Growth & Jobs | Online training app for PPV operators officially launched

The recently launched online training application for Public Passenger Vehicle (PPV) operators, ‘Transport Authority (TA) PPV Driver Train’, will be made available to approximately 82,000 operators in the PPV sector as well as in the commercial sector.

It will facilitate training via a gamified format in the use of the road code, defensive driving, and customer service for these operators.

The web application is accessible at tappvtrain.com.

In his address at the launch of the application on Wednesday (December 29) at the Ministry of Transport’s Maxfield Avenue office in Kingston, Transport and Mining Minister Robert Montague said the cost of development of the programme was approximately $13 million. Of this figure, the ministry provided $3 million and the balance was provided by main sponsor British Caribbean Insurance Company (BCIC).

He noted that the sector is committed to utilising technology to improve and strengthen its operations.

“Our aim is to reduce road fatalities in Jamaica. This app forms part of a wider programme that we have at the ministry to treat with road safety. We have decided to change how we treat with road safety, so the development of a training app is one aspect within the wider picture,” he said.

“We are pushing these applications, and we are hoping that at the end of the day, we will have better drivers. I urge everyone to download from your browser … use it, because anything that we can do to save a life, we have to do it,” he urged.

The minister said that the application would be circulated among industry stakeholders – ministry agencies, authorities, the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), as well as PPV industry bodies and driving schools - in a bid to improve driver knowledge and safety on the roads.

General Manager, Finance and Planning, Transport Authority, Michael Byrue, said the Edufocal Online Training for PPV drivers and conductors is a game changer for the industry.

“Instead of coming to the TA for up to an hour to do a test, [drivers] can now do this in the comfort of their home at whatever time they choose because they have the app, which can be downloaded on their phone. We have to be moving with the technology, and with this training, we are expecting to see some improvement in the drivers’ behaviour on the roads,” he said.

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, EduFocal Limited, Gordon Swaby said that as of January 10, the process of onboarding drivers on the application will commence. It is intended that native applications for android and IOS will be available by March 2022.

“We want to incentivise drivers to learn in a way that is valuable and help to push Jamaica forward and the entire industry forward. I think this initiative in particular will have a strong, positive impact in terms of how we move forward in Jamaica,” he said.

Noting the innovative and interactive design of the application, Managing Director, BCIC, Peter Levy, said, “We expect that employing this technology to Driver Train will create a training and license process that is more accessible, more engaging, and more effective than traditional methods.”

The training application for public passengers vehicle operators, ‘PPV Driver Train’, was developed by EduFocal Limited and sponsored by BCIC.

The initiative forms part of the 16-point proposal put forward by Minister of Transport and Mining Robert Montague.

It includes strategies to formalise the public passenger transport sector through training and development of the operators.