AOPT issues warning as route breaches, dragging increase

Traffic and regulatory violations by privately run public service vehicle (PSV) operators are on the rise, Barbados TODAY has learnt, with over a dozen complaints a day, according to the Alliance Owners of Public Transport’s own figures.

The infractions appeared to have multiplied despite efforts to train the drivers of minibuses and route taxis (ZRs).

Now the organisation of PSV owners is warning members to take immediate action to ensure compliance or risk losing their permits.

AOPT Chairman Roy Raphael disclosed on Monday that while the average number of complaints received by the body per day had been 10, that figure has now risen to just under 15.

“We, across the board, have seen an increase in persons drinking and driving…off route — I guess that has to do a lot with the traffic. We continue to get reports of persons not wearing the appropriate uniform, failing to complete their route, and failing to go on some routes that are designated to them,” Raphael told Barbados TODAY.

“The law is clear about routing in this country. And there are some PSV workers who think that because a particular route is popular…they create their own route. It is a breach of the contract. My clear warning to the owners is to ensure that these people comply, because if you continue with that, it would also have a direct effect on your permit.”

He told PSV operators who continue to breach route regulations that passengers are reporting them.

Raphael stressed that if owners do not take urgent steps to safeguard their permits, they could be penalised for allowing their workers to flout the law.

The PSV association head also revealed that a significant number of the complaints relate to the playing of loud music.

But he called attention to the practice of ‘dragging’ — minibuses and route taxis deliberately crawling at snail’s pace on the road in a bid to capture straggler passengers or to compete against other buses, causing severe traffic jams along particularly along the island’s already choked coastal highways, during both peak and off-peak periods.

Raphael said: “We also continue to get complaints from passengers who use the Speightstown buses about the behaviour of some operators in terms of ‘dragging’. This dragging thing needs to be looked at. I suspect that if that matter is not dealt with, government will have to amend the Road Traffic Act to address this whole question of dragging.”

He cautioned that ‘dragging’ is a “very” serious offence, in that it could cause accidents.

The AOPT chair recalled a situation where one driver blocked another from going forward because of the slow manner in which he was moving.

“All of what they are doing is pushing us into the cashless system,” the AOPT leader said. “We have tried our best to work with the operators, we have tried our best to work with the owners as an association, but it appears that some of these complaints continue to fall on deaf ears. It must not continue. There is legislation to deal with those issues, and I am saying to them, we need to deal with those issues pertaining to the workers.”

He also lamented that despite the training received by ZR and minibus operators, their conduct on the roads has not improved.

“And if there is no improvement, for government, what is the next step?” Raphael asked.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb