Dear readers,

Buses are a convenient and affordable public transport in cities. They are an old and core transit mode complementing others like trains and metros, but they have become low priority for urban authorities. Nowhere is this more true than in Mumbai where the once-iconic BEST bus network is being diminished and dismantled, perhaps finished off because it’s a “loss-making” entity. Public transport was not meant to make profits; it is subsidised all over the world. When bus networks in cities are hurt by neglect or privatisation, they impact lakhs of people who depend on them, especially the working class. In this edition, Question of Cities takes the bus in Mumbai to see how it can be revived, looks at a night bus route in Delhi that featured in an award-winning film, and maps the recent changes in Guwahati’s bus network.

Should Mumbai have a robust, reliable and affordable public bus transport or not is the question facing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the Maharashtra government. The approximately 3.3 million commuters of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) buses would vote a resounding yes, if they could. The authorities see profit-loss, a criterion not used for public utilities in any city, but will not consider subsidies. The BEST can be revived to its former glory – if the authorities are not driven by the political agenda to privatise and monetise, and place public interest above all else, argues the QoC Editorial. Read it here.

The cash-strapped Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), still the most reliable mode of transport, is going through a rough patch with reduced fleet, struggling employees, part-privatisation and more. It is not a lost cause, though. Academic researcher and activist Hussain Indorewala who is also the co-convenor of the citizens’ group ‘Amchi Mumbai Amchi BEST’, transport analyst and convenor of the organisation Vidyadhar Date, and Jagnarayan Gupta, member of the BEST Kamgar Sanghatana, speak to Question of Cities about ideas to put Mumbai’s buses back on track. Read it here.

Multimedia journalist Jashvitha Dhagey visits the BEST Museum in Mumbai and comes away with the conviction that while Bollywood films featuring the BEST bus serve as an archive, there can be no alternative to a vibrant museum. It is ironic that the BEST Museum which narrates the story of one of the most enduring and moving icons of Mumbai has been tucked away on the third floor of a bus depot making it virtually absent in popular imagination. Besides, the dispirited space hardly does justice to the stirring story of the red bus, she writes. Read it here.

As India’s national capital sleeps, night buses keep the city connected and their commuters find the true meaning of accessible and affordable public transport. Shab-Parak | Night Fliers, a short film by Sabika Syed and Nikhil Mehrotra which won the Silver Bioscope at the Nagari 2024 awards, captures the story of Delhi Transport Corporation’s Bus 0543A from Anand Vihar Inter State Bus Terminal to Kapashera border. Writer-illustrator Nikeita Saraf writes on the film and its characters including the driver, who commands his bus like a community, and  commuters who awaken the city. Read it here.

Despite a good ridership, Guwahati’s bus system puts commuters through inconveniences such as unscheduled stops, delays by drivers and conductors, overcrowding and coarse language that women dread, finds Sugandhi Prapti, Urban Fellow and QoC intern, as she hops into buses in her city. It is facing a crisis of capacity and reliability as the modal share of private vehicles rises. This essay detailing the fast-expanding city captures the physical journeys and the social realities of the bus system. Guwahati’s buses are more than transport; they are a moving portrait of daily urban struggle and resilience. Read it here.

Our regular section, News Digest, brings you interesting news about cities, climate change and the glacier collapse in the Alps which destroyed an entire village.

Hope you find this edition engaging and worthwhile. We would love to hear from you at  [email protected]. If you haven’t yet subscribed to Question of Cities, do so here and share our work on X, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Thank you,
Shobha 
May 30, 2025