#TCI#CabCommunity#Transport, February 23rd, 2024 – In 2019, residents of the Turks and Caicos were introduced to Community Cabs, billed to transform the transport sector for locals by providing a safe, clean alternative to illegal jitneys. Fast forward to 2024, and police have issued another caution to residents regarding traveling with strangers.
The caution comes amid news that two young women were assaulted after hailing rides they believed were makeshift taxis.
“Within the past week, the RTCIPF has received two reports of incidents where female members of the public were assaulted after catching what they believed to be jitneys. The females in both incidents received injuries either from the assailant who diverted from their stated destination or from jumping out of the moving vehicle. I am asking people to be alert when accepting rides from members of the public,” said Grantley Williams, Assistant Superintendent of Police Safeguarding and Public Protection Unit.
Delroy Williams, the 2019 Minister of Home Affairs, Transportation, & Communication, had been excited about the creation of community cab licenses but disappointed in the number of people applying. At the time, the license cost just $450 per year.
“After the community cabs, we also have the minibus services that we will also be introducing. In our party’s manifesto, we speak about a public transportation system, and I believe that from where I sit, we are doing just that in making our transportation on the islands safer for our people and tourists alike. I believe that once our people become more involved and apply for these licenses, then our transportation sector can take off more in an area where we can have more reliable transportation and these vehicles will be licensed and insured, not like the illegal jitney services that we have now,” Williams said in the House of Assembly in March 2019.
The most recent incident has once again highlighted the need for a secure and reliable transport system for residents. Currently, there is no government-backed transport system that residents can depend on.
Wilkie Arthur, Court Correspondent, told us, “I would comfortably say 98 percent of the population is using illegal jitneys.”
Though the community cabs are visible, they are few and far between, and routes are limited.
“I don’t think they’re readily accessible,” Arthur said of the community cabs. The jitneys, while associated with safety risks, are plentiful for residents.
“People could easily get caught up in them. That was something I was very concerned about because I watch sometimes even school children jumping in them all alone with these grown men.”
In May 2022, the Police and Education Ministry had to release a safety caution after a man driving an illegal jitney picked up a schoolgirl and sexually assaulted her.
Police had appealed to families to get trusted drivers for their children’s school routes.
Despite the risk, the lack of a proper transport system leaves some parents with no choice, Arthur explained.
“No registration, no license plates [on] some of them. I mean, it’s scary to see what can happen to a person on any given day,” he lamented.
At the time of launch, Community Cabs required all residents to apply with a business license to operate a public service vehicle, two passport-sized photographs, a recent police record, and proof of Islander status.
