Commuters can expect at least a 20 per cent reduction in the number of privately-owned public service vehicles (PSV) on the road over the next two weeks, Roy Raphael, Chairman of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT), has told Barbados TODAY.
Following the announcement of a lockdown, several PSV owners indicated that it would not make sense for them to work, he said.
The requirement for them to operate at a maximum of 60 per cent capacity meant that many of them on several routes would be making a major loss, especially since many business places would be closed, Raphael claimed.
A national lockdown that began Wednesday will be in effect until February 17, with only essential businesses to be opened. There is also a curfew in place from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.
In light of the curfew, Raphael said PSV operators were being encouraged to start work at 6:30 a.m. each day, with their final trip at 6 p.m.
Pointing out that the next two weeks will be “very tough” for PSV workers, Raphael said: “With the capacity being reduced to 60 per cent, a lot of our owners have indicated that they will not be on the road because the last shutdown we had in April 2020, it did not make sense running up and down with just four or five persons.”
There are 20-seater and 14-seater ZR vans, which means that they would be allowed to carry a maximum of 12 and 8 passengers, respectively. The minibuses will be allowed to carry a maximum of 14 passengers.
But Raphael explained that with the lockdown, they were not even getting those numbers, pointing out that while some routes would still have a fair number of passengers, others simply did not make sense.
“We expect between now and in the second week of the lockdown we will be running with between 40 and 45 per cent capacity in some cases,” said Raphael, who said based on the last lockdown, many PSV owners would “prefer to have their bus parked because they can’t pay a driver or conductor”.
“The last shutdown caused significant fallout for us. We would have seen older persons who were going for medication and persons who were catching the bus were frontline workers. But the general number of persons we picked up at bus stops started off very slow and by the second week we found that most of our vans were off the road,” he declared.
Raphael said it was for this reason that his association was appealing to Government for assistance.
During the lockdown last year, some PSV operators/owners received assistance in the form of fuel vouchers and food hampers.
With authorities to issue some 60,000 care packages during the current lockdown, Raphael said it was imperative that PSV operators again benefit. As such, he said he was calling on PSV operators who were not yet a member of an association to join one.
It is estimated that there are just over 800 registered PSVs and minibus operators in Barbados.
“We are making an appeal to Government for some kind of subvention or assistance because… the money is being spent back on the vehicle especially on diesel, the diesel and fuel tax contribute highly to our expenses,” he said.
Raphael said: “Transport Board can run their buses at any cost because they have electric buses that they don’t have to pay fuel, but the PSVs, even running at eight persons, the capacity from 14 to 8 generally it will create some problems for us. We have a responsibility to the general public so we will encourage our members to as much as possible get out there and we encourage people to plan their activities so that they can be able to catch our transportation.”
In relation to the wearing of a mask on public transport, Raphael told Barbados TODAY he was generally satisfied that PSV operators were enforcing the rule and were themselves following it.
“The PSV operator is well aware that if the COVID-19 team finds anyone in there without their mask they can be pulled off the road so I don’t think he would take that chance. What is happening though is that we have found now that more persons are complying in terms of wearing their masks on the route,” said Raphael.
He said travellers who wished to get around but did not want to take the bus could make arrangements through the AOPT by calling the association’s hotline at 538-3888. (marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb)
