Bus commuters plead for consistency amid long waits  

Mounting frustration over late and unpredictable bus services has sparked renewed calls for urgent improvement from public transport users, as passengers waiting at the Granville Williams and Princess Alice bus terminals describe spending hours stranded, particularly in the evenings and on rural routes.

Regular bus user Elizabeth pointed to scheduling as the most pressing issue, explaining that the service often fails to operate as advertised. She said the biggest change she wants is “the schedule working on time”, stressing that if a bus is scheduled for a certain time, commuters should be able to depend on it. She noted that her daily commute on route number eight is especially unpredictable in the evenings, adding that while mornings are sometimes manageable, the return trip is often far worse. 

“Yeah, in the morning, but not in the evening… sometimes it’s a bit long in the evening… two hours,” she said, describing the typical wait she faces.

Similar concerns were raised by Philip Hunte, who argued that improvements must go beyond adding buses and focus on better routing and management of drivers. He said authorities need to focus on “routing and trafficking… get the buses where they need it and in a timely fashion… get the drivers to be more proactive and not keep people waiting”.

He explained that long waits affect working people and students alike: “You have to stay two and three hours before you get the bus… I was ready to change that.” 

Despite living in an area where public transport is available, he said he still faces lengthy delays, often waiting up to an hour before completing a 15-minute walk home after disembarking.

For pensioners, the situation appears even more troubling. Mr Richford, 73, described the St Patrick service as especially unreliable: “The St Patrick bus service is bad… sometimes I stand three bus times before I can get a bus.” He stressed the need for additional services to assist elderly commuters: “I want some more buses… so that pensioners like me could get home and proper work first.”

Leon Smith, a retiree, echoed those concerns and said he believes certain routes serving older residents are being neglected. “St Lawrence and St Patrick is the worst route… they can have a bus up there every hour… and then you have a lot of pensioners,” he said. He added that many elderly residents must still travel to town to pay bills and shop for essentials, arguing that public transport should better reflect their needs. “It seems like the pensioners not supposed to leave home… but we are the builders of Barbados… I don’t see the reason why they can’t get a bus every hour or every hour and a half.”

Smith also compared the transport challenges with those of other Caribbean nations, noting that the island’s size should make reliable scheduling achievable: “Barbados is a small little dot… I believe we should bring up Barbados… on the transportation.”

Andy St Hill said unpredictability is the most difficult challenge passengers face. “Sometimes we wait here three hours for a bus… you don’t know when it may come… all you got to do is sit down and hope that it come,” he said, adding that elderly passengers and people returning from medical appointments are often hardest hit. 

He questioned whether scheduling inefficiencies rather than bus availability may be the root of the problem: “It got to be the scheduling system… you hear they bring in new buses and the system get worse.”

He also highlighted the financial burden delays placed on commuters forced to seek alternative transport. “Sometimes it gets so long… you got to catch a taxi and go home… $60,” he said.

Despite his frustrations, he urged more people to speak openly about the challenges. “We’ve got people that can’t speak out, but they would like things to do… if everybody could come out and be honest with themselves, things will happen.”

Deidre Sobers said delays have forced her to rely on multiple forms of transport just to complete a single journey. “It don’t come on time… sometimes two to three hours we wait for a bus,” she said, explaining that she often has to travel part of her route by bus and then transfer to a van to reach her home in Diamond Corner. She also expressed doubt that newly introduced buses will solve the problem, adding, “I don’t think so… you still don’t get a bus on time.”

Terry Watson shared similar experiences, saying service irregularities are widespread across multiple routes. “It will come right down to getting buses on a more regular basis… almost all the buses on the island… you have issues with all of them,” he said, noting that his longest wait has exceeded three hours. While he acknowledged that infrastructural improvements, such as enclosing terminals, could improve comfort for passengers, he insisted it would not solve the underlying reliability issues. “It’ll be a lot better… but I don’t think that would make any difference… when the rain falls, you still get wet in there.”

The complaints come amid broader national discussions about social support and cost-of-living pressures, particularly for pensioners.

Public transport remains a critical service for thousands of Barbadians, especially those without access to private vehicles. Commuters interviewed at both terminals stressed that while they continue to rely on the Transport Board as the island’s primary and most dependable travel option, they believe urgent improvements in scheduling, routing, and service consistency are necessary to restore confidence in the system.