BIG BUSES ARE NEEDED BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Nov 12, 2012 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) has made an important observation. They have noted the distress that many workers face in accessing public transportation.
This is an extremely frustrating experience that workers face each afternoon. It means that by the time they reach home, they are not only tired but also in a bad mood. And all because the private transportation system has not been able to provide the sort of service that is required.
It is however not all the fault of private transport operators. It takes a long time, for example, for mini buses to pick up a busload of passengers, transport them to their destination and then get back to the park.
The reason why it is taking so long for a round trip is because of the heavy vehicular traffic on our roadways. So that, for example, a mini bus which is traversing the Harbour Bridge not only has to contend with heavy traffic along the East Bank but also congestion on the bridge itself.
Also, when you consider that most villages are thinly populated and lie along our main public roads, it means that for every busload of passengers that a minibus for example picks up, there has to be about fifteen stops along the way, not counting the slow snaking traffic and the woes of crossing over the river.
As such, what happens is that if a bus picks up a load at 4.30 pm, that bus is not likely to return to the park until around 6pm. So while there may be more buses working, because the turnaround time is so long, it means that the buses make fewer trips.
To add to this problem is the fact that many of the drivers and conductors want their leisure time each afternoon and therefore they are not willing to work very late. In some instances, they stop working after 5.00pm.
Making the situation worse is the fact that there are so many persons now who are driving their own cars. Sometimes you can have a line of cars crossing the bridge, and without car pooling, it means that these lines can end up being very long.
The government had announced that it was willing to consider incentives for the Private Sector if they would venture into bigger buses, targeting the large housing areas. At least this is what was stated at one of the press conferences hosted by the Head of the Presidential Secretariat.
It does not seem as if the Private Sector has taken up this offer because there are no big buses running into some o the major housing schemes such as Diamond, Parfaite Harmonie and the Mon Repos Housing Scheme.
As such, it is now up to the government to jump in and fill the void. The Private Sector should not complain about this but they will.
They have failed to take up the challenge to solve the transportation woes on our roadways and therefore the government should not hesitate in bringing in some big buses, perhaps capable of carrying sixty persons at one trip to ease this problem.
In order not to stifle private transportation operators, these buses should only operate at peak hours. This means that they should only operate early in the mornings and after work so as to avoid the long delays that workers face.
The buses should ideally be of an express service in that they should be no stops along the route. They should pick up the passengers at designated stop and take them directly into the middle of each of the aforesaid housing schemes. The workers will have to decide how they get from the drop -off point to their individuals home.
The government can be sure that such a service will be welcome. There are many persons who live in housing schemes and are willing to pay a $40 extra just to get home.
Another thing that can be encouraged is for safe parking so that persons can park their vehicles near to bus terminals and then join a big bus to their destination. This will allow for fewer vehicles on the roadway.
Carpooling can also be encouraged but Guyanese will not be keen on this because of privacy and security consideration.
It is now certain that big buses will have to be imported by the government in order to ease the transportation woes of the public.
It is hoped that the parliament will pass the necessary financing so that this can happen because right now workers are really upset at the long time they have to wait to get to and from their place of employment.
This situation needs to be addressed urgently because with Christmas around the corner, the traffic situation will not get any better.

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