Public Transport

It is very clear, at least to me, that our government and opposition are beholden to 'special interest' groups, businesses and developers for money, others like the Taxi and Bus drivers, for votes. This explains why we have a public transport system that sucks. What is needed is a comprehensive policy and action plan for the future, what we get is Louie, the man of action, pussyfooting around and failing to make any difference whatsoever.

Bus drivers do what they want, when they want, and their licenses and permits are no longer their own, but most often rented or leased from someone else who never drives one. Our Taxi drivers have no interest in serving the local market and the local market has no interest in paying their high 'tourist' prices. The Today Editorial from Saturday is spot on.

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For buses, the govt should create a private/public partnership company where the employees, current bus drivers, hold a stake. A fleet of buses should be standardized in size, preferably 24-26 seaters, and be hybrid or run on used cooking oil. Routes should also be standardized and set with timetables (as much as is possible on our clogged roads). Yes, this company would get govt subsidies, but a working public transport service is as vital to an increasingly crowded community as the utilities are, the overall economy would benefit.

Make it sweet for the bus drivers, a steady well paid job in which they can have pride, with regular but flexible hours, no fees or expenses of owning their own bus, a yearly profit sharing scheme and health and pension benefits. Give them a role too in an open and transparent management. Put bus fees up 25c, but make weekly, monthly and OAP passes available which would work out cheaper for the public.

There is more and my ideas need some fine tuning and discussion, but you get the idea. The benefits to our community would be great, although I am not a big user of buses myself, thousands of people do everyday and it would free our roads from multiple minibuses zipping in and out fighting for passengers and stopping when and wherever they please.

As for the Taxis, the solution is much more simple. Either require them to accept meters or permit mini cabs with them. Meters cost a few hundred dollars, govt could set up a course for our current Gypsy drivers for safety and knowledge of the island, and also assist them in finding package deals for insurance and financing for cars (several models, inspected regularly).

As the Today say's, Gypsy cars exist because there is a demand for them, they will only go away when that demand is addressed.

Dr. Voodoo

P.S. Feel free to discuss the Hook story too :)

((I'll try to find any news clippings I can find on the Hook story and add them in the next day or so, whatever is posted already can be found in the Roads and Traffic thread. - LH)

Related News and Articles

Daily Herald Editorial - The right thing - 28th July 2008

Task Force take over Taxi Association - 25th July 2008

More accusations at Taxi Association - 24th July 2008

Old Guard Taxi drivers to step in - 22nd July 2008

General Secretary resigns from Taxi Association - 21st July 2008

Report filed at Fraud Dept on Taxi funds - 19th July 2008

Taxi Association Secretary explains about missing funds - 18th July 2008

Taxi drivers want board to resign - 18th July 2008

Taxi Association secretary denies responsibility for missing funds - 17th July 2008

Hook willing to call elections but accounts not available - 12th July 2008

Information blackout on taxi association election - 11th July 2008

Gypsy driver fined - 11th July 2008

Taxi board to receive official notice to resign - 11th April 2008

Taxi drivers want board to resign immediately - 8th April 2008

Roads and Traffic | Dr. Voodoo's blog | add new comment

Submitted by Dr. Voodoo on Sun, 2008-07-13 13:21.

I think you need to take some Valium because you surely overact when someone says something you do not like. I never said they pay all of their taxes but I think most pay some & they do pay for licensing & they do pay association fees & they do pay the powers that be at the airport & the cruise port to operate there. Gypsies pay nothing at all to anyone & their vehicles half the time are falling apart & unsafe. I am thinking of the island as a whole & not just the Taxi drivers because without the tourists then Mrs. Haitian won't have any money to buy groceries at Afoo so she won't need a taxi metered or not.

I think that the ideas you have for metered minicabs with radios, etc is really good but they have to be legal. Gypsy cabs are a real nightmare in NY & anywhere else they operate because they are not regulated & therefore the person getting in is not protected at all. The gypsys do not just operate for the locals because they really want the tourists & their money but they take the locals because it is easier & safer. Check out Simpson Bay any night especially in season & try to walk from one restaurant to another. I guarantee you that at least every fourth car will slow down & ask you if you need a taxi & yet not one of those vehicles will have taxi plates. This starts by 7 pm or so which means I guess that the locals are left standing in front of the supermarkets or wherever if they want a taxi in the night. How about in the center of town during the day or on pond fill during the day? I get asked if I need a taxi by gypsys so often in those areas that I find it hard to believe that they are really serving the local population well.

Getreal4real

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I have personally seen Gypsy drivers in front of the RBTT bank head of town accepting tourists coming down the Greenhouse/Diamond casino alley. This while the taxi;s have stand just in front of the same casino. And this happened during the day in plain view of the waiting taxi drivers.
It took SXM many years to get our taxi drivers and associations to conform to some sort of organization, dress code, change of attitude, and getting respect from government and the cruise association, that I find it hard that they don't beat the crap out of these gypsies that operate so blatantly during day time hours.
I agree our cab drivers are not always professional. I for one hate it when I hear some of them having loud discussions on Front street using foul and vulgar language in front of children, locals and our visitors. But the fact remains that they are registered as tax payers, the tax department knows how to find them. Indeed they pay dues to the harbour and PJIA if they operate there. It is therefore unfair for others to operate illegally taking away bread from the ones who are doing things in a legal manner.
As most associations on SXM are politically rigged, so is the taxi association. it is possible to reform the association to create lower fares for locals if they can show their SXM ID card and to include more routes to difficult to reach places.
But with the type of taxi association that is there now, I doubt this will happen.

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While I agree that the public transportation is miserably lacking in providing full coverage for the island that is not the only reason gypsys exist. They charge so much less than the regular taxis that people sometimes use them instead of taking a bus even when a bus is available. It is unfair that they can charge so little simply because they do not pay for licensing, proper insurance or any taxes. They pay no association dues or fees for working at the airport or the cruise port. They have an unfair advantage & should be stopped before the regular taxis drivers strike & really put us in a mess. One day there will be a terrible accident with tourists in a gypsy cab & then all hell will break loose. Let's put an end to it now & then maybe the buses will go more places if they have customers to take there.

getreal

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Taxi and Bus drivers pay taxes? You really think they declare every CASH payment they get? Dream on. Licensed and insured minicabs/cars with meters would make it much more convenient and affordable for local people to use, for example to go to town shopping or to work and avoiding the parking nightmares. And it would be easier to calculate those 'taxes' too.

I agree with Voodoo, the Taxi drivers have very little interest in serving the local market, they only want the easy tourist dollars and cry when they don't get what they consider 'their share'. A reliable minicab company with meters in their cabs, radio and phone service would clean up and make a mint right now. You think our taxi drivers want 'Mrs Haitian and her bags of groceries from outside Afoo in their fancy airco cruisers?

I think you need to get real, let the Taxi drivers strike or whatever, arrest them if they break the law in blocking roads or such nonsense. This is about the greater good of the island, not the special interests of a minority who care only about their own interests. Meters can be set so that they can still make the same rates they do now and can be adjusted for future fuel price increases too.

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