Bus fleet boost

Whilst there are a significant number of buses in need of repair at the Transport Board, bus availability has now increased from 65 to 92 for the benefit of the travelling public, as efforts continue to overhaul and improve the local transportation system.

Minister of Transport, Works and Maintenance, Dr. William Duguid acknowledged efforts to improve the offerings of the Transport Board as well as its facilities, during a tour of the Board’s Weymouth, St. Michael Headquarters yesterday, which was followed by a tour of the Fairchild Street, River and Princess Alice Terminals. The Minister was accompanied by Minister in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Maintenance, Peter Phillips; Transport Board Chairman Gregory Nicholls; Acting General Manager of the Transport Board, Felicia Sue and other officials.

“What is clear firstly from the Transport Board side of things, is that we have a significant number of buses that are in need of repair. That is obviously an urgent thing that we have to attend to. We have now got our bus availability up to 92, as the Chairman has reported to me. It used to be in the early 60s and 70s and now I am very happy that we have our bus availability up to 92. Our target is to reach 179,” Duguid told members of the media.

“When school starts back, I am reliably informed that they will get it back up to 105 buses available and this is absolutely important for us in the next few weeks, so that we can get the buses on the road, so our school children can get to school on time and also get home on time,” he added.

Having toured the Transport Board and having witnessed firsthand the number of buses in need of repair, the Minister acknowledged that systems are being put in place to address this key issue and attention is also being placed on improving conditions in the various bus terminals.

“I recognise and I salute the initiative of the Board to put lights now at the Transport Board (workshop) at Weymouth, so that they can work on the buses not only on an eight-hour shift, but right throughout the night, so that we can get that availability up to the next level that we want, as a matter of urgency. But clearly we have problems. We have problems in the fixing of the buses, we have problems in certainly the space that they are using and we obviously have to access more space. There are difficulties in the plant, because it is obviously an old plant. The Transport Board has been there now 60-something odd years,” he stated.

“The (Fairchild Street) terminal obviously is an aging terminal…I certainly see that there are issues that we have to (address). We have to do more industrial cleaning, we have to make it a much more pleasant place for our commuters and I think that is of paramount importance,” he said, adding that issues of fire safety, commuter wait times and issues with routes have to also be addressed.

Minister Peter Phillips meanwhile revealed that he was “somewhat shocked” at what he had seen within the transport system, during the tour. He however stated that Government will be seeking to address the myriad of issues for the benefit of the travelling public, so as to ensure higher levels of productivity all round, to get the country back on its feet. (RSM)