BARBADIANS may have to consider using public transport every now and then, given the continued increase in fuel prices.
Leader of Government Business Maxine McClean made this assessment while speaking in the Senate yesterday morning on the Transport Board (Amendment ) Bill 2011, which makes provision for the Minister of Finance, and not the Governor General as was the case previously, to guarantee monies borrowed by the Transport Board.
“At this point in time we are facing, as a nation, rapidly rising fuel prices, and therefore it is perhaps a good time to reflect on how we move around this country. An individual driving his or her car alone on any given day and have to put gas in the vehicle, and if you are in certain locations pay parking fees.
“Some people may not want to sacrifice comfort needs of operating their own vehicle for the existing service and therein lies the opportunity for the provision of a second service, maybe a premium service, which would come at a premium price,” she said.
McClean said the time had come to look at the options that were available to commuters to address not only the issue of the consumption of fuel but also the issue of congestion on the roads.
“Perhaps it is an avenue of revenue generation for the Transport Board because subsidies are necessary but at the time because the Transport Board had surrendered over time a number of the critical and lucrative short routes to private concessionaires, it is perhaps time that it identifies some other mechanisms.
“It may want to consider either a loan or a partnership with the private concessionaires, to look at offering a second service which may cater to those who would normally drive themselves,” she said.
McClean said the Government had done much to ensure that many buses that were in need of repair were now back in service.
“We need to laud the Minister, the board, and the staff, for being able to deliver that service by taking the time to put many of those buses back in service. We have done it almost now for three years.
“It does not necessarily negate the need for additional buses but it really demonstrates that with some creativity and dedication and with a recognition that we have limited resources which must be efficiently utilized, we can achieve the targets that we set out,” she said.
She appealed to parents to get children to desist from the habit of joyriding on the public transport. She that those who engaged in that practice deprived other people of use of the service.
The minister also spoke about the incident in St Philip, where five boys ranging in age from 13 to 15 were charged with causing a public disturbance on a Transport Board bus on Monday.
“This is something that has to be checked,” she said.McClean said her Government was committed to enhancing the delivery of high quality transport not only in the public sector but also among private concessionaires.
