Transport board working on improving northern service

Deputy Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw is giving residents in the north of the island the assurance that their transportation woes will be addressed.

In recent weeks, several of them have taken to the airwaves to speak on the delays experienced in trying to traverse the north of the island on public transportation.

“The Transport Board is not sitting idle. We’re working on improving the fleet management, and being able to coordinate with people within communities to look at changing the routes and rationalising routes,” Bradshaw stated.

Speaking to the media in Speightstown on Wednesday, the Minister of Transport and Works said with more people, including tourists, now traversing this area, requests are being made for additional buses to service that community.

“We have spoken to the Transport Board and that is on the cards and we recognize that we may need to re-introduce the transportation system on the main road. So the Transport Board is aware and they’re looking into how they may be able to re-organise the buses in this area,” the transport minister said.

She admitted that since the diesel bus fleet has been reduced due to the government’s green energy agenda and with several of the electric buses now in need of repairs, challenges are being experienced in adequately servicing various routes across the island.

Bradshaw said issues had arisen in getting the electric buses repaired and back on the bus schedule because of COVID-19’s effect on the supply chain.

“COVID did not help us in terms of being able to get the supply of parts on island and to get the repairs to the buses done in a timely manner as we would like. So we’ve had a few issues in terms of breakdowns of the buses and getting them back into operation,” she said.

In addition, Bradshaw outlined that several challenges are being experienced with bus availability and scheduling those operators involved in the TAP (Transport Augmentation Programme) programme.

Saying an additional 10 electric buses are scheduled to be added to the Transport Board fleet later this year, she stressed that more are to be brought in 2024.

“We will then have another 21 which have just been allocated in terms of funding for this financial year. We won’t get those until next year. So in terms of increasing the electric bus fleet, that is the intention of government. That is the way forward,” she stated. (JB)