Come August 1, commuters can start paying for their taxi fare using the mobile application MyReadyCa$h.
The new mobile application, which can be downloaded from the Apple Store and Play Store, will allow commuters to pay for their journey with the scan of a QR code by the taxi operators.
Speaking to reporters in Heroes Square on Friday to announce the introduction of the new payment system, Chairman of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) Roy Raphael said the roll-out will be done in stages, with some 25 taxi operators utilising it in the first phase.
The project, which is being done in collaboration with the Cooperative Investment Fund (CIF), will see other taxi drivers and minibus and ZR operators being included by September.
“I know some operators, both ZR, minibuses and taxi operators, are afraid of working late at night because of the amount of cash they carry daily. So we are going to minimise this and let the public know they can use the MyReadyCa$h,” said Raphael.
Pointing out that Barbadians were getting more comfortable with using mobile apps and card payments, Raphael said “we must go that route”.
Pointing out that the PSV sector transports around 80 per cent of those taking public transportation daily, Raphael said he was encouraging residents to download the MyReadyCa$h app and sign up to use it “to make it safer for us when you enter our buses”.
He said while his association had started discussions with Government about two-and-a-half years ago regarding the implementation of a cashless system for the entire transportation sector, that seemed not to be going anywhere in any hurry.
According to him, if there was still no movement in the next two months, his association would go ahead with the implementation of the MyReadyCa$h app among the ZR and minibus members of the AOPT.
“The public has been calling in on it to our complaints department. Conductors have complained that people get on the vehicle and refuse to pay and some of them are afraid because they carry large sums of cash on them. So we are going to start the ball rolling,” he said.
He said the AOPT would be meeting with ZR and minibus operators on the matter soon.
Raphael acknowledged that while it may have an impact on conductors, provisions will be made for them to engage in training and retooling to become drivers.
“We don’t want to create unemployment for close to 300 to 400 conductors. So what we have done is that we have started discussions with the [Barbados] Vocational Training Board to incorporate these conductors as drivers,” he said.
“Right now there is a shortage of drivers in our system. We have fewer drivers and it is a concern to us . . . so we are going to transform these guys into drivers because there is a shortage of drivers and we are appealing to the Vocational Training Board to assist us,” he said.
Communication and Marketing Officer of the AOPT Mark Haynes said the public will be engaged in the coming weeks as the association embarks on an education and awareness campaign.
Explaining how the cashless system will work, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MyReadyCa$h Keith Downer said “It is literally just scanning the camera over the QR code for the payment structure to work. The digital wallet has quite a few other capabilities and activities involved in it.”
Once the app is downloaded, individuals will need to sign up to be able to load and offload money to their checking and savings mobile wallet, which will be used for payments.
“The platform is endeavouring to make sure that the existing needs of the drivers, owners and conductors are being maintained while at the same time giving the ownership a better management over the flow of funds, the operating margins of their taxis,” said Downer.
“They will reduce the exposure from a cash position in the buses and on individuals themselves, and they will enable the management to better manage the margins on the buses as they go forward,” he said.
The AOPT along with the taxi alliance represents close to 100 taxi operators.
Taxi operator of over 25 years Alphonso Eustace, who operates from the Independence Square and Heroes Square taxi stands, said he welcomed the new payment system.
“I think this is a good setting for the taxi men. It will help us to not travel with much cash. In these days you know a lot of thieves are out so I think this is a good initiative so that taxi men would be able to organise themselves better,” said Eustace.
