan works on the decision on whether the city should go for
a “Simple and direct network structures” or a set of “hierarchy of lines (trunk and feeder)” or ring and
radial. This is governed by the city structure, road network pattern, demand pattern and trip lengths. If
the trip lengths are short, say around 5-6 km, a trunk and feeder system may not work.
2.4.1 Future Network Scenarios
Based on the demand patterns, routes and service frequencies have been computed. For analysis, the
following scenarios are being considered:
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Table 25: Scenario description Scenarios Description
Business As Usual
(BAU)
This scenario refers to the routes being operated by MBMTU currently. In addition,
there is a plan to add 6 more routes and hence this is being considered as the BAU
scenario.
Scenario 1: Alternative
proposal 1
A Bus Modernisation study was conducted in 2014 for MBMC which has been taken
as Scenario 1. This scenario includes minor changes in existing routes frequency and
few more additional routes proposed as per BAU approach, therefore overall route
structure remains nearly same.
Scenario 2: Alternative
Proposal 2
Based on demand analysis and centralized demand patterns, this study proposes
changes in the existing routes structures. Some of the considerations taken are
existing high demand routes/ corridors, overall city wide demand pattern, major origin
and destinations nodes, consolidation of routes to reduce overlapping.
Thus the proposed changes fall in two categories – modifications in existing routes
including changes frequencies and recommendations for new routes.
2.4.1.1 Business As Usual
Table 26 below shows the summary of existing 13 routes under operations and 5 additional routes to be
implemented (Figure 29). The alignment/ map of each existing and these additional routes are presented
in Annexure 3.
Table 26: BAU Routes 2020
Route
No.
EMME
Code
Route Description City /
Suburban
Routes
Length
(km)
Headway
(min)
Fleet deployment
Peak Off
Peak
MIDI Standard AC
Operational Routes
1 MB1 Bhayandar st.(W) to Chowk City 14.2 20 20 0 5 0
2 MB2 Bhayandar st.(W) to Uttan Naka City 10.3 14 14 0 5 0
15 MB15 Mira Road St.(E) to Rasmi
Comp.via. s.k.ston Bevaly park
cine max
City 4.1 10 10 0 4 0
16 MB16 Mira Road St.(E) to Laxmi Park
Tiwari College vai Cinemax
City 3.2 8 8 0 5 0
21 MB21 Mira Road Station [E] to
Ramdev Park Via Rasaz Theater
Bharati Park Shivar Garden
City 3.1 14 14 0 3 0
22 MB22 Mira Road Station [E] to Shanti
Vidhya Nagari Via Jain Mandir
Vijay Park Silver Park
City 4.4 13 13 0 4 0
24 MB24 Mira Road Station [E] to
Western Park
City 5.7 10 10 0 6 0
4 MB4 Bhayandar st.(W) to Essel World Sub 16.1 40 40 0 3 0
6 MB6 Uttan Naka to Manori Tar Sub 11.6 27 27 3 0 0
8 MB8 Uttan Naka to Gorai Tar Sub 9.7 30 30 2 0 0
10 MB10 Bhayandar st.(W) to Thane St. Sub 34.5 23 23 0 8 0
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Route
No.
EMME
Code
Route Description City /
Suburban
Routes
Length
(km)
Headway
(min)
Fleet deployment
Peak Off
Peak
MIDI Standard AC
(E) Kopari) Via W.E.H
Majiwada
10
AC
MB10
AC
Bhayandar st.(W) to Thane St.
(E) Kopari) Via W.E.H
Majiwada
Sub 34.5 60 60 0 0 3
14 MB14 Bhayandar st.( E) to Magathane
Depo Via kashimira borivali St
(E)
Sub 13.5 15 15 0 8 0
29 MB29 Mira Road Station [E] to Thane
Kopari
Sub 30.2 28 28 0 5 0
29
AC
MB29
AC
Mira Road Station [E] to Thane
Kopari
Sub 30.2 70 70 0 0 2
Proposed/ additional Routes
5 MBN5 Bhayandar Station [W] to Maxus
Mall
City 5.9 13 13 1 1 0
20 MBN20 Bhayandar Station [W] to Morva City 5.5 20 20 0 2 0
23 MBN23 Bhayandar Station [E] Vai
Ghoddev Naka Indralok Mira
Road Station [E] Royal College
City 15 37 37 0 3 0
28 MBN28 Mira Road St. to Ideal Park City 2.2 15 15 0 2 0
3 MBN3 Bhayandar st.(W) to Manori Tar Sub 19.3 60 60 2 0 0
12 MBN12 Bhayandar st.( E) to Magathane
Depot Via Mira Road St.
Borivali St (E)
Sub 13.1 40 40 0 2 0
Total fleet size 79
Source: MBMTU
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Figure 29: Additional routes to be implemented
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2.4.1.2 Scenario 1: Alternative Proposal 1
In 2014, MBMC with consultancy support from UMTC has conducted a study on Bus Modernisation
Plan for the city which was focused on studying existing routes at that time and proposing routes
modifications, frequency improvement and proposing new routes. As per the report provided, the bus
routes were planned in such a way that it serves the highest quality service to potential users within a
given budget and were developed to meet the needs of the selected group of travellers. The basic
principle adopted for route rationalisation were:
Direct linkage between the user’s origin and destination with no transfers
At a time, convenient to the user
At a cost competitive with the automobile
To improve the overall bus service in MBMC, the route planning interventions were proposed under
three areas –
Improved headway of existing (Year 2014) routes to meet the required demand
Modification of existing bus routes – extension / curtailment of the routes of that time
Proposed new bus routes
Looking at the proposed route structure, it can be classified as partial route rationalisation as many of
them are kept same with improved frequency and few more new routes have been proposed. Figure 30
below shows the route structure proposed. It is observed that there is a significant overlap of the routes
on major corridors. There are 39 routes as mentioned in Table 27 below with some 4 routes extended, 1
route curtailed and 12 newly proposed routes. The frequency of about 90% of the routes have been
increased by changing their headways. The full plan was prepared for a total of 591 buses in the city.
However, the proposed fleet size is difficult to procure by the current assessment year i.e. FY 2023,
therefore, the fleet size is assumed about 190 as a gradual build-up of fleet for the assessment year by
reducing headway. Details of the routes as modified and proposed in the City Bus Route Rationalization
report by MBMC, is presented in Table 27 below.
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Figure 30: Route Structure for Scenario 1
Source: Proposed by MBMC and UMTC in 2014, coded in model by CoE-UT, CRDF
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Table 27: List of proposed routes by MBMC – Scenario 1
Sl.
No.
Route
No.
From- To Existing
Route
Length
(KM)
Existing
Headway
(min)
Modified/Proposed Route Proposed
Route
Length
(KM)
Proposed
Headway
(min) –
Peak hours
Proposed
Headway
(min) – Off
peak hours
Remarks Estimated
Fleet
1 1 Bhayandar st.(W)
to Chowk
14.2 30 - - 20 26 Headway
modification
6
2 2 Bhayandar st.(W)
to Uttan Naka
10.3 15 - - 20 26 Headway
modification
4
3 3 Bhayandar st.(W)
to Manori Tar
19.3 110 - - 40 52 Headway
modification
4
4 4 Bhayandar st.(W)
to Essel World
16.1 50 - - 20 26 Headway
modification
6
5 5 Bhayandar Station
[W] to Maxus
Mall
2.9 40 - - 20 26 Headway
modification
2
6 6 Uttan Naka to
Manori Tar Road
11.6 30 Uttan Chowk to Manori Tar via Uttan
Naka, Gorai Cross
15.3 20 26 Extension &
modified
headway
6
7 7 Bhayandar st.(E)
to Varsova Bridge
/ Kajpurpada
14.2 45 Bhayandar st.(E) to Varsova Bridge /
Kajpurpada via Ghoddev Naka,
Golden Nest, Shivar Garden, Silver
Park, Sanghvi Nagar, Shanti Vidya
Nagari, Raj Bucket Factory,
Ghodbandar Gaon, Western Hotel
11.4 20 26 Curtailment &
modified
headway
5
8 10 Bhayandar st.(W)
to Thane St. (E)
Kopari)
34.5 60 - - 30 39 Headway
modification
8
9 11 Bhayandar st.( E)
to Magathane
Depo
13.2 60 - - 20 26 Headway
modification
5
10 12 Bhayandar st.( E)
to Magathane
Depot
13.1 60 - - 20 26 Headway
modification
5
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Sl.
No.
Route
No.
From- To Existing
Route
Length
(KM)
Existing
Headway
(min)
Modified/Proposed Route Proposed
Route
Length
(KM)
Proposed
Headway
(min) –
Peak hours
Proposed
Headway
(min) – Off
peak hours
Remarks Estimated
Fleet
11 13 Versova Brige to
Magathane
Depo
12.7 60 - - 20 20 Headway
modification
5
12 14 Bhayandar st.( E)
to Magathane
Depot
13.5 20 - - 20 26 6
13 15 Mira Road St.(E)
to Rashmi
Complex.
3.3 7 Mira Road St.(E) to Ghodbandar
Gaon.via. Via Narayan Marble,
Bevarli Park, RBK School, Laxmi
Park, Mari Gold , Rashmi Complex,
Raj Bucket Factory
5 10 13 Extension &
modified
headway
5
14 16 Mira Road St.(E)
to Unique Park
3.4 20 - - 6 8 Headway
modification
7
15 17 Bhayandar st to
Western Park
8.6 90 - - 40 52 Headway
modification
2
16 18 Western Park to
Jogeshwari [West]
20.1 60 - - 20 26 Headway
modification
8
17 19 Bhayandar Station
[E] to Penkarpada
8.8 40 - - 30 39 Headway
modification
3
18 20 Bhayandar Station
[W] to Morva
5.5 25 - - 20 26 Headway
modification
3
19 21 Mira Road Station
[E] to Ramdev
Park
3.1 8 Mira Road Station [E] to Ghoddev
Naka Via Rasaz Theater Bharati Park
Shivar Garden, Ramdev Park
4.79 10 13 Extension &
modified
headway
5
20 22 Mira Road Station
[E] to Shanti
Vidhya Nagari
4.4 11 Mira Road Station [E] to Ghodbandar
Gaon Via Jain Mandir, Vijay Park,
Silver Park, Shanti Vidhya Nagari
5.4 6 13 Extension &
modified
headway
9
21 23 Bhayandar Station
[E] to Mira Gaon
8.7 20 - - 15 20 Headway
modification
5
22 24 Mira Road Station 5.7 20 - - 20 26 3
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Sl.
No.
Route
No.
From- To Existing
Route
Length
(KM)
Existing
Headway
(min)
Modified/Proposed Route Proposed
Route
Length
(KM)
Proposed
Headway
(min) –
Peak hours
Proposed
Headway
(min) – Off
peak hours
Remarks Estimated
Fleet
[E] to Western
Park
23 27 Bhayandar Station
[W] to Bhivandi
46.9 120 - - 60 78 Headway
modification
6
24 28 Mira road st. to
Ideal Park
2.9 20 - - 8 10 Headway
modification
5
25 29 Mira road (E) to
Thane Kopari
34.5 120 - - 60 78 Headway
modification
4
26 30 Bhayandar Station
[W] to Shirsadh
Phata
36.5 90 - - 40 59 Headway
modification
7
27 33 Bhayandar st. (w)
to Ullasnagar
61.2 240 - - 90 117 Headway
modification
5
28 35 - - - Bhayandar Stn (W) to Borivali (W)
via Golden Nest, Nayanagar Rd, Mira
Rd (E), Ganesh temple, Check
Naka, Ketki Pada, St. Mary School,
Bhagvati Hospital
18 20 26 Proposed
Route
7
29 36 - - - Bhayandar Station (E) to Indralok via
Dp Road, Vimal Dairy
2 15 20 Proposed
Route
2
30 37 - - - Mira Road Stn (E) to Cinemax via
Poonam Garden
Road
3 15 20 Proposed
Route
2
31 38 - - - Bhayandar Stn (E) to Bhivandi (via
NH-8) via
Kashimira, Varsova Bridge,
Chincholi Phata, Dhamankar Naka,
Anand Dighe Chk, Bhivandi
bridge
51 40 26 Proposed
Route
9
32 39 - - - Mira Road Stn (E) to Thakur College 14 20 26 Proposed 6
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Sl.
No.
Route
No.
From- To Existing
Route
Length
(KM)
Existing
Headway
(min)
Modified/Proposed Route Proposed
Route
Length
(KM)
Proposed
Headway
(min) –
Peak hours
Proposed
Headway
(min) – Off
peak hours
Remarks Estimated
Fleet
(Borivali) Route
33 40 - - - Mira Rd (E) to Mulund (E) via
Ghodbunder Road
36 70 78 Proposed
Route
3
34 41 - - - Mira Road Stn (E) to Indralok via
Golden Nest
3 15 20 Proposed
Route
3
35 42 - - - Bhayandar Stn (W) to Chendani
Koliwada (Thane) via Golden Nest,
Kashimira, Varsova
Bridge,Majiwada, Court Naka
32 20 26 Proposed
Route
12
36 43 - - - Bhayandar Stn (E) to Bhayandar
Stn(E) via
Kharigaon, DP Road, Ghoddev Naka
(Circular Route), Navghar Naka,
Salasar
3 20 26 Proposed
Route
2
37 44 - - - Bhayandar Stn (W) to Mira Road Stn
(E) via Police
Stn, Golden Nest, SK Stone
7 20 26 Proposed
Route
3
38 45 - - - Penkarpada to Mangathane Depot via
Dahisar
Naka, Dahisar (E), Borivali (E)
6 40 52 Proposed
Route
1
39 46 - - - Bhyanader (W) to Mantralaya 48 240 117 Proposed
Route
1
Total Fleet Estimated – On road 190
Source: MBMC and UMTC, Bus Modernisation Plan for MBMC, 2014
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2.4.1.3 Scenario 2: Alternative Proposal 2
This scenario is based on route planning principles along with the existing travel demand patterns.
2.4.1.3.1 Route Design and Planning Principles
1. Network Structure: This depends on city structure, in the ring radial city, arterial rings and
radial become trunk corridors and the rest becomes feeder. If the city follows grid iron pattern,
major arterial would become trunk and other become feeder to it. Mira Bhayandar is a small
city with the average trip length within the city of around 5-6 km on PT and the major nodes
are the two rail stations. Railway plays an important part in connecting Mira Bhayandar to the
suburban areas and rest of the Mumbai. It acts as a trunk PT line for the feeder bus services
with around 50% of bus users travelling to Mira Road railway station and Bhayandar railway
station. Therefore, the proposed bus routes have centralized route structures with some
additional complementary routes.
2. Coverage: The city bus network would attempt to cover the entire developed area, so that bus
services are available to the residents within easy reach (5 minutes of walking distance). This
would improve access to bus services and reduce out of vehicle time for users.
3. Frequency of services: Apart from ensuring area coverage, a certain minimum level of bus
services would have to be provided, so that people have travel opportunities even in areas
which have a low level of demand. A minimum frequency of 3-4 buses/hour would be
considered for any urban service. By looking at the demand, it may not be feasible for all the
routes to have high bus frequencies, but to attract people it is preferable to have 3-4 buses every
hour.
4. Apart from this, consolidation of routes along major demand corridors would be done so that
passengers get frequent and “simple to understand” bus services.
5. Network simplicity: Too many bus routes increase confusion for passengers and make it
difficult for new passengers / occasional users to understand. The network structure would
therefore be simple with direct connections between important areas of travel demand. The
routes would follow direct and short connections rather than trying to cover all market segments
on the way with detours, making journeys slow and uncomfortable.
Figure 31 below presents the conventional network planning approach which is similar to the existing
route structure versus the network planning approach that should be adopted for route planning
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Conventional routes planning approach
• Numerous lines on one/ two corridors
• Direct services
• Forcefully travel through city center
• Few local travel opportunities in the suburbs
• Less frequent services except one/ two corridors
• Uneven intervals in radial corridors;
• Leading to convoying, bunching and over bus
supplied on one/ two corridors
• Leading towards more congestion around city
center/ terminals.
• Except for one or two locations, transfer for
passengers is very diffcicult.
• Bus traffic congestion in the CBD.
• Difficult for new/ occasional user to trace the bus
route.
Network planning approach
• Few lines but distributed across the city
• Direction based services
• Provides opportunity to travel directly with
one/ max two transfers
• Local travel opportunities in the suburbs
• High/ medium frequency services across the
city
• Leading towards uniform supply and met the
demand across the city.
• Decongest the city center/ existing terminals.
• No large city terminal in terms of number of
routes
• Transfer becomes mandatory which needs to
be taken care with high frequency services and
developing other infrastructure facilities.
Figure 31: Conventional routes planning vs. network planning approach
Transfers: Providing easy transfer opportunities for passengers wanting to use multiple services in a
single journey is important, though Mira Bhayandar with shorter trip length may not require taking
multiple services for most of the passengers. However, a quick and convenient transfer supports fast
journeys to dispersed destinations within a public transport network. The high-frequency bus services
will require minimal coordination with other routes.
2.4.1.3.2 Identification of High Demand Routes
The existing city routes with high demand levels were considered while developing proposed route
structures. Figure 32 and Figure 33 below show the high demand for PT and IPT routes in Mira
Bhayandar. The major demand corridors can be identified through these existing routes. It can be seen
that these PT routes do not connect most of the activity centers as listed in the previous section. The
area in the eastern part of Bhayandar is uncovered, also the residential areas like Unique gardens,
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Ramdev Park etc. are not covered by PT routes. The high demand IPT routes connect to major activity
centers as mentioned in the above section.
Figure 32: High Demand PT Routes
Figure 33: High Demand IPT Routes
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2.4.1.3.3 Proposed Bus Routes
Based on the principles outlined above, a total of 23 routes have been proposed considering the key
strategies as below:
Same as existing: The routes with high demand, have been kept as they are, not to disturb the
travel pattern of existing passengers.
Truncating existing routes: The routes marginally lower in demand, are truncated to reduce
overlapping to bring simplicity to the network
Extension: The routes which can be extended to increase coverage or to improve the
connectivity, have been extended.
Partial modification: Few routes may require modification to improve connectivity by
changing the existing alignment.
New routes: Providing connectivity to new areas to improve coverage and to promote mobility
on buses. These are mainly covering existing shared auto routes, which are currently not catered
by the bus system.
Examples of each of the above accepted strategy are presented in Figure 34 below:
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Figure 34: Proposed feeder, complementary and sub urban routes
The proposed routes under each category presented above have been presented in Table 28 below along
with peak hour headways and fleet mix with size. It is estimated considering supply-based approach and
has been further analyzed in business plan approach considering service requirements and financial
implications. Figure 35 below present the proposed feeder routes from Bhayandar and Mira road
railway stations, new intra-city routes and sub urban routes. The alignment/ map of proposed each route
is presented in Annexure 4.
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Feeder routes from Bhyandar railway station – 7 city routes
Feeder routes from Mira road railway station – 6 city routes
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Complementary routes from Mira road railway station – 3 city routes
Proposed sub urban routes – 6 routes
Figure 35: Proposed feeder, complementary and sub urban routes
The list of proposed routes is presented in Table 28 below.
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Table 28: Proposed routes
Route_
no
EMME_
code
Route
Description
Length
(km)
Route
type
Service
type Remarks Bus type
FY 2023 FY 2025 FY 2030
Off Peak
Hdw
(min)
Peak
Hdw
(min)
Fleet
Off
Peak
Hdw
(min)
Peak
Hdw
(min)
Fleet
Off
Peak
Hdw
(min)
Peak
Hdw
(min)
Fleet
1 MB1
Bhayandar
Railway Station
(W) - Chowk
16.81 Feeder City Same as
existing Standard 16 12 9 14 10 12 11 8 16
2 MB45
Bhayandar
Railway Station
(W) - BP Road
6.56 Feeder City New Route Midi 7 5 15 7 5 15 7 5 17
3 MB51
Bhayandar
Railway Station
(W) -
Shantinagar -
Kashimira
9.17 Feeder City New Route Midi 16 12 8 16 12 9 16 12 9
4 MB11
B P Road -
Ramdevnagar -
Kashimira
6.86 Comple
mentary City New Route Midi 16 12 6 14 10 8 11 8 11
5 MB47
Navghar Phata -
Bhayandar police
station (W)
7.34 Comple
mentary City
Modified
alignment
partially
Midi 16 12 7 14 10 9 10 7 14
6 MB12
Bhayandar
Railway Station
(E) - Mira Road
Railway Station -
Kashimira
8.14 Feeder City New Route Midi 16 12 7 14 10 9 11 8 13
7 MB32
Bhayandar
Railway Station
(E) - Golden
Nest - Kashimira
10.35 Feeder City Truncated Standard 7 5 15 4 3 26 4 3 29
8 MB5
Bhayandar
Railway Station
(W) - Kashimira
8.44 Feeder City Truncated Midi 20 15 5 20 15 5 16 12 6
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Route_
no
EMME_
code
Route
Description
Length
(km)
Route
type
Service
type Remarks Bus type
FY 2023 FY 2025 FY 2030
Off Peak
Hdw
(min)
Peak
Hdw
(min)
Fleet
Off
Peak
Hdw
(min)
Peak
Hdw
(min)
Fleet
Off
Peak
Hdw
(min)
Peak
Hdw
(min)
Fleet
9 MB38
Mira Road
Railway Station -
Unique Garden
3.27 Feeder
Feeder City
Same as
existing Midi 14 10 4 11 8 5 8 6 8
10 MB37
Mira Road
Railway Station -
Oswal Garden
4.76 Feeder
Feeder City Truncated Midi 14 10 7 11 8 9 10 7 12
11 MB34
Mira Road
Railway Station -
Navghar Phata
6.09 Feeder
Feeder City New Route Midi 7 5 14 7 5 14 4 3 25
12 MB46
Bhayandar
Railway Station
(E) - Maxus Mall
- Uttan Naka
7.68 Feeder City
Modified
alignment
partially
Midi 7 5 14 7 5 14 7 5 15
13 MB36
Mira Road
Railway Station -
Ramdev park
4.15 Feeder
Feeder City
Same as
existing Midi 20 15 4 16 12 5 14 10 7
14 MB40
Mira Road
Railway Station -
Hatkesh
3.82 Feeder
Feeder City
Modified
alignment
partially
Midi 16 12 4 14 10 5 10 7 8
15 MB42
Bhakti Vedanta -
Mira Road
Railway Station -
Ramdev Park -
Navghar Phata
8.4 Comple
mentary City
Modified
alignment
partially
Midi 14 10 9 10 7 13 7 5 20
16 MB39
Mira Road
Railway Station -
Bhakti Vedanta -
Western park
6.1 Feeder
Feeder City
Modified
alignment
partially
Midi 16 12 6 14 10 7 11 8 10
17 MB6 Uttan Naka-
Manori Tar 20.47 Suburban Suburban
Same as
existing Standard 14 10 17 14 10 17 11 8 24
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Route_
no
EMME_
code
Route
Description
Length
(km)
Route
type
Service
type Remarks Bus type
FY 2023 FY 2025 FY 2030
Off Peak
Hdw
(min)
Peak
Hdw
(min)
Fleet
Off
Peak
Hdw
(min)
Peak
Hdw
(min)
Fleet
Off
Peak
Hdw
(min)
Peak
Hdw
(min)
Fleet
18 MB30 Uttan Naka -
Essel Pagode 10.55 Suburban Suburban Truncated Standard 20 15 5 16 12 7 14 10 9
19 MB31
Bhayandar
Railway Station
(E) - Varsova
Bridge - Thane
29.83 Suburban Suburban
Modified
alignment
partially
Standard 16 12 18 14 10 22 11 8 31
20 MB33
Bhayandar
Railway Station
(E) - Mira Road
Railway Station -
Dahisar Check
Naka
6.72 Suburban Suburban
Modified
alignment
partially
Midi 11 8 9 10 7 11 10 7 11
21 MB41
Bhayandar
Railway Station
(W) - Kashimira
15.48 Suburban Suburban
Modified
alignment
partially
Standard 8 6 28 7 5 34 7 5 38
22 MB21
Mira Road
Railway Station -
Varsova Bridge -
Thane
28 Suburban Suburban
Modified
alignment
partially
Standard 11 8 23 10 7 27 7 5 41
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2.5 Service Plan Output
Alternative scenarios were evaluated using supply indicators, demand-supply gap, transfer rate, and
Service Level Benchmark (SLB) criteria by MoUHA. The results/ outputs of the same are presented in
the Annexure 5. The detailed service plan output and process were also discussed with MBMTU. Below
are the outcome/ observation comparing three scenarios which state that Scenario 2 performs better with
a defined evaluation framework.
Not much difference in the network length and developed area coverage but 81% of bus stops
have high frequency routes (<=10min headways) compared to 65% in Scenario 1.
74% PT network with a high frequency of 10 min compared to only 15% in Scenario 1.
Reduced bus overlaps, routes have wider coverage and are distributed in different parts of the
city network
Given the small size of the city and short trip length, Scenario 2 offers more direct services
resulting in fewer transfer rates across all three scenarios.
Scores high in the extent of bus supply and average waiting time in the city.
The extent of supply from SLB indicator is at a moderate level, but the indicator value is better
than the other two scenarios
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3 Bus Service Infrastructure Plan
The Mira Bhayandar bus system serves a total of 46.6 km in the study area which covers 23% of road
network with a total of 149 bus stops within the city. (Refer Figure 36 below)
Figure 36: PT network and bus stops (2020)
As per the proposed fleet deployment plan received from MBMTU, the proposed fleet size for 21
routes is 79. However, the fleet for operational 13 routes is 66 buses, hence the existing total fleet size
is considered 66. As per the MoHUA’s Service Level Benchmarks in Urban Transport, Mira
Bhayandar would require about a total of 120-500 buses depending on the Level of Service targeted
(refer section 2.2). As against this, the city has only 66 buses i.e. 0.07 buses per 1000 population.
3.1 Bus Stops
There are a total of 189 bus stops on a 46.6km network length. To improve the accessibility in the
city, 46 new stops have been proposed in the city with an average stop-stop distance taken as 350 –
400m. This means there will be a total of 235 bus stops in Mira Bhayandar (189 existing and 46
newly proposed). The bus stop locations as shown in Figure 37 below are tentative locations and the
numbers may vary by +/-20%. Final locations should be decided based on the following criteria after
site feasibility.
1. Availability of RoW: All locations on roads with 18m and above ROW were considered for
the development of a bus stop.
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2. Adjacent Land use: Activities around each location were taken into consideration for
potential local demand and rationale of space availability.
3. Distance between stations: the distance between stations were planned to be between 300m
to 500m on the proposed PT network length over the built up area.
4. Stop accessibility: A complete development of bus stop area is recommended along with bus
stop including access to the bus stop
Figure 37: Existing and Proposed stops
The bus stops have been further classified as mentioned (Figure 38 below). Year wise stops with
number of bays are presented in Table 29 below.
One bay bus stop: One bay bus stop has been proposed within Mira Bhayandar on the low
demand corridors with likely bus frequencies less than 30 buses per hour.
Two bay bus stops: Two bay bus stop has been proposed on major roads where the bus
frequencies would be in the range of 30-60 buses per hour.
Three bay bus stops: Three bay bus stops have been proposed on major roads with high
concentration of routes and likely bus frequencies of more than 60 buses per hour.
Table 29: Number of bus stops and bays requirement No of Bays 2023 2025 2030
1 313 309 297
2 22 23 29
3 1 4 10
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Figure 38: Stop locations by number of bays
3.2 Terminals
There are four terminals across the city, three out of which are located closer to the sub-urban rail
stations; Bhayandar West, Bhayandar East (not operational), Mira Road East and the fourth is located
in Uttan, a coastal town under MBMC jurisdiction.
Figure 39 below presents visual images of existing city bus services infrastructure facilities. It can be
seen that at Mira road railway station terminal, commuters have easy access to auto-rickshaws. Buses
do not have priority in the circulation plan and accessing buses would require commuters to walk a
long distance maneuvering the crowd to reach to the bus bays/station, which seems to be a big
deterrent.
At Bhayandar railway station, the terminal lacks segregation of different services. City and Regional
services are operating from the same bays and most of the pedestrian circulation space is encroached
by IPT services. This makes the entire experience of accessing stops and services onerous. The
condition of existing bus stops is also very unattractive to passengers and lacks proper PIS and
wayfinding facilities.
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Figure 39: Existing Infrastructure Facilities
With the increasing bus fleet size of city bus system over next 10 years, improving bus terminal
facility ensuring the following points is important.
1. Ensuring integration between passengers, buses/operators as well as feeder modes such as
intermediate public transport (IPT).
2. Providing efficient access and egress to and from the terminal, for both passengers and buses.
3. Ensuring planned and streamlined traffic circulation, and provision of amenities for
passengers, rest areas, and other facilities for bus drivers.
Based on route planning following locations are identified as terminal points:
Table 30: Terminal Points
Sr. No. Terminal Points No of routes start/end
1 Mira Road Railway Station 8
2 Bhayandar Railway Station 9
3 Uttan Naka 2
4 Others 4
Total 27
3.3 Interchanges
Interchange is defined as people's place, place of waiting, and place of movement (access to access,
change mode and direction). An interchange station provides a safe, comfortable, and efficient
transfer of passengers within the same mode (different routes), or between different modes in a public
transport system, often without having to leave a station. Such stations usually have
more platforms than single route stations. These stations exist in either commercial centres or on the
city outskirts in residential areas. Cities typically plan for land use around interchange stations
for development.
The formal transit services in and Mira Bhayandar are: Railway lines, Regional Bus Services and City
Bus services and proposed Metro Rail. Following 29 interchanges (Table 31 and Figure 40) are
identified in Mira Bhayandar based on the proposed route structuring:
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Table 31: Interchange types Level 1 Interchanges
Railway + Regional Bus + City Bus
1. Mira Road Railway Station
2. Bhayandar Railway Station
Metro Rail +Regional Bus + City Bus
3. Golden Nest
4. Kashimira/Kashi Police Station
Level 2 Interchanges
Metro Rail + City Bus
5. S.K Stone Police Station
6. Netaji Subhashchandra Bose Maidan
7. Deepak Hospital
8. Vijay Park
9. Mahavishnu Mandir
Regional Bus +City Bus
10. Varsova Bridge
Level 3 Interchanges
City Bus + City Bus
11. Gorai Chowk
12. Check Post
13. Shivneri
14. Bhayandar Police Station
15. Bombay Market
16. Navgarh Fata
17. Golden Nest Circle
18. Goddev Naka
19. Sheetal Garden
20. Indralok Phase 2
21. Shrishti Police Chowki Om Sangam
Plaza
22. Sadguru Complex
23. Golden Chemical
24. Woodland Hotel
25. Lakshmi Park
26. Miragoan- Road
27. Pleasant Park
28. Mangal Nagar
Figure 40: Proposed Interchange Locations
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3.4 Depots
Bus depots are among the primary infrastructural requirements for any bus system and requires
special attention to be paid to the location, size and capacity of a depot. Depot facilities are important
considering maintenance and parking requirement for buses. The regular maintenance of fleet at depot
facility is important to ensure a longer life of urban buses. The design components of the depot would
include fuelling station, minor inspection pits, major inspection pits, washing area, and painting and
denting areas, spare parts storage, engineers’ cabin and administration unit as well as bus parking. It
also includes amenities like changing rooms, resting rooms, and other necessary facilities for the
depot crew (drivers, conductors, and office and workshop staff).
The location of a bus depot is a critical consideration in minimising dead kms. Major attributes to be
considered in selecting the site of a depot are:
1. Depot accessibility (for buses from the nearest terminal, and the staff),
2. Efficient utilization of space/land, equipment and manpower
Currently, MBMT has Ghodunder Depot which is recently constructed with workshop and control
centre facilities developed in it. It is located along the northeastern end of Mira Bhayandar with about
22755sq.m with facilities for repair, basic maintenance, washing and all repairs in the workshop. The
infrastructure includes bus repairing PITS, Washing Bus Bay, PITS for Under Washing Bus Bay,
Water Collection Tanks, Solar Panels, Starter & Alternator Testing Machine, Wheel Alignment
Machine, Fuel Injector Testing Machine, Floor Scrubbing Machine, Lathe Machine etc. The newly
constructed Ghobundar depot also has a control centre. Prior to this, the buses were parked on roads
closer to the rail stations, Bhayandar West and Mira Road East and Pleasant Park (park area as per the
DP on the eastern side of the city).
The existing Ghodbunder depot has about 45 standard buses capacity and as per the route
rationalization study conducted in 2014, has proposed one depot near Uttan with a total capacity of
120 standard buses with about 7.5acre of land.
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4 Future Demand Assessment and Fleet Requirement
This section presents the business plan which includes operational strategy, financial strategy and
institutional strategy. The operational strategy outlines the service characteristics for operations, fare
structure, fleet type and size requirements. It also includes the bus operating model options. The
financial strategy presents the capital expenses, budgeting for revenue and expenditure and suggests
alternative sources for funding the bus operations. Organizational Strategy proposes changes that may
help in better management of the bus operations.
For the operational strategy, the key decisions are:
Fleet requirements
Depot and workshop requirements
Operating Model
Demand assessment is the first step for service design and operations strategy formulation which is
presented below:
4.1 Demand Assessment
4.1.1 User and non-users’ preferences
As outlined in Section 1.3.1, primary surveys of commuters in the city helped identify their
preferences for various bus service quality factors. The bus users indicate a preference for improved
service frequencies followed by improvement in travel times. In case of 3-W users, frequent services
along with safety, travel time and affordable fares are identified as important. Private mode users
indicate frequent services to minimize waiting times along with comfort and last-mile connectivity as
important. The survey output Table 32 presented below indicates that improvement in waiting time,
safety, and affordable fare, about 60% IPT users would shift from IPT to PT, and with additional
improvement in seat availability and last-mile connectivity, 20% of private vehicle users may shift on
PT.
Table 32 User and Non-user preferences
Modes No. of
samples
% willing to use
PT
Waiting time,
safety & fare
Travel time
savings
Seat avail. And
LMC
Auto 1352 80% 60% 75% 80%
Pvt modes
2W+4W 350 20% 0% 0% 20%
4.1.2 Previous Studies
A Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) for Mira Bhayandar was prepared in 2013 for the horizon
year 2031. In 2014, a Bus Modernization Plan was prepared for the year 2035 focusing on bus service
improvements. Both these studies provide future mode share scenarios. Table 33 below shows the
mode share for the year 2031 as per the CMP study:
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It can be seen that for the Do Minimum and Road Network Improvement Scenarios, the proposed PT
share is around 33%. The existing mode share of bus trips is 5% on account of inadequate levels of
service. Thus, expecting such a rapid increase from a mere 5% to 33% does not seem plausible in
such a short duration of time (10 years).
Table 33: Mode Shares 2031 as per CMP Scenario Private vehicle
share (%)
IPT Share
(%)
PT Share
(%)
Do Minimum 43% 21% 35%
Road network improvement 47% 20% 33%
PT improvement: MRTS, Efficient bus system,
transit infrastructure, fleet augmentation, Park &
Ride
33% 17% 50%
Road network + PT improvement 28% 14% 58%
The Bus Modernization Plan 2034 also presents the mode shares (Table 34) for the years 2029 and
2034. For the Pessimistic Scenario and Mode shift scenarios, 11% and 20% PT shares are proposed
for the year 2029.
Table 34: Mode shares as per Bus Modernization Plan Details 2014 2019 2024 2029 2034
Population 8,40,000 14,29,332 17,51,434 20,78,273 24,05,111
Motorised Trips / day 6,72,000 11,43,465 14,36,176 17,45,749 20,44,344
Pessimistic Scenario
Total Demand on PT 1,00,800 1,48,650 1,72,341 1,92,032 1,83,991
PT Share (in motorised) 15% 13% 12% 11% 9%
No of buses required (on
road)
118 179 228 263 286
Mode Shift Scenario – Considering 40% shift from IPT
Total Demand on PT 1,57,248 2,38,984 3,04,469 3,50,896 3,78,204
PT Share (in motorised) 23% 21% 21% 20% 19%
No of buses required (on
road)
190 260 331 382 412
Total Demand on PT 1,57,248 2,38,984 3,04,469 3,50,896 3,78,204
Bus Modernization Plan “Mode shift scenario” has estimated the overall bus share of 20% in 2029-30
considering 40% shift from IPT users.
4.2 Proposed Business Plan Scenarios 2030
The trajectory of vision realization and the timeline is a function of the agency’s intent and drive
along with constraints like financial resources and land availability for infrastructure facilities.
Scenario-based approach is hence adopted in this report, which can aid cities in deciding on an
appropriate strategy for instituting a quality bus service in the city.
Considering the existing bus service levels and bus ridership, CMP estimates of 33% mode share in
the year 2031 seems ambitious. Therefore, based on these two studies following mode share scenarios
(Table 35) are being considered for this study:
Table 35: Demand Scenarios and Bus Mode Share
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Scenario 1
Business As Usual - Continuing
with the existing approach
Scenario 2
Efficient bus services for public
transport users
Scenario 3
Preferred mode of travel
for all residents
Year 2030 11% 20% 25%
The bus routes in Section 2.4.1.3 have been identified based on the existing situation analysis,
passenger demand patterns and area & population coverage. For the operational strategy, the key
decisions are:
Fleet requirements
Depot and workshop requirements
Operating Model
In order to decide on the above, we need to consider potential demand in 2030. This would be an aid
in system design in terms of service frequencies to be operated and the type of buses to be run. The
future demand scenarios are presented in the section above. For this analysis on the fleet
requirements, a moderate scenario (Scenario 2) has been considered.
4.3 Fleet requirements
4.3.1 Vehicle types and capacities
There are three different types of buses i.e. Standard, Midi and Mini, details mentioned in Table 36
below. Bus type for a city should be selected based on the passenger demand and the desired service
levels.
Table 36: Fleet type Fleet Type Floor Ht. Length Total Capacity
Standard 650mm 12m 70
Midi 400/650mm 9m 42
Mini 900mm 7m 22
Different bus types would have different carrying capacities which would influence service levels. As
shown in Table 37 below, a standard bus can offer 280 PPHPD at 15min headway, while a similar
demand served by midi and mini buses would require 10min and 5min headway operations.
Table 37: Capacities offered by fleet type and headways
Type of vehicle
Headways (min) -->
5 min 10 min 12 min 15 min 20 min
Standard Bus – 12mt.
(Capacity – 70 passenger) 840 420 350 280 210
Midi Bus – 9mt.
(Capacity – 42 passenger) 504 252 210 168 126
Minibus – 7mt. 264 132 110 88 66
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(Capacity – 22 passenger)
In other words, if the service standard is to provide 5 min headways along a route to offer a good
service level, however the passenger demand on about 50% of routes are ranging between 250-300
PPHPD, Midi and midi-mini buses may ensure improved capacity utilisation than standard buses.
4.3.2 Fleet Size and Mix Selection Criteria
The route services proposed as per the service plan are further analysed in terms of the potential
demand to decide on the service headways as well as the fleet requirements. Following criteria have
been considered:
a. Service Headway Distribution: Service headway distribution is related to the average waiting
time at a stop for a passenger. Higher headways of routes imply more waiting time and thus
makes the system unattractive for passengers. The recommended headways for urban bus
services should be <=10 min i.e. average waiting time should not be >5min.
b. System Capacity Utilisation: The capacity of a system can be measured by calculating load
factor (dividing passenger km by seat km) of the system. The higher the load factor, the more
profitable the operation. Ideal system utilisation should be around 60% - 65%.
c. Buses per 1000 population: As per MOHUA’s Service Level Benchmarks in urban transport,
buses per 1000 population is one of the indicators to measure extent of service supply in the city.
Bus requirement is related to trip length and city size. Large size cities have large trip lengths;
hence the need for a bus fleet is higher to serve the same number of passengers in comparison
with smaller cities. Table 38 shows the benchmarking level for cities with <0.2 million
population.
Table 38: Buses per 1000 population by cities categories
Source: Service Level Benchmarking, MoHUA
d. Capital and Operations Cost: Fleet mix assessment has also been carried out in terms of
capital and operations cost including driver, fuel, maintenance.
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4.3.3 Fleet Size and Mix Scenarios
Fleet size estimation can be undertaken based on peak passenger flow on the route segment or based
on the load factor method which considers passenger-km and ridership. Alternative fleet mix and size
options have been developed using these two methods. Scenario 2 with 20% mode share has been
adopted and assigned the demand on proposed routes in model EMME, as an output, it provides
ridership and passenger km for each route for future years.
