A 2014 Public Bus Commuter Satisfaction survey showed that only 41 percent of the public is satisfied with the service provided, according to the Ministry of Public Works (MPW).
The survey, conducted by the MPW, examined accessibility, timeliness, comfort, information and safety of eight major bus routes, 31, 32, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 and 45. Route 43 (Georgetown/Linden) was deemed to deliver the best service with 68 percent.
A release from the MPW yesterday said that Route 31 (Georgetown/Wales) had a 55 percent rating; Route 32 (Georgetown/Parika) 41 percent; Route 42 (Georgetown/Timehri) 39 percent; Route 44 (Georgetown/Mahaica) 32 percent; Route 41 (Stabroek/South Ruimveldt) 31 percent; Route 45 (Stabroek/Main, Lamaha/Alberttown) 31 percent and Route 40 (Stabroek-Kitty/Campbellville) 29 percent.
Patrick Thompson, MPW’s Chief Transport Planning Officer, said that the eight routes account for 67 percent of the total public bus fleet in Guyana, which amounts to 3,513 minibuses.
The MPW said that he made this disclosure on February 5, 2015 during his presentation ‘An Imperative for Public Transportation Reform’ at the 5th Engineering Conference at the Guyana International Conference Centre.
The Conference was held under the theme “Defending Guyana’s Development With Engineering Solutions”.
Pet peeves
The Chief Transport Planning Officer listed the five most annoying issues passengers face on a daily basis: (i) the manner of soliciting passengers at bus parks; (ii) type and loudness of music; (iii) unavailability of buses during peak hours; (iv) adequate space (seating and leg room) and (v) ease of boarding.
He said that an estimated 60% of Guyana’s productive labour force uses public transportation daily.
“The minibuses used [in Guyana] are not designed to public transport vehicle standards. With 15 seats, the vehicles are operating at the limits of their design capacity, even minimal overloading is an unacceptable strain on the suspension system,” Thompson stated.
He added that in an overloaded condition, the vehicles’ centre of gravity will be elevated and when operated at high speeds, the buses tend to become unstable and are susceptible to rolling over.
Further, the age of the buses is a factor. According to Thompson, many of the vehicles on the roadways are between 10 and 20 years old.
In his presentation, Thompson told the audience that minibuses have a marginally lower initial cost; however, other than this aspect, all the arguments – economic and operational – favour the larger vehicles.
“From experience elsewhere, the operating costs per passenger, per kilometer of the 15-seater minibus may be about 20 to 30 percent higher than equivalent to the cost to operate the larger (26-30 seat) vehicle,” he contended.
Recommendations and reform of the transport system will be reviewed this year when a Sustainable Urban Transport Study for Georgetown commences, Thompson said.
