More transport services may be needed at Edey Village

 

Commuters in the Edey Village and surrounding areas are calling for more transport services to be provided in their area and two of the pos-sible solutions that are being brought forward is to either have larger vehicles or to put more vehicles on the route.
 
However, the decision that the Transport Authority and Transport Board will take with regards to this matter is something that the stakeholders in the transportation sector would have to sit down and discuss, said Manager of Marketing and Corporate Communications at the Transport Board, Lynda Holder.
 
She stated that this issue has been brought to their attention and is a matter that members of the Board are seriously looking at how they can resolve.
 
“I can’t speak to the logistics of it. What we have been doing is because – as I have been saying – the vans come under Transport Authority and not Transport Board, what we would do then is give them the complaints or the feedback, whether positive or negative, that comes to us and as we all sit together collectively – and it would be all of us – we would then make a determination.”
 
Speaking to the media after the ‘Transport Authority Service Integration (TASI) of Public Transport in Barbados Community Presentation’ on Saturday evening at the St. David’s Anglican Church, Holder said that they have taken note of the issues that have been brought forward by the commuters and their decision would reflect the best possible course of action for all concerned.
 
“Now coming out of today’s meeting, based on the comments that they have made, we would then be getting together and we would determine if that is what is the real issue – Is it a more frequent service that is required or a larger vehicle on the route that is required? So as we come to that particular decision, we would then come back and let you know.”
 
She said that the vehicles come through the Transport Authority with different providers for different routes and the drivers would have been screened to ensure that they understand what is expected of them. Training in areas like customer service would have been provided and the Transport Authority, the Transport Board and the service providers would have designed the routes with the goal being to ensure that the commuters “at no point in time would end up suffering”.
 
One of the commuters, Donna Durant, said that she likes the project so far and she “appreciates” the drivers because they drive safely and they can “always depend on the service”, and that it is a definite improvement from the previous system of “just having the Transport Board alone”.
 
Another commuter, Delores Williams, added that she also liked the service and appreciated the drivers. The service has also worked well for her daughter as previously when she had to get to 8 a.m. classes at the University of the West Indies, she “could not depend on the bus every morning, but now she can depend on them to get to school on time”.

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