MUMBAI, August 1: The BEST Undertaking has deferred the proposed hike in bus fare and power tariffs indefinitely. The announcement by the BEST GM V M Lal comes as a relief to the 79,000-odd consumers of power and nearly 45 lakh daily commuters in the city.

Addressing presspersons on Friday, Lal and the BEST committee chairman Arvind Nerkar said since the hike is inevitable it would be imposed later, not specifying when. Nearly a fortnight ago, the BEST administration and the committee had sought a compromise on the proposed hike. However, it was postponed following instructions from senior Shiv Sena partymen, according to sources.

Lal also announced the introduction of a rail-bus dual season ticket on the lines of the railway season ticket soon. A meeting with the railways was recently held in this regard. Targeted at regular passengers, it would be introduced for short and point-to-point routes like Churchgate to the NCPA.

The new system is expected to reduce the operational costs since the buses will be plied without conductors and the waiting time at stops will be drastically reduced. The commuters will be charged 23 days' daily fare as the season ticket fare, Lal said.

The GM unveiled some 20th century features of the soon to come BEST bus services. Electronic route indicators and panels, levelling of bus door heights and the bus shelter, separate bus lanes and synchornised traffic signals which will automatically turn green as the bus approaches a distance of 300 metres from the signal. ``Commuting will be made easier, faster and comfortable,'' he said.

Meanwhile, the Public Works Department (PWD) of the state government has given its permission for BEST to build bus shelters on both the eastern and express highways - a proposal pending for years. The Undertaking will utilise the grant given under the Megacity project to construct these shelters.

The BEST has plans to import high capacity double-axle double-decker buses which can carry 180 passengers. The much-hyped air-conditioned buses may roll out on the city's roads by Dassera, announced Arvind Nerkar.

The BEST officials also gave details about the preparations underway on the Undertaking's 50th year of municipalisation which also coincides with the golden jubilee of nation's independence.

A grand celebration will be held on August 7 to be attended by the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister. Other plans include the introduction of exclusive Ladies special buses from August 18, launch of a book "BEST story", and the release of a new detailed road map of Mumbai which will be an exhaustive guide for bus travel.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.