EDITORIAL
The long waits facing hundreds of commuters in Barbados of late is unfortunate. Mechanical issues have plagued the cash-strapped Barbados Transport Board for some time, but this week’s most recent shortage has taxed the public’s patience. Under these circumstances, one wonders about the experimental public/private route taxi initiative and if it is a viable option at this time on a broader scale. Could such a system help to supplement the beleaguered fleet of the Barbados Transport Board?
In 2016, two routes (Edey Village and Sturges) were used as testing areas for the Transport Authority Service Integration (TASI) Pilot Project. The project was a transportation partnership where public service vehicles (PSVs) operated on those select routes to cover times that Transport Board scheduling was insufficient. The feedback was not without complaint despite most agreeing the initiative was a good idea. Some commuters complained about the lack of availability of PSVs, while other stakeholders bemoaned the lack of consultation with owners and operators.
However, notwithstanding the vital role PSVs play in Barbados, the sector still has an image problem at hand. In tabling the resolution for amendments to the road traffic act last year, Minister Michael Lashley noted the indiscipline on roads from some PSV drivers – from literally drinking alcohol while working, driving recklessly in the haste to scoop the competition and playing pounding music with distasteful lyrics. And yet we must give Jack his jacket too. How often are conductors or drivers praised for going out of their way to ensure a schoolchild has crossed the road safely, in some cases with conductors escorting the child to the other side if there is no traffic warden? Or assisting someone with groceries in lifting bags on or off the vehicle? Or in other cases going off route to put an elderly person closer to their destination?
PSVs owners have also consistently raised the issue of increasing bus fares and duty-free concessions in order to ply their trades successfully, but we could argue that they would be supported far more vocally by the public in this matter if their myriad infractions are first reduced.
The fact is, not everyone in Barbados has access to an automobile or sustained access to the Transport Board’s fleet, and PSVs perform a vital function for a group of persons who otherwise have no choice. Yet despite their crucial function, it is time that the sector understands there must be a zero tolerance approach towards illegal acts from delinquent operators. It is time that guilty PSV drivers understand that loud, questionable music is not palatable for young, impressionable ears. Indeed, one recalls that one of the reasons given by late Prime Minister David Thompson for the free Transport Board bus passage for school children was for children to travel to school without undue distractions found on some PSVs.
We have spoken on these issues far too long without resolution. The professionalism of the sector must be put in place so that projects like the TASI programme or increased concessions for the industry can be further advanced.