No tolerance for bad behaviour on PSVs, students warned

With the new term set to begin on Tuesday for thousands of students, the island’s main public service vehicle (PSV) representative body is warning that operators will not tolerate fighting or any other bad behaviour on their minibuses and ZR vans.

And the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) is calling on parents and guardians to play a greater role in ensuring their children are well-behaved.

Mark Haynes, communications and information officer with the AOPT, said he was tired of receiving complaints of fights among schoolchildren on PSVs.

“I call on the parents or guardians to encourage [their wards] before they go back to school, to be of good behaviour and conduct themselves like schoolchildren and avert some of these fights. We are seeing a lot of fights in recent times, especially with girls fighting,” he complained.

“I think it has to do a lot with the homes in which these students are brought up. The parents have to speak with them and sensitise them that when they put on their uniforms, wear them with pride.”

Haynes also urged students to be more respectful of each other, authority figures, and PSV drivers and conductors.

Some PSV operators have been accused of playing loud and lewd music, overloading their vehicles with schoolchildren along some routes.

Although admitting that operators must abide by the rules, Haynes told Barbados TODAY that parents also have to shoulder some of the blame for the bad behaviour being seen on public transportation, which is a reflection of what is happening in the wider society.

“The parents have to pull up their socks, too, and do what is right. Some parents are failing to speak with their charges. It is one of the problems we are having in this society,” he said.

“The PSV fraternity must not only be targeted. Not that I am making any excuse for bad behaviour, but I am saying . . . we are in this together and we have to work in cohesion.”

AOPT chairman Roy Raphael also urged PSV operators to conduct themselves within the law.

“As the schools reopen, we are urging members of the public to do the right thing,” he added.

Raphael said his organisation is in the process of rolling out a programme that will see AOPT officials and other stakeholders, including the Barbados Road Safety Association, going into schools to sensitise students about the importance of road safety.

“We are going to roll out a programme shortly to assist the school children to encourage them to stop overloading the vans . . . . We are going to be having a press conference very shortly to discuss this new operation that we will be rolling out sometime in the future where, basically, we will be going into schools along with a number of our stakeholders and have a discussion with the school children about not putting their lives at risk on the public transport system,” he explained.

Raphael said the AOPT will also be ramping up its Safe Bus Initiative which encourages commuters to ride on “safe buses” which will be identified by a special sticker prominently placed on designated minibuses and ZRs.

As the organisation seeks to strengthen its public affairs division, the chairman said it is expected to put together a public appearance committee to help ensure operator compliance with the dress code.

He added that the AOPT would be addressing increasing complaints about bad behaviour among schoolchildren on public transport. 

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb