Government Officials have a Public Transport Plan, Jitney Driving to be incentivised

By Dana Malcolm & Deandrea Hamilton

#TurksandCaicos, February 7, 2022 – “We are initializing the program to standardize the operation of the taxis, we are also doing a public transportation study.”

This was Home Affairs Minister, Otis Morris’ response when quizzed on whether or not public transport would be improved to combat the costs of personal vehicles with the new policy regarding used tires and older model cars and the safety issues associated with the current illegal, but accepted jitney service to legal cab drivers.

TCI residents have had concerns about the state of public transport for decades now.

Legally Licensed Community Cabs seem to be quickly going the route of extinction, which is the fate of small public buses 10-15 years ago when the illegal jitney emerged and upended that industry.

Today’s legal public service drivers say they are not making a good income due to the competition of unlicensed jitneys, which are not paying to be on the road and can undercut rates on their individual hustles for extra cash.

“We are looking at increasing incentives for public transport from the invest TCI area, the plan is to encourage people to get into the business of public transportation,” said Finance Minister E. Jay Saunders.

Both the Home Affairs and Finance ministers admitted being aware of the issues and to counteract the negative experiences, the incentives were on the way.

No timeline was given.