Mumbai’s strength has always rested on its ability to move people, not merely vehicles. However, in recent years, the it’s public transport system, especially the BEST Undertaking, has been showing signs of structural decline. The city is witnessing an alarming reduction in its public bus fleet, diminishing route coverage, and increased dependence on private mobility aggregators such as Ola and Uber. This shift is eroding the accessibility, affordability, and inclusivity that once defined Mumbai’s mobility ecosystem.

While major global cities such as London are making largescale public investments to expand and digitise their public transport systems, Mumbai stands in contrast as perhaps the only global city where public transport capacity is shrinking. The consequences are now visible: increased travel costs for citizens, rising road congestion, and an overreliance on unregulated private transport. Hence there is an urgent need for a policy-level intervention to reimagine the BEST Undertaking as a modern, financially independent, and integrated public mobility institution. It is proposed that the Government of........

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