Table 39: Fleet type scenarios
Approach Approach Description Existing fleet + Fleet Mix
Scenarios for New Fleet
PPHPD - Route wise
The max PPHPD for each route from future year
is used to derive the headway and fleet
requirement for each route.
1A All Standard buses
1B All Midi buses
Load Factor (LF)
Approach
FY2023 – 28%LF
(same as 2020)
FY2025 – 45%LF
FY2030 – 60%LF
Ridership and passenger km are used to
compute fleet requirements (Bus supply)
based on 28% LF in FY2023, 45%LF in
FY2025 and 60% LF in FY2030.
Existing LF in 2020 is 28%, therefore, the
same has been assumed for initial FY2023
and targeting day long 60% LF for FY2030.
2A All Standard buses
2B All Midi buses
3 Standard + Midi
4 Midi + Mini
5 Standard + Midi + Mini
For the two approaches – PPHPD and Load Factor, different fleet scenarios have been considered for
evaluation. The estimated demand based on Scenario 2, was assigned on proposed routes using the
model which gives the ridership on the proposed routes. The same has been used to estimate fleet
requirements.
As shown in Table 39 above, different types of vehicles and vehicle-mixes have been considered in
scenarios 1A to 5. The bus asset requirements over the next 5 and 10 years have been estimated by
also considering the number of the existing vehicles to be scrapped as the city has an existing fleet
procured over the last 5 years which would be operational for 8 years as mentioned in Table 40.
Table 40: Existing fleet procurement and scrapping plan
Years Total Standard
buses procured
Total Midi
buses procured
Scrapping –
Standard buses
Scrapping –
Midi buses
2015 18 10
2016 19 -
2017 - -
2018 11 -
2019 - -
2020 27 -
Total existing fleet in
2020 85 (75 Stand + 10 Midi)
2021 75 10
2022 75 10
2023 57 - 18 10
2024 38 - 19
2025 38 - -
2026 27 - 11
2027 27 - -
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Years Total Standard
buses procured
Total Midi
buses procured
Scrapping –
Standard buses
Scrapping –
Midi buses
2028 - - 27
2029 - -
2030 - -
Taking into consideration the fleet to be replaced, and the demand estimation by routes, fleet
requirements by different scenarios were worked out. These are presented in Table 41 below. It
should be noted for the load factor approach, bus fleet estimation is based on a desirable load factor of
0.6 for the future year 2030. The detailed fleet requirement and fleet type for each route with its
proposed peak headways are presented in Annexure 6 for each scenario.
Table 41: Fleet requirement – by scenario
Scenario Years Mini Midi Standard Buses on
road LF
Buses/
1000 Pop
1A: PPHPD
approach - All
Standard Buses
2023 - - 113 113 0.17 0.08
2025 - - 294 294 0.16 0.20
2030 - - 675 675 0.15 0.39
1B: PPHPD approach
- All Midi Buses
2023 - 188 - 188 0.17 0.14
2025 - 479 - 479 0.16 0.33
2030 - 1120 - 1120 0.15 0.65
2A: LF approach -
All Standard Buses
2023 - - 72 72 0.27 0.05
2025 - - 106 106 0.43 0.07
2030 - - 165 165 0.60 0.10
2B: LF approach -
All Midi Buses
2023 - 116 - 116 0.28 0.09
2025 - 173 - 173 0.44 0.12
2030 - 276 - 276 0.60 0.16
3: LF approach -
Standard + Midi
Buses
2023 - 100 9 109 0.28 0.08
2025 - 149 14 163 0.45 0.11
2030 - 239 22 261 0.60 0.15
4: LF approach -
Midi + Mini Buses
2023 145 38 - 183 0.28 0.14
2025 134 102 - 236 0.45 0.16
2030 128 209 - 337 0.60 0.20
5: LF approach -
Standard + Midi +
Mini Buses
2023 83 56 9 148 0.28 0.11
2025 112 89 14 215 0.45 0.15
2030 129 173 22 324 0.60 0.19
For each of the scenarios buses per 1000 population is worked out and it can be seen that it is in the
range 0.15-0.2, indicating an improvement in service levels as per Service Level Benchmarks from
LOS 4 to LOS 3. Fleet requirement with PPHPD approach seems ambitious i.e. 675 and 1120 on road
buses, targeting these from existing fleet size 85 would not be reasonable. For the load factor
approach, fleet size ranging from 165 to 337 depending upon fleet type.
As presented in section 4.1.2, previous studies have estimated the requirement of 263 to 382 on road
standard buses for 11% and 20% PT share.
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Table 42 below presents the procurement plan for the total fleet by bus type for each scenario, fleet
procurement plan has been prepared considering the existing fleet would serve till its full life and the
scrapping plan discussed above. Fleet utilisation is considered 95% for the first three years and 90%
for the rest of the years.
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Table 42 Total fleet (on road + extra fleet) procurement plan – Fleet mix scenarios
Scenarios
1A 1B 2A 2B 3 4 5
PPHPD PPH
PD
LF 60%
(2030)
LF 60%
(2030) LF 60% (2030)
LF 60%
(2030) LF 60% (2030)
Standard Midi Standard Midi Standard Midi Midi Mini Standard Midi Mini
2023 106 176 35 53 4 45 33 20 3 27 20
2024 142 235 43 79 6 68 66 40 6 45 34
2025 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2026 235 389 49 98 8 85 62 38 8 61 45
2027 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2028 149 246 28 45 3 40 34 21 3 29 21
2029 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2030 111 185 28 31 2 26 34 21 3 29 21
Buses by
type 743 1232 182 305 24 264 229 140 24 190 141
Total Buses 743 1232 182 305 288 369 355
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5 Financial Analysis
The main objective of financial analysis is to assess operational viability and larger level
sustainability of the system. The plan includes estimates for operational expenditure and revenues of
services proposed for each year along with operational cost recovery levels which aid to form the
business strategies. It also aids to plan the sources of other funds and subsidies/grants.
This section presents the existing cost expenditure, capital cost investment, and future operational cost
estimates.
5.1 Cost Estimates
5.2 Existing Operation Expenditure
MBMTU was the operating system from 2015 to 2019. However, since September 2019 Bhagirathi
(private operator) is operating the buses. Table 43 below shows the expenditure for the last five years;
Table 43: Existing Operational Expenditure (In lakhs)
Sr.
No. Expenditure Details
2015 - 2016
(25th Oct
2015 to 31st
March
2016)
2016 -
2017
2017 -
2018
2018 -
2019
2019 -
2020 (1st
April 2019
to 31st
Jan 2020)
Total
Expense
1
Contract Staff
(Driver, Conductor,
Maintenance Inspector)
(Cleaning, Security &
others)
119.98 861.91 978.71 1,022.93 503.46 3,486.99
2 Viability Gap Funding
(VGF) - - - - 376.02 376.02
3 Buses Insurance Renewal
(Insurance) 22.14 44.87 55.61 62.01 53.03 237.66
4 Bus maintenance repair cost
(Maintenance) 2.60 72.68 173.37 155.36 175.04 579.05
5 Tyres Buying (Tyres) - 40.99 39.53 24.98 14.50 120.00
6 Fuel Cost (Diesel) 125.06 585.05 635.69 779.17 219.99 2,344.96
7
Other retail expenses/ RTO
taxes/ Stationary
Expenses/Bank Charges
(Other Charges)
2.03 11.56 14.57 19.19 55.36 102.71
Total Cost
(Bus operations) 271.81 1,617.06 1,897.48 2,063.64 1,397.40 7,247.39
5.3 Cost Estimation
Operations cost estimates presented below are conducted for all Non-AC buses for all fleet mix
scenarios presented in the section above.
Operations cost estimates in this section are presented for a single standard, midi and mini Non-AC
buses. As inquired with manufacturers, cost of Standard, Midi and Mini buses are mentioned in Table
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44 below; which includes ITS inbuilt equipment such as GPS, Camera and onboard PIS system. As
part of the proposal, 100% Non-AC buses are proposed for new procurement.
Table 44: Bus type and price on road
Bus Size & Type AC Bus Non AC Bus
Standard 80 lakhs 75 lakhs
Midi 45 lakhs 40 lakhs
Mini 30 lakhs 25 lakhs
Some of the physical performance assumptions considered are mentioned in Table 45 below:
Life of the fleet is taken as 8 years
Fleet utilization is considered at 95% for the first three years of new purchased bus and 90%
for the rest of the life of the bus.
Fuel efficiency (mileage) and Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) value per vehicle km is
taken after interviewing manufacturers and few sector experts.
o Operator 1: Hansa group of companies operate a total of about 450 midi (AC and Non
AC) and mini AC buses in Surat and Nagpur
o Operator 2: Aadinath Bulk Pvt. Ltd operates more than 150 standard and midi
(AC/NAC) buses in GSRTC (Gujarat State Transport Service), AMTS (Ahmedabad
Municipal Transport Service) and Sitilink (Surat).
Table 45: Operational Cost (at current price) per vehicle km by components
Cost
Components
Standard
Bus
Rs./ km
Midi Bus
Rs./ km
Mini Bus
Rs./ km Basis/Inputs/Assumptions
Fuel and
Lubricant cost
Rs.27.0
(2023)
Rs.30.6
(2030)
Rs.28.7
(2023-30)
Rs.14.7
(2023)
Rs.15.7
(2030)
Rs.15.2
(2023-30)
Rs.13.5
(2023)
Rs.14.3
(2030)
Rs.13.9
(2023-30)
Daily Vehicle Utilisation is taken as 230km, existing
average daily VU is 235km.
Diesel price is considered present price in Mira
Bhayandar i.e. Rs.79.8/lt.
Mileage for standard, midi and mini buses are 3.0, 5.5
and 6.0 kmpl for Non-AC respectively and mileage
deterioration is taken as 0.05 kmpl every year.*
Lubricant cost is assumed at 1.5% of total fuel cost.
Repair and
Maintenance
(R & M) cost
Rs.12.4
(2023)
Rs.19.3
(2030)
Rs.15.6
(2023-30)
Rs.10.2
(2023)
Rs.15.8
(2030)
Rs.12.8
(2023-30)
Rs.5.8
(2023)
Rs.9.1
(2030)
Rs.7.4
(2023-30)
Total R & M cost per km is taken Rs.12.4, Rs.10.2
and Rs.5.8 for Standard, Midi and Mini buses for first
year as part of AMC and the increase in maintenance
cost is considered about 6.5% annually as the age of
bus increases.*
Maintenance staff cost (Workshop) is considered as
part of AMC.
Intermediate distribution is assumed equally based on
the age of bus.
Insurance,
Motor vehicle
tax
Rs.2.4
(constant
from 2023-
30)
Rs.1.3
(constant
from
2023-30)
Rs.0.8
(constant
from
2023-30)
Insurance is assumed at 3% of procurement cost after
deducting depreciation cost from that at each year.
M V Tax for Mira Bhayandar is Rs.5308, Rs.3124
and Rs.1560 per year for standard, midi and mini
buses.
Staff cost
Rs.17.7
(constant
from 2023-
30)
Rs.17.7
(constant
from
2023-30)
Rs.17.7
(constant
from
2023-30)
Overall staff ratio is assumed at 5.5 staff per bus
considering 2.5 drivers, 2.5 conductors (0.5
conductors in case of conductorless mini buses) and
0.5 for HO, account and admin staff.
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Cost
Components
Standard
Bus
Rs./ km
Midi Bus
Rs./ km
Mini Bus
Rs./ km Basis/Inputs/Assumptions
Rs.11.3
(constant
from
2023-30
in case of
w/o
conductor
Mini
buses)
There is a possibility to operate conductor-less buses
Mini buses. Mini buses have total carrying capacity of
22 and half of its generally board from first stop
where the conductor at bus stop can give tickets to
passengers at bus stops and for intermediate
passenger driver can give the tickets. In that case, 0.5
conductors can be considering optimizing the man-
power cost.
In absence of existing cost details available, the
average Cost to Company (CTC) is considered about
Rs.2.7 lakhs per annum based on operator’s
consultation in Mumbai.
ITMS
Operation cost
Rs.1.04
(constant
from 2023-
30)
Rs.1.04
(constant
from
2023-30)
Rs.1.04
(constant
from
2023-30)
In absence of fully operational ITMS facilities in
Mira Bhayandar, the ITMS cost has been adopted
from the tender allotted for ITMS, i.e. 90lakhs for
man power cost for operating ITMS;
Communication cost is assumed at Rs.3600 per bus
per year.
Cost of
depreciation
Rs.11.2
(constant
from 2023-
30)
Rs.11.2
(constant
from
2023-30)
Rs.11.2
(constant
from
2023-30)
Life of the bus is considered of 8 years, the total
depreciation cost is estimated with straight line
method.
Cost of fund
Rs.10.8
(2023)
Rs.2.7
(2030)
Rs.5.7
(2023-30)
Rs.5.7
(2023)
Rs.1.4
(2030)
Rs.3.0
(2023-30)
Rs.3.6
(2023)
Rs.0.9
(2030)
Rs.1.90
(2023-30)
The current operating contract is Net Cost Contract
however it has been seen nationally as well as
internationally recognised that Gross Cost Contract or
Gross Cost Hybrid Contract suits best for any city bus
services. In GCC, buses are generally procured by
operator where cost of fund in terms of rate of interest
on borrowed fund and rate of return on own fund
needs to be consider in operations.
Debt Equity ratio assumed at 75:25
Rate of return on own fund and interest rate on
borrowed fund, both are assumed at 12%.
Repayment period for borrowed fund is taken as 5
years.
Miscellaneous
cost
Rs.4.1
(2023)
Rs.4.2
(2030)
Rs.4.12
(2023-30)
Rs.2.8
(2023)
Rs.2.95
(2030)
Rs.2.85
(2023-30)
Rs.2.3
(2023)
Rs.2.4
(2030)
Rs.2.32
(2023-30)
Miscellaneous cost is assumed at 5% of the total
operating cost.
* Cost estimates are in consultation with bus operators in Surat, Ahmedabad and Nagpur
5.3.1 Lifecycle cost for different bus types
Cost of operations is estimated at current prices for different bus types to understand the difference in
the lifecycle cost of a single-vehicle. Figure 41 below shows the life cycle cost per km (by
component) for Standard, Midi, Mini and Mini without conductor buses.
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Figure 41: Life cycle cost in Rs/km (at current prices) for one sample bus type
5.3.2 Cost estimates for fleet mix scenarios
The total operational costs have been estimated for future years for all fleet mix scenarios. Entire cost
estimation is done based on constant prices taking 2020 cost as the base which is escalated using WPI
factors and labour commission rates for man-power costs.
The bus costs are escalated at 4.00%1 annum for manpower related cost based on historical labour
commission wage scale rise whereas fuel-lubricant and other cost components are escalated with
2.53%2 historical WPI rise. Generally, interest, depreciation and insurance are at a fixed rate, however
new fleet is added incrementally in a phased manner which changes the overall cost of depreciation
and cost of fund. Table 46 below presents the total operational cost for eight years which also includes
the cost of fund and cost of depreciation as presented in the section above. The operational costs are
varying as the fleet requirement for each scenario is different.
The cost of depot is not a part of operational cost but it cannot be looked separately as well. Depot
requirement essentially depends on fleet size and its type therefore the cost of depots becomes
important to see along with the total cost estimates for each fleet mix and type scenario. Details
related to depots are also presented in the section below in Business Plan Scenarios. Figure 42 below
presents the comprehensive cost assessment for FY2023 to FY2030 with all components associated
with fleet mix scenarios.
1 Labour commissionaire office, The state of Maharashtra
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Table 46: Total Operational Cost Estimates comparison (2023-2030)
Scenario -->
1A 1B 2A 2B 3 4 5
PPHPD - All
Standard
PPHPD - All
Midi
LF 60% (2030)
All Standard
LF 60% (2030)
All Midi
LF 60% (2030)
Standard + Midi
LF 60% (2030)
Midi + Mini
LF 60% (2030)
Standard + Midi +
Mini
Fleet requirement and cost estimates
Total Standard buses 743 182 24 24
Total Midi buses 1232 305 264 229 190
Total Mini buses 140 141
Total number of buses 743 1232 182 305 288 369 355
Fleet Cost 591 523 143 128 130 133 137
Total Operational Cost (Life
Cycle Cost) (2023 to 2030) 3250 3725 942 1111 1095 1196 1172
CPKM (Rs./km) (2023-2030) 113 79 110 80 83 75 78
Cost/Pax Km - 60% 2.68 3.02 2.61 2.88 2.85 3.18 3.16
Depot requirement and cost estimates
Area for additional Depots (sq. m) 34.63 46.78 6.58 9.69 9.27 11.21 11.02
No of additional Depots 7.00 9.50 1.50 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00
Depot Cost with land 355 480 67 99 95 115 113
Total Cost (TCO + Depots) 3606 4205 1010 1211 1190 1311 1285
All costs are at constant price in INR (in crore)
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Scenario 1A: - PPHPD - All Standard
Scenario 1B: - PPHPD - All Midi
27.93 27.46 27.93 27.93 28.42 28.42 28.93 28.93
14.10 13.24 14.10 14.10 15.02 15.02 16.00 16.00
1.63 2.12 2.12 2.29 2.29 2.41 2.41 2.41
18.87 18.68 18.68 19.46 19.46 19.46 19.46 19.46
0.75 0.44 0.44 0.28 0.28 0.23 0.23 0.21 7.42 9.76 9.76 10.59 10.59 11.17 11.17 11.17 7.12 8.77 7.36
8.17 6.65 6.66 5.33 5.33 3.89 4.02 4.02
4.14 4.14 4.17 4.18 4.18
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
-
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
70.00
80.00
90.00
100.00
Nu
mb
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of
Bu
ses
Op
ex+
Cap
ex
/ V
eh
Km
Miscellaneus Cost
Cost of Fund - (Expectedreturns and Intrests)
Cost of Depreciation -Total
ITMS Operating Cost
Staff Cost
Insurance + MVT +MACT + RR Tax
R & M Cost
Fuel Cost
Total No of Buses
18.16 16.03 16.20 15.48 15.63 15.14 15.28 15.28
11.79 11.35 12.09 11.77 12.54 12.31 13.11 13.11
1.01 1.19 1.19 1.25 1.25 1.29 1.29 1.29
18.78 18.64 18.64 19.46 19.46 19.46 19.46 19.46
0.54 0.30 0.30 0.19 0.19 0.16 0.16 0.14
4.57 5.48 5.48 5.77 5.77 5.96 5.96 5.96
4.39 4.92 4.13 4.45 3.62 3.55 2.84 2.84
2.96 2.90 2.90 2.92 2.92 2.89 2.91 2.90
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
-
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
70.00
Nu
mb
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/ V
eh
Km
Miscellaneus Cost
Cost of Fund - (Expectedreturns and Intrests)
Cost of Depreciation -Total
ITMS Operating Cost
Staff Cost
Insurance + MVT +MACT + RR Tax
R & M Cost
Fuel Cost
Total No of Buses
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Scenario 2A: - LF 60% - All Standard
Scenario 2B: - LF 60% - All Midi
28.42 27.93 28.42 28.42 28.93 28.42 28.93 29.45
15.02 14.10 15.02 15.02 16.00 15.02 16.00 17.03
0.99 1.67 1.67 2.01 2.01 2.41 2.41 2.41
19.11 18.85 18.85 19.46 19.46 19.46 19.46 19.46
1.32 1.04 1.04 0.82 0.82 0.81 0.81 0.70 4.39 7.65 7.65 9.24 9.24 11.17 11.17 11.17 4.21
6.85 5.75 6.78 5.45 6.00 4.77 5.03
3.67
3.91 3.92 4.09 4.09 4.16 4.18
4.26
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
-
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
70.00
80.00
90.00
100.00
Nu
mb
er
of
Bu
ses
Op
ex+
Cap
ex
/ V
eh
Km
Miscellaneus Cost
Cost of Fund - (Expectedreturns and Intrests)
Cost of Depreciation -Total
ITMS Operating Cost
Staff Cost
Insurance + MVT +MACT + RR Tax
R & M Cost
Fuel Cost
Total No of Buses
22.16 17.98 18.21 16.55 16.74 15.14 15.28 15.43
13.65
12.18 12.97 12.24 13.04
12.31 13.11 13.97
0.67
1.03 1.03 1.17 1.17
1.29 1.29 1.29
19.02
18.76 18.76 19.46 19.46
19.46 19.46 19.46
1.11
0.72 0.72 0.51 0.51
0.48 0.48 0.43
2.95
4.68 4.68 5.34 5.34
5.96 5.96 5.96
2.83
4.23 3.55 4.02 3.25 3.25 2.57 2.50
3.12 2.98 3.00 2.96 2.97
2.89 2.91 2.95
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
-
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
70.00N
um
be
r o
f B
use
s
Op
ex+
Cap
ex
/ V
eh
Km
Miscellaneus Cost
Cost of Fund - (Expectedreturns and Intrests)
Cost of Depreciation -Total
ITMS Operating Cost
Staff Cost
Insurance + MVT +MACT + RR Tax
R & M Cost
Fuel Cost
Total No of Buses
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Scenario 3: - LF 60% - Standard + Midi
Scenario 4: - LF 60% Midi + Mini
22.99 18.93 19.18 17.68 17.90 16.27 16.44 16.61
14.03
12.34 13.15 12.58 13.39
12.54 13.36 14.22
0.70
1.09 1.09 1.25 1.25
1.39 1.39 1.39
19.03
18.77 18.77 19.46 19.46
19.46 19.46 19.46
1.14
0.75 0.75 0.53 0.53 0.50 0.50 0.46
3.07
4.97 4.97 5.71 5.71 6.40 6.40 6.39
2.95 4.48 3.77 4.30 3.48
3.50 2.76 2.68
3.20 3.07 3.08 3.08 3.09
3.00 3.01 3.06
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
-
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
70.00
80.00
Nu
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/ V
eh
Km
Miscellaneus Cost
Cost of Fund - (Expectedreturns and Intrests)
Cost of Depreciation -Total
ITMS Operating Cost
Staff Cost
Insurance + MVT +MACT + RR Tax
R & M Cost
Fuel Cost
Total No of Buses
21.93 17.16 17.36 15.95 16.12 14.65 14.78 14.92
12.83
10.57 11.25 10.48 11.16
10.32 11.00 11.71
0.58
0.92 0.92 1.01 1.01
1.11 1.11 1.11
19.02
18.74 18.74 19.46 19.46
19.46 19.46 19.46
1.11
0.62 0.62 0.46 0.46
0.42 0.42 0.37
2.53
4.17 4.17 4.64 4.64 5.11 5.11 5.11
2.43
3.81 3.21 3.45 2.78 2.78 2.18 2.29
3.02
2.80 2.81 2.77 2.78 2.69 2.70 2.75
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
-
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
70.00
Nu
mb
er
of
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ses
Op
ex+
Cap
ex
/ V
eh
Km
Miscellaneus Cost
Cost of Fund - (Expectedreturns and Intrests)
Cost of Depreciation -Total
ITMS Operating Cost
Staff Cost
Insurance + MVT +MACT + RR Tax
R & M Cost
Fuel Cost
Total No of Buses
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Scenario 5: - LF 60% - Standard + Midi + Mini
Figure 42: Total cost of ownership by cost components at constant price
5.4 Revenue Estimation
Financial analysis can only be complete once the revenue is estimated and compared with the relevant
cost estimates and is linked to demand estimation (Table 47).
