Transport Minister Stephen Cadiz said more effort will be put into improving the country's public transportation system as a means of easing traffic congestion. He told members of the Chaguanas Chamber of Industry and Commerce that that will be high on the agenda if the People's Partnership gets another five years in office.
Cadiz, the featured speaker at the Chamber's monthly breakfast meeting at Signature Hall, Chaguanas, yesterday, said there will have to be a major overhaul of the sector. However, he ruled out construction of a rapid rail system because of the high costs involved.
Cadiz, the Chaguanas East MP, said in 2007 the estimated cost for a rapid rail system was $25 billion and it could now be in the range of $40 billion. In addition, he said the system would have to be maintained and would operate on subsidies which the country would not be able to afford.
He said the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) could break even if all of the buses in its fleet of approximately 500 operated on CNG. The bus company is currently being subsidized at a cost of $250 million.
The minister said ferries operating on the Seabridge consume $100 million in fuel annually. However, the new ferries which will replace the T&T Express and the T&T Spirit, Cadiz said, will operate on LNG and the savings in fuel costs will allow that service to break even.
He said if all forms of public transport, including maxi taxis and taxis, switch to CNG the fuel subsidy would come down to acceptable levels.
"Public transport is the answer. The goal is for more people to use public transport rather that everyone jumping into their cars and going to the same place. We need people to get accustomed to public transport, but you are not going to get people to use public transport until public transport is efficient, on time, clean, the route system is well designed and the feeder route system to the main route is also well designed and operational.
"You have to make it worth people's while to use public transport. I think that can be done. We need to have that political will to realize that it must be done and that way we will eliminate part of the traffic problems that we have now."
Cadiz said a route system must be designed to take people as close as possible to their communities, especially people who work night shifts.
He said: "There is a lot more to public transport than buying buses. There is a whole system and organization to go with it. Once we get that right–and its not difficult, we have the expertise right here in T&T, we don't have to go far for it–we can develop an effective public transport system."
Chamber president Richie Sookhai, who described traffic congestion in Chaguanas as a "cesspool of worries", said the move by government to decentralize has brought a number of agencies into the area.
"We must find ways to accommodate them without upsetting the sustainable development of the area," he said.
Sookhai suggested creation of inner-city buses with a park and ride feature, bicycle paths, development of more roads in areas where heavy housing development is targeted and a hub for all modes of public transport.