I commend the Barbados Licensing Authority for implementing my recommendation to establish a “hotline” through which commuters on public service vehicles (PSVs) can lodge complaints.
However, the establishment of a hotline number by itself will hardly result in the transformation of behaviour for which the Authority is aiming and which commuters require while travelling on these vehicles.
Accordingly, I further propose that the Authority should make it mandatory for all PSVs, including Transport Board buses, to affix in a prominent place in each vehicle an appropriate message advising commuters to call in complaints to the telephone hotline number given in the message.
The specifics of the sign, including actual wording, size and so on should be provided by the Authority to establish consistency and uniformity.
Some private sector businesses already empower and seek the wider community’s assistance in monitoring and managing the behaviour of their drivers by carrying the sign at the rear of their vehicles – “How’s My Driving? – followed by a telephone number to which calls can be made.