5.4.1 Demand Estimation for fleet mix scenarios
As presented in the Demand Assessment section; users’ perception survey outcomes suggest wait
time, fare and safety as the highest weighing variables for PT users, therefore it is important to see the
average wait time offer in different fleet mix scenarios as the fleet size is varying. In the case of Mira
Bhayandar, the IPT acts as proxy PT where the average waiting time is nearly nil at railway stations,
therefore it is crucial to minimize the waiting time along with a proposal of affordable fare to attract
shift from IPT.
Fleet estimation was conducted at route level based approach and criteria explained in the fleet
requirement section, therefore fleet requirement is different for each route which results into different
headways in each fleet mix scenario. Figure 43 below presents the headway distribution for all
proposed 22 routes based on its estimated fleet size for each route.
22.52 18.18 18.41 16.85 17.04 15.54 15.70 15.85
13.09
10.76 11.46 10.67 11.36
10.42 11.10 11.82
0.60
0.94 0.94 1.07 1.07
1.18 1.18 1.17
19.03
18.76 18.76 19.46 19.46
19.46 19.46 19.46
1.13
0.70 0.70 0.47 0.47
0.44 0.44 0.38
2.62
4.30 4.30 4.92 4.92
5.43 5.43 5.43
2.51
3.90 3.28 3.77 3.06 3.05 2.40 2.46
3.08
2.88 2.89 2.86 2.87 2.78 2.79 2.83
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
-
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
70.00
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Op
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ex
/ V
eh
Km
Miscellaneus Cost
Cost of Fund - (Expectedreturns and Intrests)
Cost of Depreciation -Total
ITMS Operating Cost
Staff Cost
Insurance + MVT +MACT + RR Tax
R & M Cost
Fuel Cost
Total No of Buses
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Table 47: Demand estimation for fleet mix scenarios
Scenario -->
1A 1B 2A 2B 3 4 5
PPHPD -
All
Standard
PPHPD -
All Midi
LF 60%
(2030) All
Standard
LF 60%
(2030) All
Midi
LF 60%
(2030)
Stand +
Midi
LF 60%
(2030)
Midi +
Mini
LF 60%
(2030)
Standard
+ Midi +
Mini
Total number of
buses 743 1232 182 305 288 369 355
Average wait
time (in min.) 2.0 1.2 7.0 4.5 4.7 3.4 3.6
Expected % PT
share (approx.) 23%-25% 23%-25% 8%-12% 13%-15% 13%-15% 18%-20% 18%-20%
Approx. daily
pax in 2030 (in
lakhs)
3.7 3.7 1.3 2.3 2.3 3.0 3.0
Figure 43: Frequency distribution for proposed routes/ services
It is obvious where the headways are longer, the average wait time would be high. The existing
average wait time is 9.5min as per 2020 routes frequency, all presented fleet mix scenarios are better
compared to existing however it becomes important to understand the tradeoff between fleet size and
headways which essentially impacts the passenger demand.
5.4.2 Fare structure
Designing an optimal fare structure should be undertaken such that it is affordable, and enables access
to different user groups to the system. While on one hand, fare structures influence total revenue, on
the other hand, it also has a critical role in attracting passengers on-board.
Fare structure and revisions influence system usage and fare-box revenue. Table 48 below shows the
previous fare in 2016 and the current fare implemented for AC and Non AC services;
Table 48: Existing fare structure and previous fare revision
Distance kms Fare (2016) NAC Present Fare
(NAC) - 2020
Present AC Fare -
2020
Percentage of Fare
increase (NAC)
0-2 5 6 20 20.00%
2-4 6 8 30 33.33%
4-6 8 11 35 37.50%
6-8 9 13 40 44.44%
8-10 10 15 40 50.00%
10-12 11 17 50 54.55%
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Distance kms Fare (2016) NAC Present Fare
(NAC) - 2020
Present AC Fare -
2020
Percentage of Fare
increase (NAC)
12-14 12 18 50 50.00%
14-16 13 19 55 46.15%
16-18 14 20 60 42.86%
18-20 15 21 60 40.00%
20-22 16 22 70 37.50%
22-24 18 23 70 27.78%
24-26 19 24 75 26.32%
26-28 20 25 80 25.00%
28-30 21 26 80 23.81%
30-32 22 28 90 27.27%
32-34 23 29 90 26.09%
The minimum fare was changed from Rs.5 (2016) to Rs.6 (2020) in case of NAC services and the
maximum fare changed from Rs.23 to Rs.26 i.e. about 20% to 50% change across the various stages.
AC fare is significantly higher than NAC services and also high compared to the proposed Metro fare
structure. The ridership proportion of AC services is only about 1%, there are only two services going
towards Thane having AC buses.
5.4.3 Fare Proposal
Fare structure revision is one of the business strategies to attract more passengers and retain them on
board. Though existing bus fare is lower compared to IPT, there is an opportunity to make it more
simple, affordable and attractive against other competing modes.
5.4.3.1 Principles for fare revision
Following principles are considered for the fare proposal:
1. Protecting Affordability: About 70% of IPT users and 80% of PT users do not own any
motorised vehicles as per primary surveys conducted in Oct 2019. Average HH income in the
city is estimated to be Rs.30000/- and the average expenditure of transport is about 6% as per
CMP. Considering these facts average affordability derives at Rs.13 per trip per person. This
needs to be taken care while proposing the fare revision.
2. Ensuring System Sustainability: The fare levels should aim to recover the cost of the
operation of the transit system to the extent possible. Therefore, it is important to see Revenue
per Pass. Km at various options of fare structure to compare it with Cost per passenger-km at
day long Load Factor. Involving private operators in operations would reduce the load on cost
part but at the same time, it is recommended to remunerate them well and in a timely manner. It
is also recommended to revise this propose fare every two years to be able to sustain the system
at larger level.
3. Competitiveness with other modes: Fare structure influences mode change decisions of
commuters. It should be competitive with other modes of transport. The principle of
interconnectedness with Affordability applies here. Fares should not exceed the nearest
competing transportation system i.e. IPT and 2Wh, meaning the system which offers similar
benefits in terms of time, comfort level etc. At the same time fares should not be very low or
they could impact sustainability. Low fare structure should not affect the quality of services of
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the transportation system. Inferior service level would discourage the class of commuters who
appreciate time saving and comfortable journey.
4. Ridership augmentation: A fare proposal must have the flexibility to attract riders not only
through affordable fares but also through “smart” use of its capacity. The PT authority should
therefore be able to offer special discounts and schemes to attract ridership. Currently in Mira
Bhayandar, as per ETM details received about 8-10% of passengers are travelling with
concession benefits, and about 3-4% of passenger travel with discount benefits.
5.4.3.2 Suggested Fare Options
Based on above principles, a few fare options are presented below; it is also important to see the fare
levels in other cities in the state of Maharashtra. Mumbai BEST along with Pune fare structure have
been compared with the existing fare structure of the city. Along with other cities fare structure, the
fare of IPT and cost of two-wheeler has also been compiled.
Table 49: Suggested fare options
Distance
Range
2016
MBMT
U Fare
Existing
MBMTU
Fare
Delhi
(DTC)
(2020)
PMPLU
(Pune)
Fare
(2020)
Existing
BEST
(Mumbai)
Fare Option
1
Fare
Option 2
(Similar
to Pune)
Existing
IPT
Fare
2Wh
Cost
(Rs.)
0-1 5 6 5 5 5 5 10 2.2
1-2 5 6 5 5 5 5 10 4.4
2-3 6 8 5 10 5 10 20 6.6
3-4 6 8 5 10 5 10 20 8.8
4-5 8 11 10 10 5 10 20 11.0
5-6 8 11 10 10 10 10 20 13.2
6-7 9 13 10 10 10 10 20 15.4
7-8 9 13 10 15 10 15 20 17.6
8-9 10 15 10 15 10 15 20 19.8
9-10 10 15 10 15 10 15 20 22.0
10-11 11 17 15 15 15 15
24.2
11-12 11 17 15 20 15 20
26.4
12-13 12 18 15 20 15 20
28.6
13-14 12 18 15 20 15 20
30.8
14-15 13 19 15 20 15 20
33.0
15-16 13 19 15 25 20 20
35.2
16-17 14 20 15 25 20 20
37.4
17-18 14 20 15 25 20 20
39.6
18-19 15 21 15 25 20 20
41.8
19-20 15 21 15 25 20 20
44.0
20-21 16 22 15 25 20 20
46.2
21-22 16 22
30 20 20
48.4
22-23 18 23
30 20 20
50.6
23-24 18 23
30 20 20
52.8
24-25 19 24
30 20 20
55.0
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Distance
Range
2016
MBMT
U Fare
Existing
MBMTU
Fare
Delhi
(DTC)
(2020)
PMPLU
(Pune)
Fare
(2020)
Existing
BEST
(Mumbai)
Fare Option
1
Fare
Option 2
(Similar
to Pune)
Existing
IPT
Fare
2Wh
Cost
(Rs.)
25-26 19 24
30 20 20
26-27 20 25
30 20 20
27-28 20 25
35 20 20
28-29 21 26
35 20 20
29-30 21 26
35 20 20
As presented Table 49 and Figure 44, most of the big cities are adopting simple and few stages in
their fare structure. Existing MBMTU fare changes at every 2km which becomes tedious to operate
on the field andis likely to lead to leakages in the system. Mumbai, DTC and Pune fares are low
compared to Mira Bhayandar. BEST has recently reduced the fare significantly by 35% to 40% and
fixed it at Rs.5, Rs.10, Rs.15 and a maximum fare of Rs.20. Pune and Delhi fare are also similar to
Mumbai. There are two options suggested for Mira Bhayandar i.e. Mumbai fare structure and second
is updated Pune fare structure based on city’s average trip length and its distribution. The proposed
two options are simple to operate and significantly lower compared to existing fare levels, existing
IPT fare and current operating 2Wheeler costs.
Figure 44: Suggested fare options and comparison with competitive modes
The proposed fare structure could be implemented in the year 2021 which would aim to attract
ridership from IPT which is very sensitive to fare. This fare can be revised every two years based on
changes in the cost of operations. As per Oct’ 2019 primary surveys, about 60% of IPT users have
lesser than Rs.30,000 monthly HH income.
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5.4.3.3 Revenue per pax km
The Revenue per pax km is generally known as the average fare per pax km. As presented in section
above, the fare structure which other cities have adopted is below the existing fare of MBMTU. In
line with that, if MBMTU restructures the fare, such as Rs.5, Rs.10 and Rs.15, it may help attract IPT
passengers with shorter trip lengths to shift on buses. There are about 42% IPT passengers traveling
less than 2km and paying Rs.10 as the fare. Around 50% IPT passengers have travel distances
between 2 to 5 km and pay around Rs.20.
Table 50: Revenue per pax km (Fare/ pax km)
Sr. No Fare Scenario Revenue/ PaxKm
(Rs.)
1 MBMTU Existing 1.76
2 Pune (PMPLU) 1.92
3 Delhi (DTC) 1.37
4 Mumbai (BEST) – (Option 1) 1.27
5 Similar to Pune (Option 2) 1.81
Table 50 above presents a weighted average revenue per pax km for different fare alternatives. Using
the existing fare structure, the fare per pax-km works out to Rs.1.76. Pune fare gives the highest
revenue whereas BEST has the lowest revenue per paxkm. Option 2 fare structure is a modified
version of Pune with the maximum fare stage of Rs 20 considering shorter trip length in the city and
also to attract long distance passengers. Option 2 seems to be an affordable fare structure in
comparison to existing travel costs and hence is taken as the preferred option. The next section
presents its suitability concerning the overall sustainability of the system.
5.4.3.4 Fare revision mechanism
A periodic revision method (specifying the cost index) for fare is necessary in order to ensure system
sustainability against any escalations in cost inputs (mainly O&M Costs). The below formula is
proposed based on the fare revision process set out for Ahmedabad (AMTS), Ahmedabad BRTS and
Surat city bus services.
The fare rates for each km slab shall be revised annually based on the following formula:
R = [R-base] + 1.2 X {[R-base x 0.5 x (F – F-base)/F-base] + [R-base x 0.5 x (W – W-base)/W-base]}
Where:
R is Applicable Kilometre Charge for the payment period
R-base is the Base Kilometre Charge
F is present Price of Fuel/unit
F-base is Base Year Price of Fuel/unit
W is Present Year Wholesale Price Index and W-base is Base Year Wholesale Price Index.
Fares should be rounded off to nearest rupee at time of revision.
Here, future WPI and future price of diesel have been projected using past trend, the same projected
WPI and Diesel price have been used in the formula for fare revision. The recommended Option 2
fare has been revised with this formula every two years and is presented in Table 51 below;
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Table 51: Future fare revision on shortlisted fare option Distance
Range (km)
2021 Fare
proposed
2023 Fare
revision
2025 fare
revision
2027 fare
revision
2029 fare
revision
0 – 2 5 6 7 8 10
2 – 7 10 12 14 16 19
7 – 11 15 18 21 24 28
11 - 30 20 23 27 31 36
5.4.4 Ridership Buildup
Based on the fleet size and mode shares, the ridership build-up is estimated as below from FY2023 to
FY2032. This estimate may not be so accurate but helps to target intermediate ridership to achieve
ultimate PT share depending upon the approach.
Figure 45: Future ridership builds up – Fleet mix scenarios
5.4.5 Fare Box Revenue
The key revenue source is the farebox revenue. One of the major concerns regarding fare-box revenue
is the pilferage for which adequate safeguarding measures need to be put in place. A robust fare
collection system that is convenient is important to ensure comfortable travel. An integrated fare
system with rail services and the upcoming metro system with smart card ticketing is suggested. Fares
also have a significant role in facilitating a modal shift, particularly from shuttle auto-rickshaws in the
city, due to this fare levels have been based lower than shuttle auto fares as well as two-wheeler costs.
As per ETM details (Feb 2020), the current share of concessional pass holders is only about 8-9% and
discounted pass holders are 3-4%, both the shares are very low compared to other cities. BEST has
about 48% passengers (concessional and discounted together) travel with passes. As per the high
quality and frequent service proposed, there is an opportunity to see high growth in regular users
which would essentially travel with concessional discounted passes. Currently, system has a regular
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
202
0
FY
20
21
FY
20
22
FY
20
23
FY
20
24
FY
20
25
FY
20
26
FY
20
27
FY
20
28
FY
20
29
FY
20
30
Dai
ly p
ax (
in l
akh
s)
Scen 1A and 1B - 25% PT
Scen 2A - 10% PT
Scen 2B & 3 - 15% PT
Scen 4 & 5 - 20% PT
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pass, senior citizen pass, student pass and 50% discount/ concession on tickets for senior citizens,
students and children if they travel with tickets.
The fare structure and fare revision principles focus on attracting regular commuter to buses which
would augment ridership, therefore reasonable growth i.e. about 1/3rd of daily users (by 2030) would
be on concessional plus discounted users have been assumed. The discounts and concessions might
also offer multiple trips within the journey with transfers as well. The discount and concession have
been taken the same as the current pattern as presented in Table 52 below;
Table 52: Concessions and Discounts for regular users
Type of user Current rate at discount/
concession
Proposed rate at discount/
concession
General Tickets As per current fare structure As per proposed fare structure
(Option 2)
General Passes (Discounted) Rs.530/ month Rs.410/ month
Student Passes (Concession) Rs.250/ month Rs.180/ month
Child (Concession) 50% discount on ticket 50% discount on ticket
Senior Citizen ticket (Concession) 50% discount on ticket 50% discount on ticket
Student ticket (Concession) 50% discount on ticket 50% discount on ticket
Others (Concession) 50% discount on ticket 50% discount on ticket
As per the above revised discounts and concessions passes, the estimated loss is about 10% in 2023
and about 15% in 2030 for discounts and concession together; where only concessional losses are 7%
and 9% in 2023 to 2030 from the total expected revenue. The concessional losses should be covered
through funds from the state government. With all concessions and discounts, fare revision and
ridership build up; overall farebox revenue is estimated from 2023 to 2030 for each fleet mix scenario
(Table 53);
Table 53: Fare box revenue estimation for fleet mix scenarios
Escalated
Total
Infrastructure
Cost
1A 1B 2A 2B 3 4 5
PPHPD -
All
Standard
PPHPD -
All Midi
LF 60%
(2030)
All
Standard
LF 60%
(2030) All
Midi
LF 60%
(2030) Stand
+ Midi
LF 60%
(2030) Midi
+ Mini
LF 60%
(2030)
Standard +
Midi + Mini
2023 21 21 17 19 19 20 20
2024 36 36 20 27 27 31 31
2025 68 68 29 45 45 57 57
2026 97 97 36 61 61 79 79
2027 132 132 46 81 81 106 106
2028 150 150 50 91 91 120 120
2029 195 195 63 117 117 156 156
2030 203 203 65 122 122 162 162
Total
Revenue 901 901 326 563 563 732 732
5.4.5.1 Non-fare box Revenue
Non-fare box revenue includes non-ticket sales and may include revenue from advertisement,
commercial development, cross-subsidy, property rental, etc. Non-fare box revenue sources are
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crucial for covering up the operating deficits and making operations viable. In the case of Mira
Bhayandar, non-fare revenues have been considered in the range of 10-12%. Innovating funding
sources like green tax, parking charges can also be explored. For funds for depots and terminals,
developing these on a PPP basis can be explored. Any gaps in operating deficits would have to be
covered through Viability Gap Funding by the municipal corporation. This could be done through
budgetary allocations/ policy level changes at the state level and/or instituting a city level UTF.
