I know this will be a well discussed subject and I personally feel that you must get this right the first time so I beg you to spend time researching other transport systems worldwide before changing the system, this is my recommendation however.

Create hubs throughout the island Oistins, Six Roads, Charles Rowe Bridge Warrens etc etc service these hubs with the large Mercedes busses at regular intervals (20-30 min) then uses smaller ZR type busses to service the outer bounds of each hub. This will mean that people will possibly have to catch as many as four busses to reach their destination so create a card system, like the Oyster card in London, for frequent bus users that uses a bus transfer for the duration of your journey. If we make public transport a simple and easy service more people will use it and more money will be made.

Now I’m going to go a step further. Put GPS’s on all the busses so that they can be tracked by both the Transport Board as well as the bus user with this in mind create WiFi hotspots at every bus stop so users can track their bus coming or create an alert when its getting close to their stop via the new app that will be developed. Ok so why give free WiFi? So the public sector can sell advertising. The general public will have to watch a 30 second advert for 10 minuets of free WiFi, this method is used in Germany and works very well. It is my personal belief that at this present time the Barbadian public only use the bus because they have no choice if we were to turn the tide it will become a public service that could contribute towards the economy.

by Bruce Slater

A guaranteed way to boost the economy in Barbados is to get the people moving.

A reliable and efficient transportation system will see a substantial increase in the productivity of the nation, including for those living in rural areas (who need reliable and efficient transportation the most).

Bus lines which run frequently (every 15-30 minutes) and lines which intersect other lines would provide people with the options they need in order to get to various destinations throughout the island.

At present there exists a system where a customer likely has to travel into town (let’s say in a south west direction), get another bus that will again travel in a similar direction from which he came (i.e. north east) to get to his destination...this is truly inefficient.

Transportation that is efficient for everyone will see the transformation of the economy by increasing job potential and people’s willingness to go outside of their immediate locales.

Online, automated bus systems, efficient and frequent service with easy (and multiple transfers options) will transform the economy and help Barbados grow.

Thanks,

Sean Bentham

TRANSPORT:
Transport is a critical component especially if we desire to: 
- Improve productivity. There is too much time wasted waiting on buses, or travelling on congested roadways.
- Reduce foreign exchange expenses. A good transport system will reduce the need for personal vehicles as well as reduced the expense of purchasing petrol and other petroleum products and associated vehicle maintenance consumables.
- Reduce the congestion on the roads, which should also impact on the well being of commuters and the entire society.
- Reduce vehicular emissions, resulting in an improvement of the environment
- Reduce the associated costs of road repairs resulting from the heavy usage.

Identify the routes that makes the most money for transport board and make sure these routes are adequately serviced for example Sam Lord’s castle, Bayfield, Speightstown etc.  In addition recommence the payment of bus fares to school children of a dollar or a five day bus pass of $7.00 for students who need to take two buses.  I am making this suggestion because school children make up the largest portion of the travelling public.  Also continue with the island tours on Sundays and partner with airlines like Thompson to transport their air to sea passengers.

by 

Natasha Edmund

I like the GPS on the busses idea where users can see where their bus is. This would be tremendously useful, but only if there are enough busses to service the users of the app. Otherwise what would happen is users would instead be able to see that their bus is not coming and would take alternative transport.

If the transport board purchases smaller busses (hence cheaper) however they can perhaps achieve the 30 minute intervals so that this would work and be profitable.

Bring back the island tours!! for sure!!I like that idea Natasha.

one single combined transport authority is also a good idea that can work Allan. No matter how many busses the transport board has there will always be ZRs and minivans trying to get the same customer.

After my recent trip overseas and using their transportation system numerous times, in my opinion if you adopt some of their methods, your bus crisis could be solved. The bus routes in Barbados are simply too many and too long and I think this is where the key problems lie.

What I realized overseas is that fixed short routes are used in the bus system. It is difficult to have a dependable service where busses leaving the same station are going completely different routes on varying lengths. It is not fair to the commuters, drivers or buses, especially if the busses are limited.

Now to emphasize on that point , why should a district d ,connell town or any speightstown bound bus run on the same route up until one point.

I believe the answer to the bus system is shorter and smarter routes.

The point of a transport system is to get persons where they want to go.

My suggestion is to therefore get persons to areas of common interest .

EXAMPLE.

Remove and relocate all major routes to hubs or small bus stations . For instance at lower green, the busses that usually follow the same route (holdershill, shorey village, sturges etc) can go as a new route from lower green to maybe the area of tyrol cot as its final destination . At tyrol cot persons will depart the bus and choose another bus going close to or to their destination (e.g Jackson, holders hill ). Each bus leaving from this location should only travel so far so that the bus can always be in a position to make it back to the hub on time . Avoiding small roads and putting great focus towards getting persons to general areas is VERY important using this method. Its only in Barbados that people can use a bus like a taxi and get dropped off infront of their homes.

If that is not clear, why should all speightstown bound buses come to eagle hall and onwards through black rock?

 It would be more sensible to  have a direct bus going from Bridgetown to a holetown hub only and then have other buses for commuters who are going different places.

Further to those two examples with busses running more frequent to and from hubs, it creates less traffic in Bridgetown , revamps bus routes and it allows for a time efficient system . The whole point is that persons are able to advance to a certain point of their journey. As a commuter, being able to complete at least half of the trip can allow for the said person be in a better position to get where they are going.

The implementing of a transfer system can also allow for the introduction of smart cards and modernizing the industry to todays’ standards.

Initially, they will be complaints about transferring from bus to bus but in the long run once persons using the bus can appreciate the efficiency of the service . Not only will the bus system significantly improve, but the amount of commuters and confidence in the system.

My suggestion is not an original idea , only my observation from a system which seems to be working elsewhere. It  would need a lot of thought to be brought on board, my only wish is that you consider some points made ..

Submitted by Ramon Bannister