Implement safe transport system for everyone

After visiting friends in Glengoffe, I headed for home. There was a ridiculously long delay in Lawrence Tavern because it was absolutely clogged with buses, minibuses and route taxis.

The town has a single, narrow thoroughfare and sheer fall-offs in several parts. Sooner or later, someone is going to be seriously injured or killed. Heaven forbid if there is an emergency during one of these frequent traffic jams.

As I drove through Constant Spring, I was still ruminating over the Government's need to act decisively and quickly to remedy the situation in Lawrence Tavern when, directly in front of me, three Toyota Coaster buses raced each other down Constant Spring Road. The insane spectacle of tons of fast-moving metal on wheels took a dangerous turn when the lead vehicle stopped suddenly and diagonally, smack in the middle of the road in an effort to 'collect' passengers. The second bus swerved to the right - seriously endangering two lanes of oncoming motorists and a motorbike rider. The third bus swerved to the left - almost slamming into two pedestrians (potential passengers) standing on the embankment.

painful memories

The scene caused me to recall some of the other innumerable times that I have seen similar buses, smaller buses and route taxis perform crazy stunts and jeopardise other people's property and lives in the pursuit of financial rewards. I also recalled the recent, avoidable tragedy in Manchester on April 7 when a bus with schoolchildren crashed, killing three students and the conductor, injuring several others.

Operating cost is at the root of all this flouting of the road laws, indiscipline, reckless driving, dangerous driving, crashes and deaths. I asked the owner of a 16-seater Toyota Hiace bus about his annual operating cost, and he provided the following figures: licence - $3,000 annually; licence to operate on a route - $200,100 annually (in two instalments); certificate of fitness - $6,000 (mandated every six months at $3,000 each time); insurance - about $300,000 (comprehensive); JUTC sub-franchise licence - more than $160,000 (annually); Transport Authority - $27,000 annually (in two instalments); tyres are often changed every three months at $10,500 each; petrol costs $10,000 to $12,000 daily.

Quoted costs do not include regular servicing, repairs, salaries and extortion (from rogue cops and/or gangsters). Faced with the need to realise a profit, most owner/drivers will do almost anything to acquire fares. And, the situation is made much worse when owners employ drivers and set a minimum limit for daily earnings.

phenomenal error

It was a singularly phenomenal error in judgement when the Government of the day opened up the essential public-transport system to private individuals without proper planning. The competition it generated has cost, and will continue to cost, millions in property damage and thousands of lives.

Sadly, it took that horrible crash in Manchester to galvanise the Government into making certain to "provide safe and secure public transportation for our children". I wonder how many deaths it will take, and just how far the habits of minibus and route taxi drivers must warp, transform and rewrite our road rules, before the Government decides to govern in this critical matter and not simply use private public-passenger vehicles as a source of income from fees, fines, taxes and permits.

Obviously, a more organised/equitable means of distributing passengers must be found; one that would eliminate the need for competition on the roads. Either a strict adherence to dispatch schedules - allowing for set times between buses/route taxis - has to be instigated and enforced, or the entire system must become a co-op. The Government must end the frenzied law-breaking and carnage.

Garth A. Rattray is a physician with a family practice. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and garthrattray@gmail.com.