Transport, education ministries exploring instituting a special bus service for students in Barbados

Government is considering having a fleet of Transport Board buses dedicated to the transportation of school children.
Minister of Transport Santia Bradshaw made the revelation on Tuesday, as she announced that the Government was expecting to receive 10 more electric buses by the end of this year and another 21 shortly after.
Her announcement also came as other Government ministers expressed concern about the behaviour of public service vehicle (PSV) operators and their impact on school children across the island.
Noting that the proposed Mass Transit Authority, which will be responsible for overseeing transportation on the island, was still being contemplated, the Deputy Prime Minister said a plan was currently being discussed for the smooth transportation of school children by Transport Board buses.
“Myself and the honourable Minister of Education [Kay McConney] have been in discussions regarding dedicated fleets for schools to be able to try to improve the transportation of school children to and from school,” she announced.
While she did not speak of the impact of such a change on PSVs transporting school children or how soon it was likely, Bradshaw indicated that officials were looking at “staggered hours” and whether extended hours after school could “ease the pressure of some of the traffic that is currently on our roads as well”.
She was introducing the Transport Authority (Amendment) Bill in Parliament on Tuesday which she outlined will give the Transport Authority the responsibility to issue, suspend or revoke the licences, permits and badges of drivers and conductors of public service vehicles (PSVs) motor omnibuses, minibuses and route taxis.
She also announced that new regulations governing the PSV sector would be introduced soon in order to address a range of issues pertaining to the behaviour of operators, PSV owners and commuters.
Bradshaw said she was aware that in addition to stomping out bad behaviour among PSV operators, there was also a need to improve the service of the state-owned Transport Board.
“I am well aware that there are concerns that we need to improve the service delivery of Transport Board buses and the services generally,” she said.
“That is not lost on us. But equally, what we must not do or what we must not encourage is an excessive loading of vehicles to be able to traverse passengers from one point to the other because that has its own challenges and consequences.
“We are working on that. We have said we are going to bring ten buses by the end of this year. We also have another 21 being ordered to be able to complement the existing fleet of the electric buses,” said Bradshaw.
During the debate, several lawmakers bemoaned the behaviour of PSV operators and what they called the “ZR culture”.
Member of Parliament for St Thomas Cynthia Forde said: “At this point in our history when it comes to the PSV system it seems to me as though the tail is wagging the dog.”
She urged fellow lawmakers to ensure the passage of the amendment “to be able to arrest some of these challenges”.
She complained about the indiscriminate stopping by PSV operators in undesignated areas to pick up and let down passengers, the loud music, smoking, the attire of some conductors and their blatant disrespect to other road users, as examples of the bad behaviour among the PSV community.
“The other thing I detest from them is the going off route,” said Forde, who also complained about the blaring of PSV horns.
Sharing an experience of a close encounter with a minibus last September, Forde said she was also concerned about some PSV drivers engaging in dangerous manoeuvres and practices.
Welcoming the amendments to the Transport Authority Bill and the planned regulations, Forde said there was simply too much wrongdoing in the sector, and some of it targeted school children.
“The examples that are being set by some of those workers in the ZR’s are not the best,” said Forde.