AOPT says number of people filing issues of concern with the organisation is dwindling

It appears that fewer complaints are being lodged against Public Service Vehicle (PSV) drivers and conductors over their conduct on the roads of Barbados.

This is according to data released by chairman of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) Roy Raphael who said “We are generally satisfied that the work of the PSV association, our alliance, has done well. We are seeing the decline in the number of complaints, although there are still some bad apples,” Raphael has told Barbados TODAY.

He revealed that for the first two months of this year, the association’s complaints department received six complaints for drinking and driving, 20 for the playing of loud music, eight for being off-route, 40 for dragging, 10 for refusing to wear a mask and 25 for overloading.

The official said that in the last two months of 2021, there were 15 public complaints for drinking and driving, 25 for loud music, ten for being off-route, 58 complaints for dragging, 16 for refusing to wear a mask and 30 for overloading.

However, he fears the rate of complaints could rise again as a result of the opening up of the country following the removal of physical distancing and mass gathering restrictions that had been imposed to try to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

We are just watching the situation because now that the country has been reopened, there is a possibility of seeing an increase again,” the PSV spokesman cautioned.

Raphael also disclosed that his organisation plans to introduce a forum “very shortly” where PSV leaders would be able to speak directly to the public and get feedback on various types of issues that concern them.

“Things like going off-route, behaviour patterns…because as you know, it goes both ways. We still continue to get a lot of complaints against commuters who refuse to pay operators, who refuse to wear their masks, threaten the operators and so on,” he added.

He announced that the name of a public transport advisor will soon be released. That officer’s role will be to be the link between the alliance, the Transport Authority and the Ministry of Transport and Works.

Raphael said the advisor will also be the point-person between members of the public and the AOPT during open-discussions on critical issues of concern to Barbadians.

“The public advisor will basically advise the public through our forum, the do’s and don’ts about PSVs, what they can and cannot do and to answer any questions,” Raphael said.

“What we propose to do…we will set up a forum to meet the public from time to time, either by way of a townhall meeting, through the media so we can answer their questions,” he promised.

He also explained that the transport public advisor should be the “right fit” in helping improve any “unfavourable” relations with the Transport Authority.

“What has happened is that, we found in the past, the relationship that some people would recognise, has not been very good with us and the Transport Authority. There has been a lot of back-and-forth in terms of communication and how we do things,” Raphael admitted.

“And I, as chairman of the organisation have been constantly calling on the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Education and those persons that make key decisions on transportation, to meet with us. And that is what has prompted us to have a public advisor that would speak on our behalf to the various stakeholders,” the AOPT leader stated.

“We have already started discussions with the Ministry of Education in terms of assisting us to develop a curriculum and training programmes for our PSV operators. So we are waiting on them to come back to us on that one. But more so, we want that relationship to lie between our public advisor and ministry as well as the public,” Raphael declared.

He said the advisor would also educate commuters and listen to their areas of concern regarding PSVs.

“The public advisor basically will educate members of the public and listen to their complaints, communicate them to the Complaints Department or whatever relevant ministry to ensure that we will be able to act quickly in resolving some of the issues that we have there. The Public Advisor basically will answer any questions,” Raphael emphasised.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Water Resources said it will be taking steps to bring a greater level of discipline to the public service vehicle sector within the coming year.

During the Estimates Debate in the House of Assembly a day earlier, Member of Parliament for St Thomas, Cynthia Forde expressed concern about the behaviour of some PSV drivers, particularly those who ply the Jackson and Warrens route.

She complained that they go off route and block the entrances to the Eunice Gibson Polyclinic and the Lodge Terrace neighbourhood on a daily basis.

“It is only a matter of time before someone loses their lives or gets seriously injured based on the conduct of these drivers,” Forde said.  “I realise that I am not seeing many inspectors from the Ministry of Transport out on the road these days, and these drivers – not so much the yellow buses but the ZR drivers – continue to operate in a disorderly fashion.

“How is Government training them? I recognise that they are providing a service to people, but they are going off route, and just the other day I had to speak to the driver of a Jackson ZR van who was in Vault Road where I live blowing his horn and making lots of noise, driving on the wrong side of the road and so on. I was also driving from Holetown to Black Rock recently and it took me a lot longer than usual because of minibuses dragging, that is, driving slowly looking for passengers along that stretch of Highway One.

“Also, every day outside the Eunice Gibson Polyclinic (Warrens) and the entrance to Lodge Terrace, there are three or four ZR vans blocking the entrance, and given the high number of people that traverse this area every day, what are the plans to make it safer?” Forde questioned.

But Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Works Santia Bradshaw said Cabinet approved regulations last year for the Transport Authority, but those will be examined again after the Estimates “so that they will have the right to enforce them”.

“These rules will speak not only to driver requirements, but also the owners. We are also working on a driver training programme in association with the Barbados Community College, which will be geared towards established drivers as well as new people coming into the sector, and we are currently discussing this with stakeholders,” she said.

On the question of inspectors, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mark Cummins, acknowledged that the number had fallen off in the last four years, but reassured Forde the situation was about to change.emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb