Once again, the government has swooped in like a knight in shining armour to rescue distressed commuters from the monster that is our public transportation system with a fleet of 44-seat buses it has procured from the aptly named Knight Rider bus service.
As they have done in the past, the minibuses that offer transportation to the public have raised their prices here and there and some have threatened to withhold their services unless they receive a price increase that would allow them to make a certain sum of money after covering expenses. The government’s knee-jerk response was to roll out the big buses, which commuters can travel on free of charge.
While this is a good stopgap measure, it really should be implemented while talks are ongoing with the minibus operators to arrive at amutually agreeable decision on the way forward. To date, there has been no indication from the government that it was seeking to hold talks with the private providers of public transportation.
In fact, there is every indication that the provision of the free big bus service is really just the big bully response to haul the minibus operators back in line. Minister Robeson Benn, who has responsibility for the transport sector, has figured out that once the minibus operators realize that commuters have a useable alternative they will fall back in line as always. He’s right. They will, but for how long? They will still have the same issues and at some point these will rise to the fore again. How many times is Minister Benn going to slay the same dragon before he realizes that he’s not solving the problem?
The problem, of course, is not just that the minibus operators are constantly threatening to strike or that some of them raise their fares willy-nilly, but that what passes for public transportation is loud, nasty and unreliable for the most part. Commuters have been subjected to the vagaries of this system for too long and it gets worse every year.
As the situation stands now, anyone with a bit of money or who can wangle a loan from the bank, can become a transportation service provider by simply purchasing a reconditioned minibus from one of the myriad dealers around the country. That person only needs to obtain the various licences, be assigned a route and then he or she is ready. It seems that from this point on anything goes.
Over the years there have been issues with minibus owners and operators installing extra seats, putting in loud sound systems, applying tint on the buses’ windows and applying stickers or paint with suggestive messages. The police have mounted myriad campaigns targeting minibuses over these and other infractions. Yet, on any given day one is sure to see minibuses running red lights, stopping suddenly to pick up or offload passengers, overtaking on the wrong side and carrying more than their quota of passengers, to name a few.
The trouble is that the government is clearly not interested in providing an alternative to the current mess. It certainly has had years of opportunity to do so and has shown no such inclination.
Nor is the government seriously interested in enforcing the regulation of the minibus service. While the owners of the buses are involved in private enterprise, they are providing a crucial public service. There ought to be rules that govern such a service and those rules should be enforced all of the time, not occasionally, or after a major accident or too many complaints from the public.
On the other hand, there are some minibus drivers and operators who provide a decent service.
As a whole though, the service has issues. Operators must contend with poor roads that damage their vehicles, fluctuating fuel prices, skyrocketing parts prices, the bureaucracy that obtains at the various licensing offices and those police officers who are intent on shaking them down.
What is clear is that public transportation in Guyana is the pits. Those who have reached their breaking point with it have reached into their pockets and obtained their own transportation, leading to the utter congestion that now obtains in the city. The situation needs to be addressed in its entirety. There should be serious reforms as regards the way the public transportation system operates and this should not be left to the Police Traffic Department, whose only concern should be that the minibuses are using the roads in accordance with traffic laws.
The free bus stop-gap service is nothing less than a gimmick that can only last for a while. In any case, it is well known that there are no free rides. Passengers may be able to get on and off the buses without paying now, but whatever fee the government pays Knight Rider for this service—it has been said to be nominal—will come from taxpayers’ monies, which could surely be put to better use.
