Horrors from maxi taxi ‘service’

THE EDITOR: Unfortunately, I’m a recent member of the travelling public along the East-West corridor and I wish to raise a point of great concern. I use the Priority Bus Route and rely on the Maxi Taxi service to get me to and from work, and this is where my problems lies. I have asked my bosses to re-locate our office to Curepe, but of course I was denied so here I am writing this letter as my last resort. The maxi taxi drivers are not providing an efficient service to the public, as the majority of drivers ply their maxis’ from Arima to Curepe “short” during rush hour when we are relying heavily on this service. This has been the situation for while and the public has been crying out for relief as it affects us all.

How are we to explain to our bosses our tardiness, morning after morning. We arrive at our various destinations tired from standing for at least half hour (on good days), to an hour to an hour and a half (on other days), stressed from competing with hundreds of other commuters who are now seen as rivals all jostling for the same maxi, and drained from exposure to all the elements, sun, rain, push, cuss and the occasional scramble and I seem to be forgetting the constant inhalation of carbon monoxide from the very said maxis that “making style” on us, commuters. I can remember a Friday morning in March, where I stood in Arima from 6.45 to 7.40 am waiting for a Port-of-Spain maxi.

During that time, 50 maxis passed me standing there (I stopped counting at fifty) and six out of that fifty were going directly to “town.” Please note that these are the same drivers who practically begged you to travel with them during the school vacation and whenever their regular clientele of schoolgirls are not available (that is another topic on its own). Even the regular drivers that normally go into PoS suddenly shorten their route to Curepe. As a driver promptly told me “the road too stressful” and they have to pay a toll at City Gate (the same dollar toll that was responsible for an increase in fares not too long ago). I forgot to mention that it would cost me $5 from Arima to Curepe and another $4 from Curepe to PoS, a total of $9 whereby if I took a maxi from Arima direct to PoS it would be the correct fare of $5.

This week, a driver refused me entry into his maxi as he told me “Miss, ah going short eh, ah going short!” so with the remainder of my pride, I waited humbly for another maxi. To my disgust, at Curepe intersection, there I saw the said driver fulling a trip for “town” and to reinforce it, overtook the maxi I was in, giving a “bad drive” in the process. (The drag racing that you are subjected to by the greedy drivers is also to be addressed at a later date). I write this with the hope that the powers that be would put a stop to this distressful situation that commuters face daily at the hands of these money-driven maxi drivers.

MILDRED TAYLOR
Arima