Adopting GCC for operations, where the operator has to bring in buses as per MBMTU’s
specification which would reduce the capital expenditure drastically.
Concessions and passes are means of incentivizing bus travel for certain sections of society.
Concessions for students, elderly etc., and passes for regular travelers can help in subsidizing travel
for certain sections of society, achieving the objective of access for different socio-economic groups.
5.5 Financial Evaluation for fleet mix scenario
The total associated cost with fleet mix scenarios and the revenue has been estimated and the
summary outputs are presented below. The evaluation framework (Table 54) considered includes
criteria of EPKM/ CPKM recovery, average load factor, cost per pass-km and operating ratio.
Scenario 1A and 1B are based on PPHPD approach, as explained these are very ambitious i.e.
675 and 1120 on road buses, targeting these from existing fleet size 85 would not be
reasonable.
Scenario 4 and 5 are performing best among all the scenarios. They are with good LF, the
highest cost recovery and the lowest cost/ pass km demand. There is also not much difference
between Scenario 4 & 5 in any of the evaluation criteria, however, operating three different
types of buses in one system may lead to several operating challenges.
Scenario 2B and 3 can target 15% PT share, average LF, operating ratio and EPKM/ CPKM
ratio are same for both but cost/ passenger km demand is marginally better for Scenario 3
where MBMTU might need to change their traditional pattern of operating only standard
buses.
Scenario 2A with all standard buses does not offer very well cost-effectiveness and also does
not attract desirable ridership however MBMTU may give preference to this scenario as it
requires least additional area requirement for the depot and also MBMTU has experience of
operating standard buses.
Considering the above aspects, Scenario 2A, 3 and 4 can be shortlisted which are likely to increase
bus mode share to 10%, 15% and 20%. The detailed operating cost breakup, revenue estimation,
operating ratio and load factor for future years are presented in Annexure 7 for all scenarios.
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Table 54: Evaluation Framework (Dashboard) – Fleet Mix Scenarios
Scenario -->
1A 1B 2A 2B 3 4 5
PPHPD - All
Standard PPHPD - All Midi
LF 60% (2030)
All Standard
LF 60% (2030)
All Midi
LF 60% (2030)
Standard + Midi
LF 60% (2030)
Midi + Mini
LF 60% (2030)
Standard + Midi +
Mini
Cost Estimates
Total number of buses 743 1232 182 305 288 369 355
Fleet Cost 591 523 143 128 130 133 137
Cost/ Pax Km - 60% 2.68 3.02 2.61 2.88 2.85 3.18 3.16
Total Operational
Cost (2023 to 2030) 3250 3725 942 1111 1095 1196 1172
Area for additional
Depots 34.63 46.78 6.58 9.69 9.27 11.21 11.02
Depot Cost with land 355 480 67 99 95 115 113
Total Cost (Life cycle
+ Depot) 3606 4205 1010 1211 1190 1311 1285
Revenue Estimates
PT Share 23%-25% 23%-25% 8%-12% 13%-15% 13%-15% 18%-20% 18%-20%
Daily Pax (2030) 378544 378544 121134 227126 227126 302835 302835
Revenue (2023-30) 901 901 326 563 563 732 732
Evaluation
CPKM (2023-2030)
(Rs./km) 113 79 110 80 83 75 78
EPKM (Rs./km) 31 19 38 40 42 46 48
% Recovery of CPKM 28% 24% 35% 51% 51% 61% 62%
Cost/Pax Km demand
(2023-30) 9.04 10.36 7.08 4.91 4.84 4.08 4.00
LF (2023-2030) 0.17 0.17 0.22 0.35 0.35 0.46 0.47
Operating Ratio
(2023-2030) 0.33 0.27 0.40 0.57 0.58 0.68 0.70
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6 Operating Model
6.1 Service Delivery
One of the key questions is how the services would be delivered. This section discusses different
types of bus operations models followed by discussion of existing operating model in case of Mira
Bhayandar City. The subsequent section presents the key observations and recommendations.
6.1.1 Overview of Bus Operations Model
There are broadly three options (Figure 46) for bus operations model as detailed below.
1. Public Monopoly: This model suggests that bus services in the city shall be owned and
operated by State Transport Undertakings (STUs)/state agencies as they are more likely to
have the society’s interests at heart and can theoretically operate at lower costs than the
private sector. However, state operations have typically failed due to the mentioned reasons:
a. State agencies often suffer from the dilemma of providing profit making services or
have a reduced need for subsidies while at the same time provide services at reduced
rates (regulated low fares).
b. Authorities highly rely on subsidies from government with low focus on passenger
demand and customer service resulting in a ‘supply-oriented’ service rather than
‘demand-oriented’. This often leads to financial pressures resulting in cost-cutting
and service level reduction further declining passenger numbers and consequently,
dwindling revenue.
2. Private Sector Monopoly: This model suggests the bus operations be fully privatized, where
the private sector carries the responsibility for transport outcomes. The market forces are left
to dictate the balance between supply and demand under this model. The major drawback of
this model is that the operators yield control over both service quality and fares. The private
operators could not bear the risk of balancing both service quality with providing optimal fare
to ensure customer-oriented services.
3. Public Private Partnership (PPP) model: This is a partnership contract between the private
operator and public agencies with clearly defined objectives and state roles and
responsibilities of both parties. It is typically a medium to a long-term arrangement between
the public and private sectors whereby services that are typically the responsibility of the
public sector are transferred to the private sector. There are two aspects of a PPP contract that
make it valuable and useful in the management of city bus services:
a. the inherent ‘contractual’ basis of the agreement
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i. Clear definition of roles and responsibilities, obligations, procedures of each
party are mentioned in the contractual conditions of the contract agreement; it
enforces both the parties to achieve intended outcomes.
ii. Performance based renumerations are easier to enforce under contract
conditions with developed payment mechanisms and penalty regimes. Also
allows removal of poorly performing operator.
b. the aspect of ‘partnership’ suggesting financial viability to both parties, risk
distribution for better management.
Figure 46: Bus Operation models
6.1.2 PPP Operating Model Contract types
The contract types of PPP model (Figure 47 below) varies from a Gross Cost Model, where the entire
revenue risk is with the authorities, to a Net Cost Model, where the operator takes the responsibility of
managing the revenue risk. The contracts also include hybrid models, which act more like a
‘partnership’ and are balanced in terms of risk sharing and partnering toward a common objective.
The activity chart of all the four contract types is presented in Figure 47 below.
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Figure 47: PPP contract types
The four types of PPP contracts along with the activity matrix are described below. The merits and
demerits of different contracts for both authority and private operator are presented in Figure 48
below.
a) Gross Cost Contract (GCC): This contract grants higher control to the government authority
as it manages the network, by contracting the operators and paying them to provide a set level
of services under set quality standards. Under this type of contract, the authority carries the
revenue risk, plans overall services, manages the contract for Level of Service (LOS) and
quality, and is ultimately responsible for customer service. This contract sets overall Service
Levels (SL)/Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and requires close monitoring by the
authority.
b) Net Cost Contract (NCC): In the NCC, most of the service planning and revenue risks are
carried by operator and the authority performs only regulatory role. Though the service
quality levels and KPIs are set as conditions for awarding the NCC the authority has lesser
control mechanisms which typically results in a loss of control and risk leading to undesirable
outcomes.
c) Hybrid Gross Cost Contract: It is a variant of GCC where the authority still carries prime
responsibility for passenger service outcomes and sets explicit service obligations (SL), but
incentivizes the operator through additional payment for ridership growth sharing the revenue
risk.
d) Hybrid Net Cost Contract: It is a variant of NCC where the authority supports non-
commercial routes where service on the routes needs to be provided as a public service
obligation (PSO). This contract type is suitable for more skilled, willing, and experienced
operators who are capable of undertaking service planning and managing almost all the
revenue risk. The authority sets overall SL/Quality KPIs and needs to monitor outcomes. But,
by its inherent nature, the level of control by the authority is less. The characteristics of
hybrid NCC and Hybrid GCC contract types are mentioned in Figure 48 below.
GCC
Private Operator:
Owns, operates and
maintains bus fleets
Owns and maintains
plant and equipment
Maintain workshops
and depot
infrastructure
Receives Km
Charge Rate (KCR)
GCC Hybrid
Private Operator:
Same as in GCC
except
Receives KCR fixed
+ Variable based on
LF
NCC
Private Operator:
Retains Fare box
Revenue
Owns, operates and
maintains bus fleets,
plant and equipment
Maintain depot
infrastructure
Receives System
Mgmt. Fees (SMF ‘+’
or ‘-‘)
NCC Hybrid
Private Operator:
Same as in NCC
Receives Pre-fixed
subsidy for selected
routes
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Figure 48: PPP Contracts –Merits and Demerits
PPP CONTRACTS Gross Cost Contract: Revenue
risk is with authorities
Net Cost Contract: Revenue risk is
with operators
GCC Private Operator:
Owns, operates and maintains bus fleets
Owns and maintains plant and equipment
Maintain workshops and depot infrastructure
Receives Km Charge Rate (KCR)
GCC Hybrid
Private Operator:
Same as in GCC except
Receives KCR fixed + Variable based on LF
NCC Private Operator:
Retains Fare box Revenue
Owns, operates and maintains bus fleets, plant and
equipment
Maintain depot infrastructure
Receives System Mgmt.Fees(SMF ‘+’ or ‘-‘)
GCC Hybrid Private Operator:
Same as in NCC
Receives Pre-fixed subsidy for selected routes
Ty
pes
For Authority
Funds Requirement – Low
Investment Risk – Low
Overall Risk evenly distributed leading to
- Larger bidding competition
- Better Price discovery
Competition – High
Operating Flexibility – Excellent
Data availability – Excellent
Contractual Enforcement – Good
Operational Safety – High
Cartelling Possibility – Nil
For Private Operator Bankability – High
Revenue and Operation Risk – Low
Fare Revision concerns – Nil
- Incentives for:Cost Reduction - High
- Managerial efficiency improvement - High
For Authority
Funds Requirement – Low
Investment Risk – Low
Revenue and Operations Risk – Nil
Monitoring & Control Needs/Cost – Minimal
Competition – High
Force Majeure Risk – Minimum
For Private Operator
Functional Integration - High
Incentives for:
- Revenue maximization – High
- Service Quality Improvement - High
- Cost Reduction - High
- Managerial efficiency improvement - High
Mer
its
For Authority
Revenue Risk – Medium
Functional integration – Medium
Monitoring & Control Need/Cost – Medium
Service Quality Assurance – Low
For Private Operator
Incentives for:
- Revenue Maximization - Nil
- Capacity Utilization Maximization – Nil
Payment Risk - Medium
For Authority
Risk concentration leading to poor:
- Bidding competition, Price discovery
Operating flexibility - Poor
Data availability – Poor
Contractual enforcement – Poor
Service Quality Assurance – Poor
Operational Safety – Low
Cartelling Possibility – High
Overlapping operations – Inter POs disputes / un-
healthy & dangerous competition on roads
For Private Operator
Fare revenue concerns - High
Traffic/Revenue Projections – Difficult
Viability Gap payment – High Uncertainty
Bankability – Poor
Force Majeure Risk - Medium
Dem
eri
ts
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6.1.3 Existing PPP contract for bus operations in Mira Bhayandar
MBMTU started bus services in the city in the year 2005. The bus operations have been offered by
private operators on a Net Cost Contract (NCC). MBMTU has changed three operators in the last 15
years because of inefficient service operations. The second operator contract was terminated in 2015
and 2015 to 2019 MBMTU operated the services by hiring drivers and conductors on contract.
However, because of poor financial performance, MBMTU decided to stop operations and contract it
out to private bus operators again. In 2019, MBMTU signed the Net Cost Contract with M/s
Bhagirathi in order to carry out city bus operations for six years where the operator has to manage bus
operations, it's scheduling, fare collection, bus maintenance etc. The city bus operations under the new
contract were initiated on 9th October 2019.
The contract duration is 6 years, extendable by another 2 years. The contract covers a total of 83
MBMT buses to be operated by M/s Bhagirathi on 21 routes as per the specified schedule. The
revenue risk is with the operator, and a VGF as per Table 55 below is to be paid by MBMC to the
operator from the commencement of operations.
Table 55: VGF per kilometer for operation of city bus operations Years VGF per kilometre for city bus operation in MBMC on NCC basis in (Rs)
First 26.00
Second 27.10
Third 28.20
Fourth 29.60
Fifth 31.40
Sixth 33.60
Seventh 36.30
Eighth 39.60
The current VGF rates appear for a Net Cost Contract seems to be high, however this could be owing
to a negligible bus market before commencement of bus operations under the new contract. Due to
this, private operators could have sensed a higher risk, thereby expecting higher VGF rates. In
comparison, a gross cost operation would not be substantially different from these rates.
6.1.4 Proposed Operating Model
As per the fleet requirement and procurement plan, in the year 2030 fleet size would be 180 to 370
depending upon the scenario. Given the current mode share of buses is around 4% and the existence
of high latent demand, it is important to deliver high-quality bus services to facilitate a shift to PT.
The bus market would have to be developed, understanding well that facilitating a shift towards PT
from private transport is challenging. It would therefore be important to put in place a frequent high-
quality bus service in all parts of the city to attract passengers. While doing so, revenue risk would
need to lie with MBMT, as passenger build-up may need time. Other complementary demand
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management measures like parking controls and charges would also have to be put in place to ensure
a shift from private modes.
It is also important to note that while the market is being developed, bus routes would need to be
flexible and may have to be tweaked based on the travel patterns of passengers. At the same time,
while the new routes are being introduced, the existing routes may have to be removed, modified or
gradually withdrawn.
The Net Cost Contract would not provide enough flexibility in such an evolving scenario. Further, in
light of COVID, restarting operations and build-up of demand would be a gradual process. The
services would also need to be adapted due to uncertainties of demand, making it worthwhile to start
with a Gross Cost Contract. The progressive phased introduction of hybrid GCC model can be done
utilizing their experience on GCC model. One of the possibilities, therefore, could be that the current
contract is renegotiated based on the above considerations. The responsibility matrix for both MBMT
and private operator as per the proposed operations strategy is presented in Table 56 below.
Table 56: Responsibility matrix – Operator and Authority
Functions MBMT Private Operator
Bus Provision Provision of Bus specification and
Performance and quality standards
for the services to be provided
Issue fitness certificate
Procure a lot of buses as per
specifications, Procure bus license from
RTO, registration of buses, payment of
taxes etc.
Infrastructure
Provision
Provide adequate parking facilities
for buses –depots or any other site
and workshop
ITMS Procure, install, and monitor
communication devices on the buses
and set up Control Centre
Allow authority to monitor the bus and
now allow any tamper with such
communication system/ITS and/or
cameras installed
Bus operations Provision of timetable schedule
Operate and maintain buses at its own cost
Provide an adequate number of drivers
and helpers and train them
Ensure buses pick and drop at designated
stops
Allow access to buses to all members of
public
Make arrangement for removal of vehicles
in event of a breakdown and provide
alternate buses for passengers
Maintain a control room to monitor
movement of buses and respond in an
event of emergency
Designate and appoint suitable officers to
run the day-to-day activities of the
transport system
Fare Passenger fare determination and
passenger fare collection on its own,
or through outsourcing to a third
party
Bus and Inspection of buses and depot Maintain cleanliness on buses
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Functions MBMT Private Operator
infrastructure
maintenance
facilities to assess their upkeep and
maintenance
Maintain an adequate level of inventory
for repair and maintenance of buses
Allow authority to undertake inspections
as and when it deems fit
Ensure the safety of buses and depots
against theft and vandalism
Passenger
feedback and
Complaint
redressal
Assess if passenger complaints are
taken care of
Undertake passenger perception
surveys
Address consumer complaints forwarded
by authority
Service
monitoring
Monitoring of operations and service
quality parameters
Conduct regular inspections of buses,
from time to time
Levy penalties on the private
operator on account of non-
performance
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7 Key Performance Indicators
Performance indicators are useful tools for ensuring monitoring the quality of the delivered transit
services. It is important to identify indicators of relevance as “what gets measured, gets attention”
(TCRP 88).
Performance measures help to assess how well the services are delivered to the customers, identify
areas of improvement and assess whether their actions are leading to improvement in performance
levels. A good performance measurement system should also take into consideration the goals and
objectives set by the transit agency. The aim of the transit agency should be that the service provision
is undertaken as efficiently as possible so that the goals and objectives are met and over the years
improvement in service quality would help in retaining existing riders while also attracting new riders
to the system.
In the case of Mira Bhayandar, MBMC has specified a set of minimum service quality standards for
the bus service operator to be monitored monthly.
These are presented in Table 57 below:
Table 57: Service quality standards for the bus service operator under NCC Sr
No Quality Parameter Formula
Specified Service
Quality Level
1 Fleet Utilization No of buses operated*100/ No of buses
scheduled
93% (Excluding
Sundays and Holidays)
2 Bus Utilization Km operated by all buses/ Total no of buses
held
Minimum 180kms
3 Trip Efficiency No of trips operated*100/ No of trips
scheduled
98% or better
4 Reliability of bus Total no of breakdowns*10000/ Total kms
operated
Less than 3
5 Safety of Operations No of accidents*100000/ Total kms operated Preferably Nil
6 Punctuality (Adherence to
the time schedule)
No of trips on time at start*100/ Total no of
trips operated
98% or better
7 User Satisfaction No of complaints*1000/ Total trips operated Less than 2
8 Stoppage of buses at
designated stops
No of stops where the bus stopped*100/ Total
no of stops on the route
100%
9 Completion of entire trip Total kms operated per trip*100/ Total route
length
95%
In addition, penalties have been specified for defaults and deficiencies related to buses, drivers,
operations related, accidents and passenger related as can be seen in Table 58 below:
Table 58: Penalties for defaults and service deficiencies as per NCC contract
Sr No Description
Fine per Violation
per bus per day
(in Rs)
1 Bus related default and deficiency
A Discoloration, alteration of the bus colour, logo, peeling off of paint, non-
painting of any repaired work inside or outside the bus
500
B Unclean, dirty bus inside or outside at the start of the trip 100
C Driving with a defective number plate 100
D Bus operating with broken seat missing window glass 200
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Sr No Description
Fine per Violation
per bus per day
(in Rs)
2 Bus Driver related default and deficiency
A Bus operation with defective LED destination boards/ or bus operations
without destination boards
200
B Non-operating bus doors, operating bus with open doors, hanging
passengers and conductors
300
C Driver is not carrying a proper driving license 500
D Driver is not wearing uniform 100
E Driver conductor found under the influence of alcohol 2000
G Passenger complaints of stop skipping, rash driving, starting the bus before
boarding or alighting is completed
500
H Signal Jumping 500
3 Bus operator or bus operation related deficiency/defaults
A Deviating from routes/trip/schedules/timetable issued by MBMC or
authorized representative time to time
500
B Not taking corrective actions on repeated occurrence of vehicles (including
breakdowns) or driver related deficiency (occurrence of a deficiency more
than 3 times a week can be termed as repetitive)
500
C Misbehavior with passenger 500
D Buses operating without fitness, insurance and permits 1000
E Any damage to the fixed infrastructure inside the depot (maintenance
facilities) and outside the depot (railing, streetlights, bus stops, terminals,
parking space etc. during the operation)
Get it repaired by
the operator as per
the actual cost of
replacement
F Reports of any misconducts by the bus operation staff in depot 1000 for each
instance
4 Accidents
A In case of 1st fatal accident due to negligence of driver during preliminary
investigations
15000
B In case of 2nd
fatal accident and proved due to the negligence of the driver in
the preliminary investigation
30000
5 Passenger related default and deficiency
A For avoiding passenger fare Fines as per the
provision of MV
act or as per the
practice of MMR
bus operations
B Over travelling Fines as per the
provision of MV
act or as per the
practice of MMR
bus operations
While the above set seems to be focused on the agency as well as user set of measures, a link with
overall vision and goals set out for the bus services is also important. Also, the provision of quality
bus services is expected to lead to improved ridership on the system. Therefore, measures that focus
on assessing service effectiveness in terms of ridership levels are also critical.
7.1 Performance Measures and Vision & Goals of MBMC
The goals and objectives defined by a transit agency should be used to help outline performance
measures. The vision, mission and strategic directions of the plan are presented in Figure 49 below. It
can be seen that these focus on both commuters as well as operator/agency perspectives.
