PTSC being mismanaged?

The PTS C, established in 1965, is governed by the Public Transport Service Act which mandates PTS C to provide “a safe, adequate, economic and efficient public transportation system, adapted to the needs of the country.” However, during 2010-2014, PTS C has experienced a 23 percent decrease in income generated, a decrease in ticket sales and a 39 percent decrease in passengers transported on its buses.

Over the past years PTS C has been receiving the majority of its funding from the Government.

In 2014 PTS C received a 94 percent increase in government funding, moving from $149 million in 2010 to $289 in 2014.

Its generated income has declined from $105 million in 2010 to $81 million in 2014.

With majority of PTS C’s funding being provided by the Government, management has failed to optimise resources to improve PTS C’s performance and to support this claim there is evidence in the decline of passengers, income generated and ticket sales.

While many people are happy that bus tickets are cheap, PTS C makes its income from the sale of bus tickets and has not had a bus fare increase since the 1990s.

The PTS C lacks numerous policies. Apart from a bus fare policy, it also lacks a bus replacement policy. It has 548 buses which span between three and 24 years old.

According to the Federal Transit Administration of the US, the lifespan of a bus is eight and a half years.

However, in TT we have buses in operation that are clearly over the 8.5 years lifespan. This also brings up the topic of the safety of passengers and maintenance costs of certain buses which should have been replaced instead of repaired.

The PTS C has the resources to improve its performance and it has been providing a service to this country for many years. Yet it has not been quite able to provide that efficient public transportation system that it is mandated to do.

In Port-of-Spain’s City Gate, lines can be seen bending corners as people await buses that are usually late in performing their daily service on the majority of its routes.

So, has PTS C been mismanaged? My answer is “to some extent, yes”, taking into consideration its lack of policies and management of funds.

PTS C needs to be modified and a new approved strategic plan needs to be done, since the only approved National Transportation Plan was done in 1967 and the Comprehensive National Transportation Study undertaken in 2005 was rejected by the then government.

TENISHA SYLVESTER via email