An Imperative for Public

Transportation Reform

MINISTRY OF PUBLIC WORKS

5TH ENGINEERING CONFERENCE

Patrick Thompson

Presented by:

February 5, 2015

OUTLINE

Challenges of our Transport System

Importance of Transport to our Economy

The Paradigm Shift

Importance of Public Transportation

Why Reform?

Steps to Reform

CHALLENGES OF OUR TRANSPORT SYSTEM

• Our road based transport system provides many benefits but has many challenges 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. 3

THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPORTATION TO OUR ECONOMY

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• 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

THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT TO OUR ECONOMY

• An estimated 60% of Guyana’s productive 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”

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“Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them.” – Albert Einstein.

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, politics, communication, technology,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.

WHY REFORM?

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Safety

Efficiency

Accountability

Technology

Customer Service

Pillars

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 susceptible to rolling over. 9

PTV Accident Record

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Age of PTV fleet

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< 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

of

ve

hic

les

2. Huge potential to solve our congestion problem

• The small size and large numbers of vehicles aggravate traffic congestion 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

GRA

MHA &

GPFMPW M&CC

MTIC

GRA MPW MTICthe 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’

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

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

collects import duties, consumption taxes, vehicle licensing fees, and driver licensing fees for minibuses, etc.

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

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

3. Fragmented Oversight

GRA M&CCMHA thru the GPF has responsibility for issuance of Road Service Licences (RSL) for minibuses each year, and to conduct the vehicle’s mandatory ‘fitness’ (roadworthiness) check every 6 months

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

3. Fragmented Oversight

4. Poor economies of scale

• Minibuses have a marginally lower initial cost;

• Other than this aspect, all the arguments (economic and operational) favour 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;

• Lower fares are more difficult to negotiate with smaller PTVs

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5. Poor customer service

• MPW conducted a Commuter Satisfaction Survey in 2014;

• CSS measures commuter satisfaction with respect to Accessibility, Timeliness, Comfort, Information and Safety for 8 major bus routes – 31, 32, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45;

• 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

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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

“Minibus drivers don’t get fired, they get transferred”

Overall Commuter Satisfaction

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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

Steps to Reform1. Establish Regulatory Body for road-based public transport (eg. Guyana

Public Transport Agency);

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

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

4. Establish policy to gradually phase out minibuses in favor of larger

26+ seater buses on most routes;

5. 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;

6. Address some/ all of the above in Sustainable Urban Transport Study for Georgetown in 2015. 20

A new season ahead...

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GUYANA WORKS

BECAUSE OF PUBLIC WORKS

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