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Figure 49: Vision, Mission and Strategic Directions
Figure 50: Objectives and Performance Measures of the Service Plan
In line with the Vision, Mission and Strategic Directions, objectives and measures have been defined
taking also into consideration qualitative perception survey outputs.
As shown in Figure 50 above, the performance measures can be categorised as under:
1. Service Availability
2. Service Delivery
3. Service Effectiveness
Vis
ion
Making bus a preferred mode of travel in Mira Bhayandar
Mis
sio
n
Provision of reliable, efficient and high-quality bus services
Stra
tegi
c d
ire
ctio
ns Integrated public
transport system
Commuter-centric high frequency service
Connectivity to all parts of the city
Efficient operations and financial management
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4. Safety
5. Efficient Operations
6. Cost Efficiency
7.2 Proposed performance measures
The existing indicators are checked against the identified performance measure categories to assess
their adequacy and identify any gaps and need for any new indicators.
Table 59: Proposed performance categories and status Performance Measure
Categories
Existing indicators Remarks
Service availability Currently not covered. Some of the indicators
could be:
Area coverage, high frequency network/area,
span of service, % area accessible within 15
minutes travel time.
Service delivery Reliability of bus (Total
no of
breakdowns*10000/
Total kms operated)
Punctuality (Adherence
to the time schedule) No
of trips on time at
start*100/ Total no of
trips operated
Stoppage of buses at
designated stops No of
stops where the bus
stopped*100/ Total no
of stops on the route
No of complaints*1000/
Total trips operated
Only considers breakdowns and schedule
adherence at the start location.
Other indicators could be:
Travel time reliability
maintenance of regular headways
Excess Wait Times
Service Effectiveness Does not consider any service effectiveness
indicators. Following indicators may be
considered:
Ridership per bus
Passengers per veh-km
Safety of operations Safety of Operations (No of
accidents*100000/ Total
kms operated)
Efficient Operations Fleet Utilization
Bus utilisation
Trip efficiency (No of
trips operated*100/ No
of trips scheduled)
Completion of entire
trip (Total kms operated
per trip*100/ Total route
length)
Cost efficiency Financial indicators not considered
It can thus be seen from Table 59 above that the existing indicators are not adequate and do not cover
service availability, service effectiveness and cost efficiency categories. Therefore, an additional set
of indicators have been defined as can be seen from Table 60 below:
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Table 60: Proposed indicators for performance measures
Sr. No. Performance Measure
Categories Indicators Existing/New
Pertains to
perspective of Remarks
1
Service Availability
Extent of Supply-
Availability of Public
Transport
New User
This indicator highlights fleet supply available in PT Service to serve
city’s population.
SLB gradings suggests extent to which fleet supply should be serving
the city's commuters.
Higher LOS suggests better extent of fleet supply in the city
2 Service Coverage of
Public Transport New User
This indicator measures share of PT service plying with less than
20min frequency in the city. Higher route service frequency in bus
operations provides commuters to opt PT service as a mode of the
travel to their destined locations.
3 Accessibility New User
This indicator suggests reach of PT services to % of city's population.
Higher percentage indicates better accessibility of PT network to
residents in the city.
4
Service Delivery
Breakdown
probability New Operator
This indicator measures daily bus breakdowns. The lesser the no of
breakdowns the higher the trip operating efficiency or better schedule
adherence.
Higher value indicates lower efficiency.
5 Travel time reliability New User
This indicator suggests deviation in travel time reached due to delay
in completion of bus trips during peak hours. Higher value of
standard deviation indicates trip cancellation and late departures and
arrivals of fleet at terminals.
6 Passenger waiting
time New User
This indicator measures time required for an individual or a group of
people to catch bus service to their destined location in the city. The
lower the waiting time of bus services, higher the chances riders
choosing PT as their mode of transport
7 Skip Stops Existing Authority
This indicator measures stoppage violation caused by driver's during
service operation in the city. This gap will leave commuters to alight
or board at the farther distance to their desired location and violate
schedule adherence.
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Sr. No. Performance Measure
Categories Indicators Existing/New
Pertains to
perspective of Remarks
8
Punctuality:
Adherence to the time
schedule
Existing -
Modified Authority
This indicator measures adherence of buses to schedules provided to
fulfil the travel demand of commuters in the city. Low figures
indicate trip cancellation and more breakdown of buses in the city.
9 Customer satisfaction Existing User
This indicator suggests improvement and advancement of bus service
quality, accessibility required in the system to cater to more reliable
service operation in the city.
10 Occupancy Ratio
(Load Factor) New User
This indicator measures passengers per seat. As a measure of
comfort, it is more suitable for inter-city services because the journey
is fairly longer than that in intra-city services.
11
Service Effectiveness
Ridership per bus per
day New Authority
This indicator normalizes bus ridership by bus fleet size, and reflects
the asset utilization.
A higher value means that on average, a bus carries more passengers
and suggests better asset utilization.
12
Average Daily
passenger km per
vehicle km
New Authority
This indicator measures the average system loading, in other words,
how well the operating capacity has been utilized.
A higher value suggests better performance.
13 Boarding per 1000
population New Authority
This indicator tracks no of passengers using the system throughout
the year, indicating improving performance and efficiency of bus
operations in the city.
14 Safety of operations Safety New User
This indicator outlines no. of casualties in the city due to the PT
service. Authority and operator should target to achieving zero
casualties. Any value higher than zero suggest driver training.
15
Efficient Operations
Fleet Utilization New Authority
Fleet Utilization prompts for higher buses operating on road.
The closer the figure to 100%, higher the optimum utilization of
buses
16 Bus utilization New Authority Vehicle Utilization reflects daily kms operated by on-road buses.
The higher the value, the higher is the trip efficiency of buses.
17 Trip efficiency New Authority This indicator measured trip efficiency of the bus system.
The lesser the trips delayed or cancelled the higher the percent value.
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Sr. No. Performance Measure
Categories Indicators Existing/New
Pertains to
perspective of Remarks
18 Route kms missed New Authority
This indicator suggests route violation caused by drivers due to the
lack of information or training thereby margining complete
reachability of the bus services in the city.
19 Non-revenue km
share New Authority
This indicator measures the non-revenue bus kms. The closer the
depot locations to the bus start terminals the lesser the dead kms. The
lower the kms more the kms gains profits.
Values are suggested to be as lower as possible.
20
Cost Efficiency
Operating cost per
passenger km New Operator
This indicator measures the cost required to deliver every kilometre a
passenger travel. As operating cost is largely fixed (e.g. manpower
cost, fuel cost) once the route and schedule are determined, a higher
ridership and longer trip distance would lead to higher operational
efficiency.
21 Revenue earned per
passenger km New Authority
This indicator measures how much a commuter pays for one km
he/she travels in the PT system.
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7.3 Performance measures – existing and proposed scenarios
The following Table 61 below details out evaluation data required and process to analyse the key
performance indicators. The table also explains details on measuring indicators derived from Service
Level Benchmark’s in terms of the level of service rankings.
Table 61: Indicators and values for existing and proposed service scenarios
Sr.
No. Indicators Existing
Proposed Scenario (2030)
Scenario-2A Scenario-3 Scenario-4
Service Availability
1 Extent of Supply-Availability of Public Transport
a No of buses available in a city on any day 85 183 290 374
b Total population of the city 1204643 1710932 1710932 1710932
c Total no of buses available (a)/Total population*1000
(b) 0.07 0.11 0.17 0.22
SLB Level of Service (LOS) Grading 4 3 3 3
This indicator highlights fleet supply available in PT Service to serve citiy's population. SLB gradings suggests extent
to which fleet supply should be serving the city's commuters. Higher LOS suggests better extent of fleet supply in the
city. The Identified ranges of the supply are suggested as:-
1) LOS1 - > 0.4,
2) LOS2 - > 0.25 & < 0.4,
3) LOS3 - > 0.1 & < 0.25 and
4) LOS4 - < 0.1
2 Service Coverage of Public Transport
a Transit Access Area (sq km) 20.7 20.76 20.76 20.76
b Total administrative area (sq km) 22 22 22 22
c Total transit access area (a)/ Total Area (b) 94% 94% 94% 94%
SLB Level of Service (LOS) Grading 2 2 2 2
This indicator measures share of PT service plying with less than 20min frequency in the city.Higher route service
frequency in bus operations provides commuters to opt PT service as a mode of the travel to their destined locations.
The identified SLB ranges can be refered in the list below:-
1) LOS1 - >= 1,
2) LOS2 - > 0.7 & < 1,
3) LOS3 - > 0.3 & < 0.7 and
4) LOS4 - < 0.3
3 Accessibility
a Transit Access Area (sq kms) 20.7 20.76 20.76 20.76
b Transit Access Area with high freq stops (sq kms) 12.3 18.3 18.9 19.2
c Total Transit Access Area with high freq stops (b)/
Total Transit Access Area (a)*100 59% 88% 91% 92%
Service Delivery
4 Breakdown Probablity
a No. of breakdown * 10000
b Total no of kms operated 13445.9 37950 60260 77050
c No. of breakdowns*10000 (a)/ Total kms (b)
5 Travel Time Reliablity
a Scheduled time of travel
b Standard Deviation of actual time of travel
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Sr.
No. Indicators Existing
Proposed Scenario (2030)
Scenario-2A Scenario-3 Scenario-4
c Scheduled (a) - SD Actual (b) / Scheduled time of
travel
6 Passenger waiting time
a Average frequency of buses surpassing a bus stop in a
hour 9.5 14 10 14
b Avg passenger waiting time at a bus stop (mins) 6.1 6.9 4.7 3.4
7 Skip Stops
a No of stops where the bus stopped
b Total no of stops on the route 287 336 336 336
c Bus Stoppage count *100 (a)/ Total no of stops (b)
*100
8 Punctuality
a Total no of trips starts on time as per bus schedule
b Total no of trips scheduled 615 3239 4973 7223
c Total no of trips starting on time (a) / total no of
scheduled trips (b) *100
9 Customer Satisfaction
a No of complaints registered * 1000
b Total no of trips operated 615 3239 4973 7139
c Total no of complaints (a)/ Total no of trips (b)
10 Occupancy Ratio (Load Factor)
a Total passenger kms 287477.
3 614149 1151530 1535373
b Total bus supply kms (total fleet*carrying
capacity*Avg. VU) 953700 2314950 3290086 3337767
c Total passenger km (a)/ Total bus supply km(b) 0.27 0.22 0.35 0.46
Service Effectiveness
11 Ridership per bus per day
a Daily ridership 43843 121123 227123 302740
b Total no. of buses 85 183 290 374
c Total passengers carried (a)/Total no. of buses (b) 516 662 783 809
12 Average Daily passenger km per vehicle km
a Passenger km 287477.
3 614149 1151530 1535373
b Vehicle km 13445.9 37950 60260 77050
c Total passenger kms (a)/Total effective kms (b) 21 16 19 20
13 Boardings per 1000 population
a Total Boardings 43843 121123 227123 302740
b Population 1204643 1710932 1710932 1710932
c Boardings*1000 (a) / Population (b) 36 71 133 177
SLB Level of Service (LOS) Grading 4 4 3 3
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Sr.
No. Indicators Existing
Proposed Scenario (2030)
Scenario-2A Scenario-3 Scenario-4
This indicator tracks no of passengers using the system throughout the year, indicating improving performance and
efficieny of bus operations in the city.SLB indicator suggestion for the indicators are mentioned in the array below:-
1) LOS1 - >= 500,
2) LOS2 - > 250 & < 500,
3) LOS3 - > 250 & < 100 and
4) LOS4 - <= 100
Saftey of Operations
14 Safety
a Total no. of accidents
b Total no. of accidents (a)/ million km
Efficiency of Operations
15 Fleet Utilization
a Total no. of buses 66 183 290 374
b Total no. of on-road buses 58 165 261 337
c Total no of on-raod buses (a)/ Total no of buses (b)
*100 86 90 90 90
16 Vehicle Utilization
a Vehicle km 13746 37950 60260 77050
b Total no. of on-road buses 58 165 261 337
c Total vehicle kms (a)/ Total no of on-road buses(b) 237 230 231 229
17 Regularity of Service
a Total actual trips operated 611
b Total schceduled trips 615 3239 4973 7223
c Total actual trips operated (a)/ Total scheduled trips
(b)*100 99%
18 Route km missed
a Total bus kms per trip
b Total scheduled route kms
c Total compliance with route (a)/ Total route kms
(b)*100
19 Non Revenue kms share
a Total Dead km
b Total vehicle kms operated 13445.9 37950 60260 77050
c Total dead km /Total operated vehicle kms (b)
Cost Efficiency
20 Operating cost per passenger km
a Operating Cost (in crore) 14.0 154 181 212
b Passenger km (in crore) 10.5 22.4 42 56
c Total operating cost (a)/Total passenger km (b) 1.3 6.9 4.3 3.8
21 Revenue earned per passenger km
a Total traffic revenue (in crore) 11.3 64.94 121.77 162.36
b Total passenger km (in crore) 10.5 22.4 42 56
c Total traffic revenue (a)/ Total passengers km (b) 1.1 2.9 2.9 2.9
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8 Organizational Structure
Efficient management of bus operations is critical for ensuring the quality of bus services and
attracting new passengers to the system. The bus operations in Mira Bhayandar since its inception has
been predominantly catered by private operators under Net Cost Contracts with MBMT. The
organizational structure and staffing of the agency vary depending on whether the services are
operated in-house or if they are contracted out. This section, therefore, is structured in three sections –
first dealing with the existing organizational structure, followed by identification of functions of the
agency under the current contract structure. The final section presents observations and
recommendations.
8.1 Existing structure of MBMT
Mira Bhayandar Municipal Transport Undertaking is formed under the BPMC Act. The Transport
Manager is responsible to manage the Transport undertaking and perform all acts necessary for the
economical and efficient maintenance, operation, administration, and development of the undertaking
(Figure 51).
Figure 51: Current organizational structure of Mira Bhayandar
Deputy Municipal Commissioner, Mira Bhayandar has been given the charge of Transport Manager
currently. The Transport Manager overlooks the ITS officer, the Operations Manager, the Junior
Engineer, and the Depot Manager. Operations Manager and ITS officer are responsible for managing
the entire bus operations and ITS system respectively, while the Depot Manager is responsible for
overall bus management at the depot level.
As per the existing situation (September 2020), the positions of Depot Manager and ITS Officer are
vacant. Junior Engineer was involved in overlooking and supporting the construction of the
Ghodbunder depot and related activities, which has been completed now.
TRANSPORT MANAGER
(Deputy Commissioner)
OPERATIONS MANAGER
DEPOT MANAGER (VACANT POSITION)
ITS OFFICER (VACANT POSITION)
JUNIOR ENGINEER
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8.2 Existing structure of operator
With regard to the private operator, as per the contract, Bhagirathi Travels has appointed Project
manager, operations director/manager, finance director/manager, HR director/manager along with 2
supervisors and assistants required as per MBMC.MBMT Functions
The current bus operations are outsourced under a Net Cost Contract. MBMT, therefore, has more of
a regulatory and monitoring role to ensure that the services are delivered accordingly as per the
contract by the private operator.
The key functions of MBMT are as below:
Strategic planning for Public Transport services in the operational areas of MBMC.
Route network and operations planning and operations scheduling
Setting service quality standards and benchmarking the same
Preparing bus specifications, bus fleet and infrastructure requirement
Preparing RFP, contracts and agreements documents
Acquisition of bus operators
Monitoring and control of PT operations
Procurement of buses as per fleet procurement schedule and obtains bus permits at its own
cost
Develop an arrangement for integrated ticketing system, and deposit operator’s share of
payment from the passenger fare collected and nominated by the authority in the ESCROW
account
Passenger fare determination and annual review
Provide bus shelter infrastructure and depot with infrastructure facilities
Provide routes and schedules for the operator to adhere and monitor operations
Construct control center and equip it with ITS
Operate and maintain control center by themselves or through a Third Party
Monitor and supervise operator functioning through ITS data
Responsible for branding and marketing of project
Monitor complaints and public grievances
Random checks on buses for revenue leakage
Inspection of buses – quality and maintenance
Approval for advertisement on buses
Levy damages/penalties for service deficiencies and/or violations
Make timely payment of Viability Gap Funding (VGF) to operator in accordance with the
terms of the agreement
MBMT functions as per the current NCC contract is unique as typically in NCC bus operator is
required to provide both buses and services, however, in case of Mira Bhayandar, the contracted bus
operator provides services using the MBMT buses. Random checks for revenue leakages are also the
responsibility of the agency, however since it is the private operator’s concern, the agency does not
get involved in checking passenger revenues or revenue leakages.
These functions can be categorized under the following seven heads:
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a) Strategic functions: Long term planning of the MBMT operations and strategic decisions of
service coverage, fleet addition, fare structuring and revision, security and vigilance
b) Administrative, legal and personnel
c) Operations planning and monitoring: Route network planning, service quality standards,
Monitoring services of the operator through ITS and MIS, permit and insurance related issues,
managing public complaints and operator grievances
d) Technical functions and procurement: decisions of vehicle type, size and technology for
procurement, fleet size, technical specification of buses, RfP preparation and bid process
management, inspection of buses, monitoring of bus repair and maintenance, contract
management
e) Infrastructure planning (bus shelter requirements, depots, terminals), designing, acquiring and
commissioning, handing over the operator, monitoring of maintenance activities and upkeep
of infrastructure facilities
f) Financial functions which deals with revenue and expenditure management and contract
management, capital requirement, sources of funding, payment of bills, internal audit of
accounts
g) Branding and Marketing to increase the visibility of the system in the city and attract
passenger ridership
8.3 Observations and Recommendations
The MBMT structure presented in Figure 51 seems very skeletal with respect to the functions outlined
in the previous section. The functions listed in the section above are not catered to adequately by the
given organizational structure. Even though the current operations level is small with 68 buses, it is
expected to grow to more than 180 to 370 buses in the next 10 years. Also, under the current level of
operations, regular monitoring of services, infrastructure, and vehicles would require field staff which
is currently not present in the existing structure.
Though some of these functions are being covered by the operator using its own staff, independent
monitoring by MBMT is important.
8.3.1 Proposed Divisions and functions
Following above discussions, the main functions of MBMT are proposed to be grouped in four
divisions under the Transport Manager:
Division Main Functions
Operations
Division
Strategic and overall planning for Public Transport (PT) services in the
operational areas of MBMC.
Route network and operations planning and scheduling
Setting service quality standards and benchmarking the same
Managing bus permits and insurance related issues,
Monitoring service quality standards with reference to benchmarks,
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Division Main Functions
penalty assessment and collection
On-line checking of Operations including service quality and ticketless
travel, etc.
Preparation of Operations related requirement for Private Operator (PO)
Preparation of Revenue Collection Agency’s specification / activities etc.
Revenue collection, maximization and prevention of leakages
Monitoring of public complaints and their redressal,
Managing operator grievances
Business Development for MBMT
Branding of PT services and communications
Marketing of PT services
ITMS contracts oversight and management mainly wrt:
o Vehicle tracking and event resolution
o Electronic Ticket Vending and Verification Machines (ETVMs)-
operations and ticketing, way-bill compilations and waybill data
analysis about services, revenues, etc.- route-wise, trip-wise, bus -
wise and conductor-wise for corrective actions
o Passenger Information system – on-board and off-board,
o Operations performance monitoring and control
Developing Management Information System (MIS) for monitoring and
control of operations and service quality delivery
Technical
Division Infrastructure (Depots, Bus Queue Shelters (BQSs) and Terminals) planning,
designing, acquisition, commissioning and handing over depots to Private
Operators (POs),
Repair and maintenance of BQSs and the terminals; and management of
terminals – in-house and or by outsourcing
Planning for plant and equipment in depot workshops, drawing up their
specifications etc. for acquisition by the PO
Monitoring of maintenance activities and upkeep of infrastructure facilities
Deciding on vehicle type, size and technology,
Bus fleet requirement planning, preparation of tenderable technical
specifications, setting standards for bus fleet quality and performance during
operations
Procurement of buses, revenue collection agency, ITS and marketing agency
and contract management
Preparation of RfP for procurement of POs / buses, bid process management,
and finalization of Suppliers / Operators
Inspection of buses, monitoring of bus repair and maintenance quality /
conformity of POs performance wrt fleet quality and infractions
Preparation of detailed end use requirement-based specification for ITMS
(Intelligent Transit Management System), RfP document, acquisition of
ITMS service provider complete with hardware, software, plant, equipment,
communications system, and the staff along with life-long repair and
maintenance services of the same.
