Slow start, but transit plan ‘growing’

Chairman of the Transport Board Ian Gooding-Edghill is reporting that Government’s Transport Augmentation Programme (TAP) is continuing to pick up speed as several individuals continue to express an interest in joining.

The initiative, which got off to a slow start last year with just about 20 public service vehicle (PSV) operators, allows minibuses and route taxis to join with and provide a service to the Transport Board.

Through the TAP, senior citizens, school children and members of the Barbados Police Force, in uniform, travel for free on the minibuses and route taxis branded with the Transport Board logo on all four sides of the vehicles.

In a recent interview with Barbados TODAY Gooding-Edghill said he was satisfied with the programme’s progress so far.

“The TAP programme is going well. We have enquiries almost on a daily basis from persons who are interested in joining the programme,” said Gooding-Edghill.

“What we are beginning to see is that a number of individuals, entrepreneurs are joining the TAP programme and because of that we will have even more buses on the road. So over time the TAP programme has proven to be a very useful addition to public transport in Barbados and I expect over time more persons will join into the TAP programme, but it is working well thus far,” he said, adding that the programme would continue indefinitely.

Once individuals express an interest in joining the programme, they submit an application and once approved, they register with the Transport Authority and begin to operate similarly to the Transport Board’s fleet, going by a schedule and abiding by certain terms and conditions of the state entity.

Since the introduction of the TAP, which to date has attracted close to 100 participants, some PSV operators have been crying out that they have seen a dramatic reduction in revenue due to the added competition.

The PSV operators had also complained about the use of the BT and ZM registered vehicles to transport passengers during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying they were eating into their profits.

Those coaches and taxis were permitted to transport commuters as they saw fit when PSVs and the Transport Board had a capacity restriction of just 60 per cent during the COVID-19 pandemic. The arrangement came to an end on June 30.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb