{"id":17711,"date":"2012-02-07T09:26:17","date_gmt":"2012-02-07T14:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/?p=17711"},"modified":"2012-02-07T09:26:17","modified_gmt":"2012-02-07T14:26:17","slug":"more-empty-promises-regarding-cowboy-jitney-drivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/2012\/02\/more-empty-promises-regarding-cowboy-jitney-drivers","title":{"rendered":"More Empty Promises Regarding ‘Cowboy’ Jitney Drivers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"jitneyWhat some may describe as the reckless behavior of some jitney drivers continues to be a major concern for many Bahamians.\u00a0 The issue recently resurfaced after a little girl was fatally struck by a jitney, though it is unclear if the driver was at fault.\u00a0 While there is a disciplinary system in place for jitney drivers, Road Traffic Controller Philip Turner admits there is a need for stiffer regulation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel that training will be a further component [and] we continue to talk to them (jitney drivers) and admonish them to [have] training to improve their attitudes and behavior as they continue to deliver a service to the public,\u201d he told The Guardian on Friday.<\/p>\n

Turner said his department along with the Royal Bahamas Police Force\u2008is taking a more aggressive approach to the issue.\u00a0 He said more responsibility must be placed on the jitney franchise holders to ensure that their buses are operating in accordance with the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we continue to find that their franchises are operating in a reckless manner, as reports would come in and we investigate, we will hold the franchise holder to account, rather than only going at the bus driver,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Franchise holders] must ensure that they play a more active role in how their franchise is being operated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Owner of Courtesy Bus Service Mark Moss said only a handful of drivers are giving jitney drivers a bad name.<\/p>\n

However, he does agree that there is a need for stiffer regulations.<\/p>\n

\u201cBus drivers in general have a bad name.\u00a0 I had a bus that was involved in an accident that is under investigation now.\u00a0 But the problem is once [an accident] is involved and a bus driver, they look at us and say we are second class,\u201d he told The Guardian<\/em> on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have some reliable and consistent, honest bus drivers out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2008don\u2019t speed; on any route you don\u2019t need to speed to make money.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Keith Curry of KV Bus Service said aggressive bus driving all depends on a driver\u2019s financial demands.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a driver has to make a certain amount of money to pay his rent at the end of the week, it ain\u2019t no way he is going to let another bus in the back of him get past,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Turner said the government is moving closer to privatizing the public bus system, which he said will address some of the public\u2019s concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have numerous franchises operating on a particular route, then there is the element of competition.\u00a0 We believe that that contributes to some of the unacceptable behavior on the routes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Travis Cartwright-Carroll
\nNassau Guardian Staff Reporter<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Once again, after a child was killed by a reckless jitney driver, there is lots of talk from government about the “need for stiffer regulation”. Sadly, no action is ever taken.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[31,40,49,62],"class_list":["post-17711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headlines","tag-crime","tag-government","tag-law","tag-traffic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17711\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}