‘PSV bandits’: AOPT spokesman urges crackdown on rogue operators

A leading spokesman for the public service vehicle community, Roy Raphael, on Monday appealed to the authorities to crack down more heavily on growing numbers of pirate operators who he claimed have saturated many bus routes.

Raphael, chairman of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT), told Barbados TODAY that in light of a driver on a popular route testing positive for COVID-19 last week and fresh restrictions on the load of route taxis and minibuses, more pirates have appeared.

“Because of the 25 per cent capacity that is left behind, some persons are now capitalizing on it,” said Raphael. “The fact that a lot of buses are now not on some routes, the fact that some buses terminate after 7 p.m., now create a whole host of issues, that have now caused pirates to be out in their numbers as they are now today.

“So after 7.00 most pirates and other persons who are illegal operators take it upon themselves to ply some of the routes. The directives indicated that once you have 14 passengers or more, you should really be sanitizing your vehicle after each trip. If these illegal operators take it upon themselves to operate on the road without permission, that you can find ourselves in an unfortunate situation.”

The AOPT chairman also noted that the pirates, who work during the early morning hours and late at night, have also cut into the financial bottom line of many PSV operators, who were already struggling to maintain profits during a normal working week.

He called for a second look at many of the island’s routes for PSVs, declaring that many are not financially viable and that pirates take advantage of the situation, leaving some routes overcrowded, while others are often ignored.

“There are some routes that in my view, make no sense because it’s not financially valuable,” Raphael said, giving the example of the Eden Lodge route. “Bridgetown to Eden Lodge as it right now makes no sense because Bush Hall has over 60 vans on that route, Jackson has another 76 or so vans, so to have a van running from Eden Lodge to Bridgetown makes no sense.”’

Raphael suggested that changes to some of these routes would not only prove to be a great financial move for PSV operators but would also aid in providing a “better travelling experience for commuters” who would by default have no other options for travelling to and from destinations. (SB)