Commuters who use vehicles under the Transport Augmentation Programme (TAP) are being encouraged to learn their rights, amid complaints that passengers were being charged for packages they take on board.
Chief Operations Officer of the Transport Board Lynda Holder said this was against the Board’s rules under which sub-contracted public service vehicles in TAP must operate.
However, she added: “What we ask passengers to do, out of consideration for the size of the vehicle, [is] that they be considerate to their fellow travellers, and if you have more than two or three packages, you find a way of storing them closer to you to allow other persons to be able to access either the seats or passageway for safe travel.”
Holder also stressed that persons over the age of 65 and school children in uniform are exempt from paying bus fare on TAP vehicles.
She said it had been brought to the Transport Board’s attention that some TAP operators were charging these elderly persons.
The Transport Board official explained that by law, persons in this category are allowed to travel free of charge on board any public service vehicle operated by the Transport Board, once a valid identification card is produced. The same rule applies to school children, once they are in uniform and/or produce a valid form of ID, they are not required to pay bus fare.
In addition, members of The Barbados Police Service and staff of the Transport Board are also allowed to ride free of charge on TAP vehicles, once they produce the relevant identification.
“The TAP operator is supposed to take note of the commuters on their way bills, submit this information to the Transport Board, and then we, in turn, will invoice the relevant ministries,” Holder explained.
The Chief Operations Officer said despite the complaints, there has been positive feedback about the Transport Augmentation Programme.
She noted that many of the operators are courteous and have been adequately servicing their routes. The TAP has also improved the Transport Board’s ability to meet its customer demand through the provision of additional units, Holder said.
“The programme was implemented to assist the Transport Board in covering the areas and routes that they could not cover because of their limitations,” she explained.
(PR/BT)
