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The minibus system is lawless and irregular
Dear Editor,
I read with interest your article “Where is my receipt” and, having been to Georgetown three times in the past eight years, would like to mention the system used in most parts of the UK., particularly having experienced the sardine cans that claim to be buses around the city, to Rosignol or to Linden.
If I get on a bus I either have to pay my fare on boarding or, as in my case, show my Elderly Person/Disabled Person Free travel Pass and, if I pay my fare I will receive a ticket which I have to keep in case a ticket inspector gets on the bus or, with free passes some companies – not all – give me a ticket which I have to keep but, both cases can deposit into a special used ticket box as I get off.
On every bus there is a clear notice of how many passengers are allowed to travel: sitting, standing and in wheelchairs. Every bus is required to have wheelchair access and positions as well as positions for child buggies and, should a passenger be sitting in one of these areas when it is required, they are required to move.
Not only do the local bus companies have their ticket checkers, who can get on a bus at any point of its journey, who will check the tickets of every person on board – no ticket and you pay again- but will also check the number of passengers on board, a major problem in early morning and when schools finish. But the area transport authority, in our case it is ‘Merseytravel’, will have its inspectors who get on a bus without any warning and check all tickets and the driver’s authority.
If any bus is found to be overloaded, the driver, who also collects the fares, will be reported and can be sacked by his/her company.
There is much more space on UK buses and the use of fold-down seats will result in a company being prosecuted and prohibited from operating a public bus service as will any company not giving a printed ticket for a paid fare.
The UK does not have a perfect bus service but some areas are working towards it. London has a system where you either scan a Free pass on their ticket machine or you show a ticket to the driver. These tickets cost £2 (about $640) per journey, or a reduced fare ‘day ticket’ and have to be bought from machines or shops before you board the bus, but again, you will find that the driver will pull up at a stop, look at how many passengers are on board and accept ‘first three please’ or none at all. They will never try to cram more people onto their bus than the licence allows.
The only routes in Guyana that I found giving a ‘ticket’ were the larger buses on the Linden route. Perhaps it is time that the people of Guyana took matters into their own hands and tell minibus ‘conductors’, “I want a ticket and the right to a proper seat, not a fold-down one”. In UK, a bus operating company can increase their fares but they are required to give at least 28 days notice – ON THEIR BUSES” but those that are run by the local transport authority can only increase their fares if the transport authority announces the increase.
Travellers might like to know that petrol in UK now costs £1.35 per litre (about $420 per litre)
I hope that this might give a few people some ideas and answer a few problems for others.
Wallasey UK (and proud to be Guyanese by marriage)
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