Crime forces AOPT to act

From August 1, thousands of commuters could be left stranded on the road at night as public service vehicle (PSV) operators pull minibuses and route taxis off several noncommercial routes by 6 p.m. – a result of increasing violent crime.

Chairman of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) and chief spokesman for PSV drivers, Roy Raphael, said the decision was made to implement these measures to help safeguard workers.

“As members of the taxi fraternity and PSV community, we want to say to you that we are very concerned about the crime situation.

“It has not directly affected our community yet but we believe that sooner or later it may come to us,” he said.

“So, effectively, from August 1, our operators that are members of our association will not be picking up persons on the side of the road [after 6 p.m.].”

Raphael was speaking yesterday at the launch of the “Zippy” taxi, the first 100 per cent electric taxi car on the island outside Lucky Horseshoe in Warrens, St Michael.

Raphael explained that a decision to implement these measures came due to the significant rise in crime over the past few months. As of yesterday, there have been eight road fatalities and 28 homicides for the year.

He said the measures would be put in place from August 1 and then were expected to be reviewed within the next three months.

“After 6 p.m., our units are going to be shutting down. [There are] some routes we do not want to go on because of the risks that may be involved.

Commercial routes

“The reason for that is that we are going to put ourselves at risk if we just stop by the wayside and pick up anybody, and the next minute, you do not hear anymore about our operation.

“The commercial routes will remain open. I do not really want to drive fear into persons not able to get home because sometimes it might [be at] the discretion of some members because not all the drivers are members of the alliance.

“For the commercial routes, we will continue until 8 o’clock or 9 o’clock, but for the non-commercial routes, we will try to close off between 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.,” he said.

Some of the commercial routes that will remain open are Route 10 (Silver Hill) and Route 11 (Silver Sands).

Raphael added that some operators had already started limiting their hours in certain non-commercial areas such as Route 37 (Checker Hall).

“Some people have already stopped, so it’s not anything new, but we will continue to maintain that because we recognise the crime rate is still high and there’s lots of fear among our members.

“As the police address the crime situation, we’ve got to be mindful that these things could attack our home base at any point, so we ask our members to be careful.”

However, he noted that not all the affected areas had been fully identified and more information was to be released.

Specialised training

“I am hoping that common sense will prevail because at the end of the day, it is not about the dollar. It is about our safety and the safety of our passengers, and that is paramount,” Raphael said.

The alliance, he added, had requested a meeting with the Commissioner of Police to see how they could work “to heighten and increase” security among its members.

“We are going to be mindful who we put into our vehicle. We are going to be communicating directly with the police,” he said.

Other measures include specialised training for drivers and not allowing one or two people to sit in the back of the vehicle.

“We are going to do a facial view when you get into our vehicles so if any incidents happen we can give an account to the police. At the end of the year, if everything goes well, we’re going to do specialised training for our taxi operators and many bus operators so that they can be aware when they see a threat.”

With the pending changes, the chief spokesman is encouraging individuals to use apps such as Pick Up Caribbean

and Bim Ride, as well as ride systems when making arrangements late at night.

“What we will do is encourage you to either use the book-a-ride system, where you can use the app, or you can personalise your taxi by putting a person’s main taxi operators in your phone,” he said. (SE)

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