PSV operators chastised for cutting routes short

The Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) is calling on Public Service Vehicle (PSV) operators to end the practice of cutting routes short and forcing passengers to disembark before reaching their destinations.
Director of Communications and Public Affairs Mark A. Haynes made the appeal in response to complaints from the public about operators not adequately servicing routes for which they have licences.
“I frown on this kind of behaviour…. You cannot treat commuters in this particular manner because they are complaining and their complaints are legitimate,” he said.
“Do not seek to circumvent the law. Obviously, this is a practice which the organisation does not support, and I would urge all the PSV workers in the sector to be in conformity with what the law requires of them with respect to taking the commuters from one point to the point at which they are supposed to be taken. We cannot have a situation where we have this kind of anomaly and these complaints which do not serve the organisation well and, by extension, the entire fraternity.”
At Monday’s St Peter Speaks town hall meeting, Prime Minister Mia Mottley said the Transport Authority needed to investigate the situation which she said is unacceptable.
She said operators must service the routes they are licensed for unless they are unable to do so due to an emergency.
Agreeing with Mottley’s sentiments, Haynes said that after collecting bus fares from passengers, it was incumbent on PSV workers to “ensure they move commuters not only safely but that they take them to their full destination”.
The AOPT official acknowledged that some PSV operators were concerned about being robbed and attacked while plying their trade and had therefore stopped working by particular times.
However, he said while the security concerns were valid and had to be taken into consideration, it was no excuse for shortchanging passengers.
“You have to balance what you are doing, but not with short riding the commuters who would have paid to be taken from X to Y. They need to get to their rightful destination,” Haynes said, adding that stakeholders need to engage in further dialogue on the issue.
(AH)