Linstead Transportation Centre to be regularised – Montague
Published:Saturday | July 17, 2021 | 12:06 AMRuddy Mathison/Gleaner Writer
After incurring massive losses since it was commissioned into service in 2016, the operations of the Linstead Transportation Centre will now be regularised.
Plagued by extortion schemes, the failure of taxi and minibus operators to use the facility and traffic congestion in the town, which are the primary contributors to the lack of viability, Transport and Mining Minister Robert Montague met with Spanish Town Mayor Norman Scott and other stakeholders to discuss the problems and find solutions.
Montague has placed the Transport Authority, the police and the municipal corporation as the main agencies to spearhead the sensitising process for the new initiatives. To this end, the Transport Authority will now establish a permanent base at the transport centre.
“Each stakeholder will be working with special teams from the police, municipal corporation and the Transport Authority to sensitise them on the agreed plans,” Montague said.
While cognisant of the traffic congestion in the town, he added, “The municipal corporation will be engaging the National Works Agency and the Ministry of Transport to come up with a traffic flow plan to change some of the one ways and establish two ways in some cases,” the minister told reporters while on a tour of the facility on Thursday.
An important aspect to the regularisation process will be the keeping of a register to record usage of the facility by operators, which will be forwarded to the Transport Authority, which will take the entries into consideration when road licences are to be renewed.
The minister placed emphasis on the need for robot operators to be regularised, pointing out that the Transport Authority and the police will begin the process immediately. He disclosed that the Linstead Transport Centre will be used as the pilot for the driver training software, which is a new way to familiarise all the players in the industry about the rules and regulations.
In an effort to reroute taxis away from the market space on market days, Montague said, the Transport Authority will allow taxi operators to use alternate routes on those days. Provisions are also being made with the municipal corporation to provide public education for members of the public.
“We believe we must consult, we must educate and sensitise before we apply any big stick,” Montague noted.
Without elaborating, he informed the gathering that the issue of extortion was discussed thoroughly with the police, and they have a plan.
Meanwhile, Scott said he was pleased with the plans that were arrived at.