PSV owners, Transport Board agree on pilot

Public service vehicle owners have ruled out industrial action after reaching agreement with the Transport Board over its controversial pilot cashless payment system, following complaints that private operators had not been properly consulted before the scheme was introduced.

The Alliance Owners of Public Transport, which represents Transport Augmentation Programme drivers, had protested the introduction of the card fare system without the full prior knowledge of the organisation or the TAP operators, who essentially function as an extension of the state in transporting passengers.

Following the AOPT’s protests, senior Transport Board officials met the association’s leadership on Thursday afternoon to try to resolve their differences and bring clarity to the issue.

Chairman of the PSV owners’ alliance Roy Raphael told Barbados TODAY he was happy with the outcome of the talks and sought to allay commuters’ fears that industrial action would be taken.

He said: “A lot of the TAP operators were not consulted on [the card system]. But the CEO was able to explain in a better way about it, how it started and so on. So, I think the TAP operators now have a greater understanding.

“The issue today basically looked at the cashless system and the fact that a number of operators were not given much information on it, not communicated on it. So, passengers getting on a TAP bus and showing their travel card, they were not quite sure how they were going to be paid. But that system the Transport Board introduced, before it was implemented, they should really have had a meeting with the operators and drivers, so they have a clear understanding.

“So, the meeting that was held now, should have been held before they rolled out the travel card. I was made to understand that the card replaces the token. So, you go into the terminal, buy a travel card and you just tap it and go; similarly to what you do with the senior citizens ID card. You can deposit a certain amount of money on the card, and just use it as you get into the Transport Board or TAP buses.”

Raphael is also recommending the establishment of a working group involving the board and private-sector PSVs, which he contends would avoid future communication issues and lead to a more efficient and effective working relationship.

“Because the travel card is being done as a pilot project, we are willing to work with the Transport Board on it, and to give them any feedback that they would have to make it. I believe that sooner or later, a lot of the public service vehicles are going to be going cashless.”

Raphael disclosed that, in a few weeks, the AOPT will introduce its own cashless system on a trial basis. He did not elaborate on the form that a cashless pilot would take.

But, at some stage in the future, his association would merge its cashless system with the Transport Board’s, since it would make no practical sense to have two separate systems in operation, he said.

He also noted that a follow-up meeting is to be held with the transport authorities to try to resolve other outstanding issues facing the industry.

“One of the suggestions I believe,” Raphael said, “that will be coming forward at the next meeting, is the fact that we must have a working relationship between the private sector organisations, the Transport Board as well as the TAP programme as we go forward. Because if you are looking now at the mass transit, you can’t have one single entity operating the way that they used to operate before. So, it can’t be business as usual. So, we are suggesting that a working group be set up, so that we have a basic idea of what the Transport Board is doing and what we are doing. We will also make a recommendation shortly to the minister that we should have a representative sitting on the Transport Board.

“So far, we are happy with the board’s explanation about the payment card. Communication was one of the areas in which they fell down on. We also recommend that they should have regular meetings, especially with the TAP operators’ representatives, so that we can channel that discussion down through to the operators, to the drivers and conductors, so that they know exactly what is happening. But with the absence of not being able to communicate, would have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

(EJ)