The Transport Board is preparing to introduce an automated fare collection system, a cashless form of payment, on public transportation by January 2023.
This was revealed by Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister of Transport, Works and Water Resources, Santia Bradshaw during a church service held to mark the 67th anniversary of the Transport Board, at the Collymore Rock Church of the Nazarene.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the automated fare collection system would give commuters the option to travel cashless on the bus, thereby reducing the fears persons may have in relation to carrying cash and possibly being robbed.
“As you know we are introducing the new Trident ID card and we want to allow people to just swipe and to travel on the buses, and of course that means our pensioners, our school children, everybody will be accommodated by way of this new initiative,” Ms. Bradshaw said. She added that preparatory work had already been done and disclosed that within the next few weeks, 50 readers for this automated fare collection system should arrive on island.
Minister Bradshaw further stated that the Transport Board was looking at GPS systems to ensure that it could track its vehicles. She added that the Board was in the process of looking at app development to assist customers with being able to also track the buses and their schedule. “How many of us have gone overseas and were able to check when a bus is actually pulling up at the bus stop but yet in Barbados we are not able to do it. That is the way that we have agreed to use technology to be able to make it easier for the general public,” she mentioned.
The DPM also stated that 10 electric buses would be added to the present fleet of 49, through the Ministry of Energy. She said the decision to introduce the electric buses to the island as a means of “greening” the transport sector and reducing the dependency on fossil fuel had piqued the interest of regional ministers. “We have a lot to be proud of in this country, because they are looking to analyze what we are doing to see how other countries will be able to blaze a trail in this area,” she said, while commending staff and management of the Transport Board for this achievement.
The staff of the Transport Board, in particular, received high praise from the Deputy Prime Minister for a job well done over the last two years of the pandemic. She noted, “The truth is we speak of the staff of the Transport Board as our front line workers but we forget sometimes that these individuals left their families, putting aside their own fears and concerns about COVID and they were on the frontline during the worse of the pandemic making sure people could get to and fro, that all of our essential service providers were able to get to the hospitals, clinics and wherever, and you the public were able to get where you needed to go.”
CEO of the Transport Board, Fabian Wharton thanked the staff as well as the public. He highlighted the Transport Board’s push for more community input. “We took it upon ourselves as a management team, where persons had an issue or expressed a concern, not to sit in the office but to get up and go into communities, speak to people and get solutions from the people. Our plan going forward is to be more community- oriented, make sure we engage the community more, make sure we speak and listen to those who we serve and let them help us to form the solutions which are necessary to carry the Board forward.”
Also, in attendance at the Transport Board’s 67th anniversary church service were Parliamentary Secretary with the Ministry of Transport, Works and Water Resources, Dr. Romel Springer; Parliamentary Representative for St. Lucy, Peter Phillips; Chairman of the Transport Board, Rene Butcher; members of the board; representatives from UCAL and employees of the Transport Board.