Preparation of ITMS contracts, acquisition of service providers, oversight
and management mainly wrt:
o Performance and serviceability of ITMS, up-time, etc.
o Data collection, compilation, analysis and mining for all activities
of MBMT
o Preparation of detailed reports as per requirement of MBMT
periodically
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Division Main Functions
Developing Management Information System (MIS) for monitoring and
control of operations as also other services
Preparation of detailed end-use requirement/ specifications of ETVMs, RfP
document for Revenue Collection Agency (RCA), acquisition of RCA along
with ETVMs and their repair and maintenance, staff for revenue collection,
etc. and overall revenue collection and management,
Carrying out of any and all other activities related to infrastructure, bus
fleets
Finance and
Accounts
Division
Financial planning and preparation of budgets,
Capital requirement planning and sources of funding,
Revenue collection and management,
Payment of bills, recovery of penalties etc. for service deficiencies, infractions
etc.
Record keeping and accounting
Cash handling and banking, payments,
Salary and wage administration,
Audit and other related activities
Preparation of all reports – statutory and others
Any and all other activities related to finance and accounts function of
MBMT.
Administration
and Personnel
Staff requirement Planning, acquisition, induction and capacity building,
Managing all staff matters, staff grievances, leave, career progression, labour
relations,
Handling all legal issues, taxes, insurance, rates and rents,
Managing auxiliary vehicles,
Arranging for offices, managing office infrastructure and the utilities
General and overall administration of MBMT, including security and
vigilance,
Offering secretariat services for the governing board/council of MBMT,
arranging meetings, preparing minutes of meeting, following up actions and
submission of action taken reports;
Coordination with MBMC and its various agencies,
Handling any and all other activities of MBMT wrt above functions
8.3.2 Bus Fleet
Rather than the city procuring a bus fleet and handing it over to the private operator for operations as
in the current scenario, it is proposed that the operators are invited to bid for operations and bring their
own buses as per specifications prescribed by MBMT. The operator would charge a Gross Cost rate
based upon the bus fleet cost, their repair and maintenance; operating and other staff; tools, jigs and
fixtures, plant and equipment for repair and maintenance of bus fleet; repair and maintenance of
infrastructure provided to PO; as also all other charges like insurance, registration, insurance, permit
fees, road tax, etc. This would not only save the government to budget for the capital costs for buses
and seeking funding support for procurement of the buses but also in ensuring integrated delivery of
bus fleet related services as also from passing the buck attitude for any defects / deficiencies occurring
in the provision of PT services.
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8.3.3 ITMS
Intelligent Transit Management System (ITMS) consisting of equipment fitted on buses and in the
control room(hardware, software, communications, etc.), in depots, BQS, etc., to monitor the
performance of operations; passenger information system (PIS); data collection, compilation, analysis
and mining; preparation of MIS reports, etc . The on-board units and control room ITS systems help
in providing real-time operations data, which can help in assessing performance of the vehicles as
well as drivers across various parts of the city. Passenger Information System and ETM ticketing are
other components of ITS infrastructure providing useful service information to passengers and travel
patterns of passengers during different times of the day respectively. The city may opt for a third party
for design, procurement, operations and maintenance of the system and the control room, to aid
operations monitoring by the specialised agency.
8.3.4 Branding and marketing of services
Branding and marketing of the services using various means of communication is important to create
an attractive image of the buses and attract passengers to the bus services.
It is suggested to outsource communication to a Third Party who can help in publicizing improved bus
services to the existing and potential bus users. Information through print and web media on bus
services should be available to the users. A survey of existing and potential passengers to capture
barriers faced by non-users, expectations and performance perception would help in understanding
gaps in the services and areas of improvement.
8.3.5 Revenue collection
Since a Gross Cost Contract has been suggested, MBMT would hold the revenue risk and would be
responsible for collecting revenue. MBMT may outsource this function to a third party- a Revenue
Collection Agency (RCA). In this case, either the authority or revenue collection agency would have
to procure, owns and maintain equipment for revenue collection. For an integrated revenue collection
management, it would be appropriate that the RCA brings its own ETVMs, operates and maintains
them using its staff, etc. against certain payment finalised through a competitive bidding process.
While contracting out this function, it should be noted that the fare collection contract period should
preferably be the same as the serviceable life of the equipment.
8.4 Proposed Organisational Structure
Following above discussions, Figure 52 presents the proposed organizational structure for MBMT. In
comparison to existing structure, one significant change in existing positions – removal of Depot
Manager - is suggested. Other proposed changes are the creation of four divisions in all by integration
of functions based mainly upon type of expertise required combined in a function – namely
Operations, Technical, ITS, Administration and Finance. Since Gross Cost Contract is being
suggested, revenue management would be a major task, hence a separate Finance department would
be essential.
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Overall staff requirement of MTBT is limited to 0.15 personnel per bus for upto 100 buses, whereafter
it may be limited to 0.10 per bus for up to 200 buses for all functions. Any further increase would be
based upon the workload.
The functions of the Transport Manager, Deputy Transport Manager and Heads of the four divisions
are as follows:
A. Transport Manager
Overall decision-maker, responsible for strategic decision making and overseeing operations and
planning for the bus services, coordination amongst different divisions, overall management and
control of PT services, etc.
A.1 Deputy Transport Manager
Assisting the Transport Manager in strategic planning and overall management of MBMT and all the
above functions.
A.1.1 Operations Manager
Responsibilities include oversight of system operators, operations supervisors, revenue collection,
performance monitoring etc. and are responsible for system operator contract oversight, management
and enforcement and oversight of maintenance of vehicles and other infrastructure.
A.1.2 Technical Manager
Responsible for technical functions and procurement. Decisions of vehicle type, size and technology
for procurement, fleet size, technical specification of buses, RfP preparation and bid process
management, inspection of buses, monitoring of bus repair and maintenance, contract management
A.1.3 ITS Manager
Responsible for IT contract oversight, management, and enforcement. She/he interacts with
operations departments and other divisions to assist in MIS reports for operations monitoring.
A.1.4 Manager Finance
Responsibilities include contract management, revenue and general accounting, smart cards related
tasks, and organizational budgets, grants and financial reports.
A.1.5 Manager, Administration
Responsibilities include administration, employee services, training, contracting marketing and
advertising of the bus services. She/he is responsible for housekeeping, advertisement contract
oversight, management and enforcement.
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Figure 52: Proposed Organizational Structure
Transport Manager
Deputy Transport Manager
Operations Manager
Supervisor
Manager - Technical
Asst Manager Procurement/
Contract Mgmt
Supervisors (Corporate
office)
Asst Manager Mechanical
Supervisor (Depot)
Asst Manager
Civil
Supervisor (Corporate
office)
ITS Manager Asst Manager Supervisor
Manager Administration
Administration Assistant
Legal Affairs Assistant
Manager (Finance)
Asst Manager
Asst Accountant
Finance Assistant
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Details of the positions and responsibilities, qualifications of staff under each proposed MBMT
division are presented below:
1. Operations & Technical
Position Responsibilities Qualifications
Asst Manager
Operations
Ensure efficient and effective operations through close
monitoring, responsible supervision, and sound timely
decision making.
Working under the direction of Manager- Operations, the
duties and responsibilities of the Assistant Manager
includes, but are not limited to, supervise and ensure smooth
transit operations.
Monitor all shelters and bus stops and equipment ensuring
that locations of shelters and signs are safe. Get repairs
and/or replacements when needed.
Monitor daily bus/bus operator schedules.
Monitor and review all revenue handling procedures and
security policies.
Bachelor Degree in
Automobile or
Mechanical
Engineering.
Relevant experience
of over 5 years
minimum.
Asst Managers
– Civil,
Mechanical,
Contract
Management
Oversight of maintenance related bus facilities
Oversee the technical assistant/field officer.
Inspect transit facilities such as stops, to identify necessary
repairs and maintenance and execute the same.
To ensure that the depot and vehicle upkeep with the
stipulations as per contract.
Conducting quality checks of the vehicles as well as depot
facilities and maintenance, monitoring of bus repair and
maintenance
Bachelor Degree in
Automobile or
Mechanical
Engineering.
Relevant experience
of over 5 years
minimum.
Supervisors
Supporting Civil, Mechanical and Procurement activities/tasks
Vehicle and Infrastructure inspections, monitoring maintenance
schedules etc.
Bachelor Degree in
Automobile or
Mechanical
Engineering
with minimum of 1
years of relevant
experience
Operations Manager
Supervisors (Depot)
Technical Manager
Asst Manager Procurement/Contract Management
services
Supervisors (Corporate office)
Asst Manager Mechanical
Supervisor (Depot)
Asst Manager
Civil
Supervisor (Corporate office)
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2. ITS
Position Responsibilities Qualifications
Asst Manager
ITS
Provide support to the Deputy Transport Manager and IT
Manager in the oversight of maintenance and operation of
ITMS
Responsibilities include oversight of voice communications
for radio and telephone services as well as other special
services, maintenance and performance of servers, networks,
operating systems and all associated hardware that support
all functional areas of MBMT, ensuring that the contractor
reports are as per contract and has quality data.
Generation of MIS reports as required for operations
monitoring and service quality assessment
Other task as defined by IT manager
Bachelor’s Degree in
Information
Technology /
Computer Science or
a related field and at
least 5 years direct or
indirect experience in
ITS field.
Supervisor
Assist the Manager and Assistant Manager in overseeing
operation and maintenance of ITMS system
Diploma in
Electronics / IT with
minimum of 1 year of
relevant experience
3. Administration
ITS Manager
Asst Manager
Supervisor
Manager Administration
Administration Assistant
Legal Affairs Assistant (on retainership
basis)
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Position Responsibilities Qualifications
Administration
Assistant To manage all administration and human resource
management functions
MBA with experience
of at least 5 years in
Human Resource
Management.
Legal Affairs
Assistant To manage all the legal affairs of MBMT
(This service may be outsourced by the Manager Administration on a
case to case basis and or some-one may be kept on retainership basis)
Degree in Law with at
least 5 years’
experience
4. Finance
Position Responsibilities Qualifications
Asst Manager
Finance
Assist Manager Finance in revenue and general accounting
and organizational budgets, grants and financial reports
Provide statistical and financial information for reports for
submission to the management
Monitor monthly revenues and assess budget variances;
liaison with different Divisions of the company on financial
trends and issues and recommends options and solutions.
Help in developing long term financial planning activities to
support strategic planning and funding decisions.
Create and develop improvements to financial management
practices, processes, systems, budgeting methods and
internal controls to improve efficiency and revenue leakages.
Ensure Payment of salaries/Payments due to contractors/
Payments for procurements and supplies
A Chartered
Accountant or a post-
graduate degree in
Commerce with a
minimum of 5 years
experience
Manager (Finance)
Asst Accountants (2 nos.)- Finance and
Accounts
Finance Assistant
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Position Responsibilities Qualifications
Finance
Assistant
Support the finance division in matters of budget
preparation, monitoring of expenditure and revenues,
analyzing income expenditure trends, farebox revenue
management
Degree in Commerce
or a Bachelor of
Business
Management,
Chartered Accountant
with a minimum of 3
years’ experience
Asst
Accountant
Support the finance division in matters of monitoring of
expenditure and revenues, passing of bills, maintenance of
accounts, payment of taxes, payments to the operator and
Third Parties under the specified conditions, auditing of
accounts, preparation of balance sheets
Degree in Commerce
or a Bachelor of
Business
Management,
Chartered Accountant
with a minimum of 3
years’ experience
8.5 Summary
The existing bus operations in the city is very small, however as per the Business Plan for 2030,
estimated fleet size is 182 to 369 depending on the fleet mix. To ensure that a quality bus system is
delivered, apart from monitoring of the outcome, setting up of a process monitoring system is
essential. Depot level technical staff (Assistant Manager(s) with Supervisors) could undertake this
task of checking of service schedule preparation as per SLAs, regular maintenance of buses, etc, and
also help in ensuring coordination with operator, ITMS agency and revenue collection agency. A
process monitoring system along with outcome monitoring may prove to have a better effectiveness in
achieving delivery of quality services.
The overall staff requirement of MTBT can be limited to 0.15 personnel per bus for upto 100 buses,
where after it may be limited to 0.10 per bus. Creation of four divisions for operations, technical,
administration and finance are proposed. Since Gross Cost Contract is being suggested, revenue
management would be a major task, hence a separate finance department would be essential.
Depending on the fleet size and mix scenario, the manpower requirements would have to be worked
out. For e.g. in case of a standard bus scenario with a fleet size of 180, three divisions of operations,
technical and finance could be set up. In the initial phases, functions of administration could be
handled by MBMC by adding a dedicated administrative assistant and as fleet size increases, a
separate administration division under MBMTU could be added.
Depending on the fleet size and mix scenario, the manpower requirements would have to be worked
out. For e.g. the manpower requirement by 2030 in three shortlisted scenarios i.e. all standard buses,
standard – midi and midi – mini would be in the range of 24 to 42 depending up on the fleet mix
scenario that MBMTU selects.
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9 Complementary Measures
Public transport is essential for the inclusive growth of Mira Bhayandar city and the bus is central to
the public transport offering intra-city connections as well as acting as a feeder to the rail services and
proposed metro network which would provide connectivity to other parts of the Mumbai Metropolitan
Region.
The city bus service is facing serious challenges. Poor service levels have impacted bus ridership and
have led to a shift to private modes as well as shared auto rickshaws. While the city is keen on
reforming the bus services and has a vision of “Making bus preferred mode of travel in Mira
Bhayandar”, other complementary measures would be required to help achieve the vision.
Congestion affects the reliability and accessibility of bus services. Without addressing major sources
of congestion, buses will continue to suffer delays, variability in journey times and declining
attractiveness.
Journey Time Variability: Congestion leads to journey times becoming less reliable, with
variations in journey time often much different from timetabled schedules.
Decreasing accessibility: Congestion lessens average bus speeds resulting in reducing
accessibility. As a result, fewer people can access locations in a reasonable journey time.
Decreasing attractiveness of bus: With increasing journey time variability and decreasing
accessibility, buses are at risk of further patronage decline if people decide they cannot rely on the
bus network. This also creates existential threats to bus services, where reduction in speeds leads
to fewer passengers further resulting in other motorized trips and creating more congestion.
Vulnerable groups rely significantly on the bus network, but issues including affordability,
accessibility and availability of bus services can act as major barriers to people accessing key
opportunities like employment and training. As the bus network is impacted, the most vulnerable
people are further disadvantaged. This in turn further contributes to a decline in their quality of
life, widening the social inequality gap.
This plan focuses on planning for a quality bus service for the city of Mira Bhayandar with
technological interventions to provide an integrated public transport. The objective is to develop a bus
network that works for everyone and decreases the need for private vehicular trips which in turn helps
to improve air quality in the region.
The focus will be to put in place a bus service that is flexible enough to adapt to changing travel
patterns and accommodating increases in travel demand in the short term. In the medium to long term,
the focus should be on interchange and integration which would aid in improving connectivity
between jobs, housing and education for the city residents.
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9.1 Managing Road Congestion in Mira Bhayandar
Planning of frequent bus service in Mira Bhayandar would generate more bus movements on the
city’s roads, major junctions and bus station terminals in the near future. The existing road network
analysis (Figure 53) shows that the road widths in the city are narrow and with high traffic volumes
and encroachments, highly congested during the peak hours. Speed analysis from Google maps
reveals that the speed of vehicles during peak hours is 10-12 kmph at major roads in the city namely
Mira road, Mira station road, Bhayandar station road and Uttan road. Due to congestion, buses plying
through these roads would also be impacted, leading to increased travel times and reduced
accessibility levels.
Figure 53: Major congestion locations in Mira Bhayandar
1. Golden Nest Junction 2. Uttan Naka Road
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3. Mira Road Station Bus Terminal 4. SK Stone
5. Bhayandar Station Road (W) 6. Bhayandar Station Road (E)
Figure 54: Images of the major congested locations in Mira Bhayandar
This situation will harm the performance of bus transport operations such as lower trip efficiency rate,
bus bunching, missed bus timings, etc. Hence, to avoid such issues in bus operations, major roads and
intersections can be intervened or developed. For example, from the google imageries in Figure 54
above Image (1) & (4) Golden Nest and SK Stone are major junction in the city which inflows and
deviates to every part of the city which indicates a junction level intervention for proper movement of
traffic. Whereas, from image (5) & (6), Bhayandar station roads are very narrow and therefore need a
road widening intervention or encroachment removal for ease in movement of buses in the public
transport network. Furthermore, in the image (3), it is seen the bus terminal requires a terminal level
intervention for speeding and smoothing up the arrival and departure of buses at the station.
9.1.1 Road network assessment on proposed routes
From the road network details, it is observed that around 24% of the total PT network is with
carriageway below 9 m, indicating insufficient road widths for operating standard buses. The majority
of Bhayandar West area has a carriageway width of less than 9 m and has heavy parking and vendor
encroachment due to major market areas. Hence, from the analysis of RoW along with the PT
network, it is recommended to operate midi/mini buses within the city for efficient system operations.
Details of the proposed route with carriageway width and average speed are mentioned in Table 62
below;
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Table 62: Road network assessment on proposed routes
Routes Route Description Total Route
Length (km)
Route length under Carriageway
width range Avg.
Speed
(kmph)
Corridor with < 9m Carriageway
width less than
9 m 10 - 24 m
more
than 24m
MB1 Bhayandar Railway Station (W) - Chowk 13.6 84% 16% 0% 18.6 Uttan Road
MB11 B P Road - Ramdevnagar - Kashimira 7.2 24% 75% 1% 15.8 B P Road
MB12 Bhayandar Railway Station (E) - Mira Road
Railway Station – Kashimira 8.3 14% 77% 8% 15.3 B P Road
MB21 Mira Road Railway Station - Varsova Bridge –
Thane 29 15% 29% 56% 24.2 Hatkesh
MB30 Uttan Naka - Essel Pagode 11.5 100% 0% 0% 19.4 Uttan Road
MB31 Bhayandar Railway Station (E) - Varsova
Bridge – Thane 31.1 8% 39% 53% 21 Navghar Road
MB32 Bhayandar Railway Station (E) - Golden Nest –
Kashimira 10.5 5% 92% 3% 23 Navghar Road
MB33 Bhayandar Railway Station (E) - Mira Road
Railway Station - Dahisar Check Naka 7 66% 29% 6% 12.6 Station Road
MB34 Mira Road Railway Station - Navghar Phata 6.1 10% 51% 39% 18.3 Navghar Road
MB36 Mira Road Railway Station - Ramdev park 4.3 5% 79% 16% 9.3 Naya Nagar Road & NH School Road
MB37 Mira Road Railway Station - Oswal Garden 4.7 6% 68% 26% 10.7 Kanakia Road nr. Kanakia Park &
Ramdev Park Road
MB38 Mira Road Railway Station - Unique Garden 3.2 3% 59% 38% 13.5 Mari Gold Road
MB39 Mira Road Railway Station - Bhakti Vedanta -
Western park 6.2 15% 81% 5% 13 Vinay Nagar Road & Kashigaon Road
MB40 Mira Road Railway Station - Hatkesh 3.9 44% 38% 18% 13 Hatkesh Road
MB41 Bhayandar Railway Station (W) - Kashimira 15.6 0% 90% 10% 13.2 -
MB42 Bhakti Vedanta - Mira Road Railway Station -
Ramdev Park - Navghar Phata 8.5 32% 53% 15% 14.4
Navghar Road & New Ghodbunder
Road
MB45 Bhayandar Railway Station (W) - BP Road 6.6 100% 0% 0% 13.2 B P Road
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Routes Route Description Total Route
Length (km)
Route length under Carriageway
width range Avg.
Speed
(kmph)
Corridor with < 9m Carriageway
width less than
9 m 10 - 24 m
more
than 24m
MB46 Bhayandar Railway Station (E) - Maxus Mall -
Uttan Naka 7.8 31% 63% 6% 13.6 Uttan Road
MB47 Navghar Phata - Bhayandar police station (W) 7.3 0% 100% 0% 12.2 Navghar Road
MB5 Bhayandar Railway Station (W) - Kashimira 8.4 7% 93% 0% 16.3 Mira Bhayandar Road
MB51 Bhayandar Railway Station (W) - Shantinagar –
Kashimira 9.2 11% 76% 13% 17.7 Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Road
MB6 Uttan Naka- Manori Tar 19.8 64% 36% 0% 17.7 Uttan Road
It is observed from Table 62 above that many routes are operating on roads with lesser carriageway width for a significant length of the route. Those streets
are Navghar Road, Navghar Fatak Road, BP Road, Uttan Road, Kanakiya Road, Hatkesh Road, Mira Bhayandar Road and station Road. Existing situationa
encroachment is shown in images below;
Navghar Road: Connects Bhayandar Railway Station to Bhayandar East area with
mixed abutting landuse with residential & retail commercial. The road is heavily
encroached by parked auto rickshaws, vehicles etc.
