The season for reform of public transport

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THE SEASON FOR REFORM OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN GUYANA

Patrick ThompsonMinistry of Public Works

MINISTRY OF PUBLIC WORKS5TH ENGINEERING CONFERENCE

February 5, 2015

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OUR TRANSPORT SYSTEM

Provides many benefits but causes many problems such as:

It serves non-drivers poorly.

It distributes benefits and costs inequitably.

It is financially burdensome to households, governments and businesses.

It is increasingly inefficient due to traffic congestion and dispersed land

use.

It is a major cause of death and disability.

It contradicts environmental and quality of life objectives.

It relies on non-renewable resources that may become scarce in the

future.

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THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPORTATION TO OUR ECONOMY

•A sustainable economy is sensitive to economic,

social and environmental constraints.

•Sustainability requires more efficient, equitable, and

environmentally sensitive transport.

•This cannot be achieved simply by improving the

efficiency of vehicle designs or traffic management.

•It requires changes in the way we think about

transportation, and how we identify and evaluate

solutions to transport problemsSustainable Transportation is the capacity to support the mobility needs of

people, freight and information in a manner that is the least damageable to the environment

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THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT TO OUR ECONOMY

More than 60% of Guyana’s productively labour force uses Public Transportation everyday;

About 50% of the MPW staff use public transportation everyday;

Public Transportation is widely available and fairly reliable.

Public Transportation is a lifeline to our economy

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“PARADIGM SHIFT” It requires changes in the way we

think about transportation, and how we identify and evaluate solutions to transport problems

Its difficult, almost impossible to solve our transport problems in isolation.

Transport is closely interlocked with land use, urbanization, environment, communication, etc.

Traditional Transport Planning treats vehicle movements as an end in itself;

Sustainable transportation planning focuses on access, which can often be improved with strategies that reduce the need to travel altogether.. “Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them.”

– Albert Einstein.

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WHY REFORM?

1. Poor Safety Rating2. Huge potential to solve our

congestion problem3. Fragmented Oversight, poorly

regulated4. Poor economies of scale hence high

fares5. Poor Customer Service

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1.POOR SAFETY RATING 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; At overloaded condition, the vehicles’ centre

of gravity will be elevated and, when operated at high speeds, they tend to become unstable and subject to the possibility of rolling over.

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PTV ACCIDENT RECORD

24.19.8

Fatality Rates in 2013

(per 10,000 ve-hicles)

PTVsNon PTVs

117

33.1

Fatality Rates in 2000(per 10,000 vehicles)

PTVsNon PTVs

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AGE OF VEHICLE FLEET

< 5 yrs old 5 yrs <Age< 10 yrs 10 yrs <Age< 20 yrs > 20 yrs old Unknown0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

3

953

3811

492

37

Age of Public Transportation Vehicles

Decade of Manufacture

No o

f vehic

les

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2. HUGE POTENTIAL TO SOLVE OUR CONGESTION PROBLEM

The small size and large numbers of vehicles aggravate traffic congestion problems on Georgetown streets and at terminal facilities;

Congestion could be alleviated, with little negative impact on service frequency, by a smaller number of larger vehicles;

Optimizing the use of PTVs is central to sustainable urban transport planning.

Phasing out of minibuses in Guyana must be carefully planned and implemented over a period of time

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3. FRAGMENTED OVERSIGHT, POORLY REGULATED

MPW GRA MHA & GPF MTIC M&CC

MPW had an historic role with regards to the management and operation of the original public sector (bus) transport system.

Current role limited to maintenance of bus parks/tarmacs, construction of bus laybys, road markings and erection bus stops signs

Many agencies involved, some gaps, some overlaps

collection of import duties, consumption taxes, vehicle licensing fees, and driver licensing fees for minibuses, and the LRO for keeping records of vehicle registrations and licensed vehicles

the existing legislation identifies the ‘Licensing Authority’ as the ‘Prescribed Authority’ for regulating public transport in Guyana; ‘Part VIII of the ‘Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act, Chapter 51:02’

This Ministry has been given Government responsibility for monitoring the overall fare structure for minibuses (and hire cars (taxis)

the Minister acts as the Government spokesperson on the fare issue.

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M%CC MHA & GPF

This Ministry thru the GPF has responsibility to issue Road Service Licences (RSL) for minibuses each year, and to conduct the vehicle’s mandatory ‘fitness’ (roadworthiness) check every 6 months

3. FRAGMENTED OVERSIGHT, POORLY REGULATED

MHA and GPF M&CC

The City’s Engineering Department in theory has responsibility for the upkeep of roads, sidewalks and public transport terminals within the City

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4. POOR ECONOMIES OF SCALE HENCE HIGH FARES

Minibuses have a marginally lower initial cost

Other than this aspect, all the arguments (economic and operational) favor the larger vehicles

From experience elsewhere, the operating costs per passenger km of the 15-seater minibuses may be about 20-30% higher than equivalent costs to operate the larger (26-30 seat) vehicles;

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5. POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE

MPW conducted a Commuter Satisfaction Survey in 2014

Report gives comprehensive details of commuter satisfaction with respect to Accessibility, Timeliness, Comfort, Information and Safety of public transportation for 8 major bus routes.

The 8 routes account for 67% of the total public bus fleet in Guyana with a total of 3,513 buses operating along these routes.

Overall Commuter Satisfaction at 41%

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5. POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE

FACTORS % SATISFACTION RANK

Manner of soliciting passengers at bus park 12% 1

Type and loudness of music in public buses 15% 2

Buses being readily available during peak hours 27% 3

Adequacy of space (seating & leg room) 29% 4

Ease of boarding public buses 33% 5

Top 5 Most Worrisome Aspects of Public Transportation

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OVERALL COMMUTER SATISFACTION

45 (Stabroek - Main, Lamaha, Albertown)

44 (Georgetown – Mahaica)

43 (Georgetown – Linden)

42 (Georgetown – Timehri)

41 (Stabroek - South Ruimveldt)

40 (Stabroek-Kitty/Campbellville)

32 (Georgetown - Parika)

31 (Georgetown - Wales)

Overall

31%

32%

68%

39%

31%

29%

41%

55%

41%

23%

28%

9%

35%

29%

38%

31%

18%

26%

46%

39%

23%

26%

40%

33%

28%

27%

33%

Satisfied DissatisfiedNeither

Reference: 2014 Public Bus Commuter Survey Report, Central Transport Planning Unit, Ministry of Public Works

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STEPS TO REFORM

Establish Regulatory Regime for road-based public transport (eg. Guyana Public Transport Agency)

Integrate most/ possibly all multi-agency functions to one body.

Revise traffic laws, rules and regulations in order that the legislation reflects the current realities

Establish policy to gradually phase out minibuses in favor of larger 26+ seater buses on most routes

Relocate the bus terminal from the Stabroek Square, decentralize terminal facilities and regularize of public transport operations to remove the harmful and sometimes fatal effect that competition has on the sector

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A NEW SEASON AHEAD....

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