Navghar Phatak Road: Connects Navghar Area to Mira Road at Golden Nest
circle. Major landuse is mixed use with residential & retail commercial. Also major
fish market is available in the area. The road is heavily encroached by parked
vehicles and vendors.
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B P Road: Connects station road to navghar fatak road with carriageway width is approx. 6m. Due to mixed land use and availability of markets, there is heavy movement
of pedestrians along the road and is also encroached by vendors.
Uttan Road Nr. Bhayandar Police Station: the road connects uttan naka to
Bhayandar Rialway Station (W), the carriageway is undivided with a width of approx
9 m and is encroached by parked vehicles.
Kanakia Road towards Ramdev Park: The abutting landuse is majorly residential
landuse. The RoW is provided with footpath as well as the median. The
carriageway is encroached by parked vehicles.
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9.2 Parking Management
Designated parking facilities for two-wheeler and auto-rickshaws are only available at major nodes
Mira Road and Bhayandar rail station, major commercial centers. Apart from that on-street parking is
observed along Kashimira road and other major roads in the city. Silver Road junction, Keshav Park
Police Chowki are occupied with parking spaces as can be spotted in the images shown in Fig 45
below.
In order to facilitate a shift from personalized modes of travel, “carrot and stick” measures would
have to be adopted. While improved service quality is important to attract passengers, regulation on
private traffic in terms of high parking charges or control on the availability of parking spaces would
be important to push people away from private to PT modes.
Kashimira Mira Station
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10 Business Plan Summary
A detailed analysis of fleet size and type with respect to infrastructure requirements, cost and revenue
along with estimated PT mode shares was presented in section 5. This section summarizes the possible
scenarios for the business plan. Trajectory of vision realisation and the timeline is a function of
agency’s intent and drive along with constraints like financial resources and land availability for
infrastructure facilities. Alternative scenarios are hence presented as part of the business plan, which the
cities could choose from for deciding on an appropriate business strategy for bus services in the city.
10.1 Fleet size and mix
In terms of operating ratios and estimated mode shares, three fleet-mix scenarios seem to be performing
well. These scenarios along fleet type requirements by 2032 are mentioned in Table 63 below.
Table 63: Fleet-mix Scenarios
Scenario Total Fleet Size Additional Depot
Requirement Remarks
2A 182
(Standard buses)
1
(6.6 acre of land)
This scenario similar to existing fleet type
scenario with doubling the fleet in the next 10
years.
3
288
(24 Standard + 264
Midi)
2
(9.3 acre of land)
Almost 3 times of existing fleet size by 2030,
predominantly Midi buses would be able to target
15% of PT share.
4
369
(229 Midi + 140
Mini)
2
(11.2 acre of land)
Introducing about 38% Mini buses in city would
help to maintain the appropriate speed levels on
congested narrow streets.
10.2 Fleet Procurement Plan
Table 64 below presents the fleet procurement plan for total fleet by bus type for each shortlisted
scenario. The fleet procurement plan has been prepared considering the existing fleet would serve its
full life. Fleet utilisation has been taken as 93% for the first three years and 90% for the rest of the
years.
Table 64 Total fleet (on road + extra fleet) procurement plan – Fleet mix scenarios
Scenarios
2A 3 4
LF 60% (2030) LF 60% (2030) LF 60% (2030)
Standard Standard Midi Midi Mini
2023 35 4 45 33 20
2024 43 6 68 66 40
2025 0 0 0 0 0
2026 49 8 85 62 38
2027 0 0 0 0 0
2028 28 3 40 34 21
2029 0 0 0 0 0
2030 28 2 26 34 21
Buses by type 182 24 264 229 140
Total Buses 182 288 369
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The target mode share of 20% -25% by 2030 would require significant quantitative as well as
qualitative improvements in the bus services. The city has re-introduced bus service with standard buses
in 2019 and should monitor the build-up of the ridership levels. Keeping in perspective the target PT
mode share over the next decade, the city may consider transitioning to midi/minibuses to be able to
offer high frequency services in order to induce a mode shift to buses. Also, measures like information
availability through apps and websites apart from at-stop information would help passengers plan their
journeys better.
Auto-rickshaws operating as shuttle service pose a big competition to the buses and facilitating a shift
from them would require buses which are affordable, frequent and easily accessible. With smaller bus
sizes (Midi / Mini), it would be possible to offer a high frequency service with better load factor levels.
In addition, these buses may have a much higher penetration in the congested city centre having narrow
roads (Bhayandar East).
The requirement of number of smaller buses would be more compared to requirement of standard buses
because of lesser capacity; however it is estimated that the operating ratios would improve due to the
potential of higher passenger ridership levels with better service headways and connectivity. The fleet-
type to be assigned on routes should be decided based on criteria such as passenger demand levels,
routes on narrow streets or in congested areas. Switching to a different bus type should not pose a big
challenge as the average age of a bus is 8-10 years and hence the transition could happen gradually as
old buses get phased out.
10.2.1 Depot requirements
Locations of new depots are important to plan in a way that does not lead to an increase in the non-
revenue km. Currently; MBMT has Ghodbunder Depot which has been recently constructed with
workshop and control centre facilities. It has about 45 standard buses capacity and as per route
rationalization study conducted in 2014, has proposed one depot near Uttan with a total capacity of 120
standard buses with about 7.5acre of land which is considered in this study as well. However with
business plan scenarios proposed fleet size would be ranging from 182 to 369 total buses in 2030, which
would require additional depot space for scenario 3 and 5A (refer Table 65). Additional depot strategic
location has been recommended near proposed metro depot location, which shall be close to both major
bus terminals would reduce down the non-revenue km.
Table 65: Depot area requirement for future
Scenario Scenario 2A Scenario 3 Scenario 5A
Total Depot Area Requirement (in acre) – 2030 9.08 11.77 13.71
Existing Depot Area available (in acre) at
Ghodbunder 2.5 2.5 2.5
Additional Area Requirement for Depots (in acre) 6.58 9.27 11.21
Additional number of Depots 1
(Uttan)
2
(Uttan +
additional
location near
metro depot)
2
(Uttan +
additional
location near
metro depot)
The non-revenue distance covered by a bus to travel from the depot to a terminal and back to the depot
from the terminal at the start and end of service hours is marked as dead kms. Minimizing dead kms is
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an important consideration as it affects the operational cost. MBMTU operates a total fleet from its
newly constructed Ghodbunder depot plying on 13 urban and suburban routes. The trip start-stop of all
these routes are at terminals namely Mira road station, Bhayandar station (W), Bhayandar station (E)
and Uttan Nakka which are approximately 8-9 kms distant from Ghodbunder depot. This results in
860km of non-revenue km (dead kms) which is 6% of the daily operational bus kms. It also indicates
that MBMTU bears an average loss of 0.35 lakhs rupees daily and an average yearly loss of 1.5 crores
rupees for plying 66 buses in the system. In order to minimize this strategic planning for depot location
plays a vital role. The recommended location of the depot (Figure 55), fleet distribution and dead km
estimation for the three Business Plan scenarios are presented below:
Table 66: Fleet allocation to depots – shortlisted business plan scenarios
Total Buses Bus/
Type
Buses allocation to depots – 2030
Total buses Ghodbunder Depot Uttan Depot
Depot3
(near metro depot)
Scenario -
2A
Standard 55 127 0 182
Midi 0 0 0 0
Mini 0 0 0 0
Total 55 127 0 182
Scenario -
3
Standard 13 14 0 27
Midi 53 145 63 261
Mini 0 0 0 0
Total 66 160 63 288
Scenario -
4
Standard 0 0 0 0
Midi 51 118 78 246
Mini 23 56 44 123
Total 74 174 122 369
For the above fleet distribution (Table 66), % dead km, expense have been estimated for three
scenarios;
Table 67: Dead km and expense by scenarios
Dead km – FY2030
Scenario - 2A Scenario - 3 Scenario - 4
No of Routes 22 22 22
Number of on road buses 165 261 337
Dead kms 2163 2759 3256
% dead km minimized 5.6% 4.6% 4.3%
Avg. yearly expenditure (in cr.) – FY2030 ₹ 3.2 ₹ 4.1 ₹ 4.9
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Scenario 2A – 182 standard buses
Scenario 3 – 288 standard & midi buses
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Scenario 4 – 369 midi & mini buses
Figure 55: Depot locations and fleet distribution for FY2030
10.2.2 Drivers/Conductors halt facilities
Continuous driving leads to driver fatigue, hence driver should be provided with rest at regular
intervals. Driver’s facilities are hence provided at trip end locations with small office space, restrooms
and wash rooms. As per traditional practice, drivers and conductors take rest at major terminals, in case
of Mira Bhayandar providing halting facilities at Mira railway station and Bhayandar railways station
becomes difficult because of a congested area, therefore it has been proposed to provide basic facilties
at other ends of routes. Few locations of driver/Conductor halt facility proposed at Chowk Gaon /
Chowk Naka, Dahisar Checkpost, Ghoddev Naka, Hatkesh/Eden Bakery, Indralok Phase 2, Kashimira,
Ramdev Park, Royal College, Unique Garden and Western Park. The locations (presented in Figure 56
below) are tentative and may vary after site feasibility.
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Figure 56: Locations with halt facilities
10.3 Capital Costs
Table 68 below presents the cost estimates for infrastructure development which would be required
from the years 2023-2030 for the shortlisted three scenarios. All the costs are estimated at constant
prices keeping 2020 as the base (escalation rates outlined in the cost estimates section).
Table 68: Total Capital Cost (in Cr.) Investment (2020 to 2030)
Total Infrastructure Cost
Components
2A 3 4
LF 60% (2030) All
Standard
LF 60% (2030)
Stand + Midi
LF 60% (2030) Midi
+ Mini
Bus Stops 28.47 28.47 40.73
Terminals 11.82 11.82 11.82
Depots cost (with land) 67.46 95.11 115.00
ETVM 1.19 1.90 2.43
Utilities & Recovery Vans – Depots 0.88 0.92 0.97
Capital Infrastructure Cost 110 138 171
Fleet cost 143 130 133
Total Cost 253 268 304
The overall investment for all three scenarios by 2030 would be around Rs.250 to Rs.300 crore, where
the cost of fleet i.e. around Rs.130 to Rs.143 may/ may not need to be borne by MBMTU depending
upon the operating model that MBMTU selects. The assumptions for the cost estimation are as
presented in Table 69 below:
Table 69: Cost Assumptions Cost heads Cost in INR
Bus stops (1 bay, 2 bay and 3 bays) 5 lakhs, 7 lakhs and 9 lakhs
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Cost heads Cost in INR
Terminal (including bus shelters and seating area along with
bus bays)
500 Lakhs
Cost of driver, conductor facilities at route end terminals 10 lakhs
Cost of Depot including tools and equipment for 5 acre of land Rs.15 crore
Land cost for new depots (based on www.magicbricks.com)
however the land prices may vary also on the location and site
accessibility
Rs.15000 per sq yd
Electronic Ticketing Vending Machine (ETVM) Rs.25000 per each, considering 2.5
machines per bus
Utility van and recovery van One utility van per depot and one
recovery van for 2 depots have been
assumed and the cost considered is Rs.10
lakh and Rs.20 lakh each.
10.4 Operating Costs
The total operating costs vary from 940-1200 Cr over the plan period depending on the fleet mix
scenario opted are presented in Table 70.
Table 70: Operating cost for Scenario 2A, 3 and 4
Cost component \ Scenarios
Scenario 2A -
All Standard
Buses
Scenario 3 -
Standard +
Midi
Scenario 4 -
Midi + Mini
Fuel Cost 362.9 345.5 375.3
Lubricant Cost 5.4 5.2 5.6
R & M Cost 159.0 209.2 210.4
Insurance + MVT + MACT + RR Tax 17.4 16.5 16.1
Staff Cost 218.3 338.9 407.8
ITMS Operating Costs 9.0 9.2 9.4
Cost of Depreciation - Total 80.3 75.8 74.1
Cost of Fund - (Expected returns and Interests) 48.3 45.7 44.8
Miscellaneous Cost 41.7 48.4 52.6
Operational Cost (excluding cost of fund and
cost of depreciation) 814 973 1077
Total Cost 942 1095 1196
10.5 Revenue estimation
10.5.1 Proposed Fare Structure
The proposed fare structure is mentioned in Table 71.
Table 71: Proposed fare structure and comparison with existing bus and IPT fare
Distance Range
(km) Existing NAC Fare Existing AC Fare
IPT
Fare
Proposed Fare
(all NAC)
0 – 2 6 20 10 5
2 – 4 8 30 20 10
4 – 6 11 35 30 10
6 – 7 / 7 – 10 13/15 40 30 10/15
>10
17,18,19,20,21,
22,23,24,25,26
(Fare changes every 2kms)
50,55,60,
70,75,80
(Fare changes every 2kms)
15
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The fare rates for each km slab shall be revised every two years based on following formula:
R = [R-base] + 1.2 X {[R-base x 0.5 x (F – F-base)/F-base] + [R-base x 0.5 x (W – W-base)/W-base]}
Where:
R is Applicable Kilometre Charge for the payment period
R-base is the Base Kilometre Charge
F is present Price of Fuel/unit
F-base is Base Year Price of Fuel/unit
W is the Present Year Wholesale Price Index and W-base is Base Year Wholesale Price Index.
Fares should be rounded off to the nearest rupee at time of revision.
Future WPI and future price of diesel have been projected using the past trends and the same has been
used for future fare revisions.
10.5.2 Estimated revenues
With proposed fare structure and revised fare mechanism, future revenue estimation build-up for
shortlisted three scenarios is as presented in Table 72 below; which is revenue after concession and
discounts for passengers; total estimated revenue is Rs.326 cr. for 10% PT share scenario, Rs.563 cr. for
15% PT share and Rs.732 cr. for 20% PT share.
Table 72 Farebox revenue estimation for fleet mix scenarios
Escalated Total
Infrastructure Cost
2A 3 4
LF 60% (2030) All
Standard
LF 60% (2030) Stand +
Midi
LF 60% (2030) Midi +
Mini
2023 17 19 20
2024 20 27 31
2025 29 45 57
2026 36 61 79
2027 46 81 106
2028 50 91 120
2029 63 117 156
2030 65 122 162
Total Revenue 326 563 732
10.5.3 Sources of Funding
The operating ratio for Standard, Midi and Midi-mini fleet scenarios is estimated to be 0.40, 0.58 and
0.68. Hence, the farebox revenues will not be entirely sufficient to recover the cost of the operation.
Identification and earmarking of alternative funding sources is important.
Innovating funding sources like green tax, parking charges can also be explored. For funds for depots
and terminals, developing these on a PPP basis can be explored. There is an opportunity for Mira
Bhayandar to develop terminals being in the city center. Similarly, depot land can also be developed
with high FSI to contribute more in non-fare box revenue. With such measures, non-fare box revenue
could be further increased which could be used for covering operating deficits and improving service
levels. Further, any operating deficits would have to be covered through Viability Gap Funding by the
Government of Maharashtra.
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10.6 Operating Model
Given the current mode share of buses is around 4% and the existence of high latent demand, it is
important to deliver high-quality bus services to facilitate a shift to PT. The bus market would have to
be developed, understanding well that facilitating a shift towards PT from private transport is
challenging. It would therefore be important to put in place a frequent high-quality bus service in all
parts of the city in order to attract passengers. While doing so, revenue risk would need to lie with
MBMT, as passenger build-up may need time.
It is also important to note that while market is being developed, bus routes would need to be flexible
and may have to be tweaked based on the travel patterns of passengers. At the same time, while the new
routes are being introduced, the existing routes may have to be removed, modified, or gradually
withdrawn.
The current Net Cost Contract may not provide enough flexibility in such an evolving scenario. The
services would also need to be adapted due to uncertainties of demand, making it worthwhile to start
with a Gross Cost Contract. The progressive phased introduction of hybrid GCC model can be done
utilizing their experience on GCC model. One of the possibilities, therefore, could be that the current
contract is renegotiated based on the above considerations.
10.7 Management Structure
The existing bus operations in the city is very small, however as per the Business Plan for 2030,
estimated fleet size is 182 to 369 depending on the fleet mix. To ensure that a quality bus system is
delivered, apart from monitoring of the outcome, setting up of a process monitoring system is essential.
A process monitoring system along with outcome monitoring may prove to have a better effectiveness
in achieving delivery of quality services.
In comparison to existing structure, one significant change in existing positions – removal of Depot
Manager - is suggested. Other proposed changes are creation of four divisions in all by integration of
functions based mainly upon type of expertise required combined in a function – namely Operations,
Technical, Administration and Finance. Since Gross Cost Contract is being suggested, revenue
management would be a major task; hence a separate finance department would be essential.
Operations division: Any public transport agency requires planning of entire operations; the
division who plans strategic public transport system, connectivity, setting up service quality
benchmark, service frequency and schedules, the efficient use of ITMS system, affordable fare
decision, fare collection system, branding and marketing etc.
Technical division: It is mainly the engineering division who looks after entire infrastructure
facilities in the system, such as terminal building up, bus shelter construction, repair and
maintenance, traffic management, MIS for operations and quality control, deciding vehicle types,
fleet size estimation, etc. Depot level technical staff (Assistant Manager(s) with Supervisors)
would also be needed for checking of service schedule preparation as per SLAs, regular
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maintenance of buses, etc., and also help in ensuring coordination with operator, ITMS agency
and revenue collection agency.
Finance and account division: In GCC operations, this department has a vital role, it has to
manage finance, preparing budgets, revenue collection, keeping financial records and preparing
annual reports, salary & wages records and revisions, audit activities etc.
Administration and personnel: Responsibilities of this department are planning and recruiting
new staff, and staff related activities, human resource planning, handling legal issues, labor
relations etc.
Overall staff requirement of MTBT is limited to 0.15 personnel per bus for up to 100 buses, where after
it may be limited to 0.10 per bus for all functions. Depending on the fleet size and mix scenario, the
manpower requirements would have to be worked out. For e.g. in the initial phases, three divisions of
operations, technical and finance could be set up and functions of administration could be handled by
MBMC by adding a dedicated administrative assistant and as fleet size increases, a separate
administration division under MBMTU could be added.
10.8 Other Measures
Improvising bus services alone will not be enough for enabling a shift towards PT. Several
complementary measures would be required to facilitate the shift. The use of private vehicles in the city
has been increasing rapidly, owing to higher income levels along with inadequate service level of the
bus system. In order to attract passengers to the bus system, apart from putting in place a good quality
bus system, marketing and branding is crucial to improve the overall image of the bus system. Some of
the possible measures could be targeted marketing campaigns, color branding of routes, awareness and
sensitization towards sustainable transport modes.
A thorough market study should be undertaken to understand user requirements and develop targeted
marketing campaigns. Simplification of service improves user friendliness and thus apart from the route
changes, colour coding of different bus routes and branding of the same may also help in creating
different identities of different routes. Organising car-free days, free rides for students during certain
hours, lower fares in off-peak periods are all measures which would help attract non-regular users and
familliarise them with the bus services in the city. In addition, the provision of accurate and reliable
real-time information to existing and potential users is also important in improving the visibility of the
system and building trust in the MBMTU. A variety of options could be used for sharing the
information. Apart from the route, service and fare information at bus stops and terminals, websites and
apps could also be developed.
Apart from a comprehensive marketing strategy, a phased implementation of new bus routes has to be
undertaken. New buses should be gradually inducted on new routes to allow for the development of
demand. At the same time, modification and removal of the old routes should be done with prior
information and supported with alternative route details.
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Prioritizing buses on road such that the delays during travel could be minimized, would help in making
the services reliable. Discussions with local authorities could be undertaken for prioritizing of bus
services at junctions along with control on private vehicle usage on highly congested routes.
To facilitate a shift from personalized modes of travel, “carrot and stick” measures would have to be
adopted. While improved service quality is important to attract passengers, regulation on private traffic
in terms of high parking charges or control on the availability of parking spaces would be important to
push people away from private to PT modes.