Submitted by GoWeb Blog – Support Bajan Blogs!
I’ve been having some really interesting experiences lately with Barbados’ public transport, but surprisingly, these experiences have not been occurring on the private owned minibuses, which are often painted in a bad light, but rather the State-owned Transport Board buses.
On Monday, 7th September 2009, after missing two buses coming down from Martins Bay / Clifton Hall, I finally got the 1:30 bus, and was thinking, “What else could go wrong?”.
When we got to Market Hill, St. George, I noticed that the bus was still moving down the incline, but the engines, (in front of which I was sitting) seemed to be disengaged. It was then that enlightenment came. The bus had run out of diesel. I’m sure some of the passengers wondered if this was a joke.
“Aren’t buses supposed to refuel every night?” one person asked. “Don’t they check these things before sending a bus all up to Martins Bay?” another questioned. Needles to say, this was not only a great inconvenience, but a tremendous embarrassment to our public transport system.
CONTINUE READING…at GoWeb Blog
The problems in our public transportation system are now well documented. There was a time when the problems were to be found in the minibus/ZR section of transport only; it has now infected the Transport Board. When will our authorities show leadership by addressing the ills of this sector? We should add Taxis to the mix as well.
Taxis would be a whole post in itself. Those guys are ridiculous and they will plough pedestrian off Zebra Crossings before they stop. As for the buses, I know there were people in the pass like Michael Mad who drove VERY “creatively” but Michael Mad has NEVER been in an accident of any kind. These news guys are getting into accidents just as much (if not more) than the minibuses these days, and they are driving FAST, whereas the minibuses are driving toooooo slow in search of passengers. Both present a problem.
You aint see nothing yet. Once I went to St. Patricks with a bus to replace the one that was broken, i ran out of diesel (of course the supervisor told me it had diesel a few hours before – he LIED) Guess what that they sent to replace me ran out of diesel in collymore rock too.
The problem is some of us drivers don’t do what we are supposed to to, but in a lot of the cases the terminal supervisors are too blame, they stop us from going for diesel and they lie to us when giving us a but in the terminal by saying that it went for diesel already. They then have to pay UCAL $123.00 averagly to carry diesel to us.
54 years but they not ready yet
Fed Up Driver
@driver
You are making a very serious charge. Are you saying some supervisors deliberately send buses on the road which they know will run out of diesel? If the answer is yes are you saying they are doing this to feed UCAL business? If you are saying yes it begs the question, doesn’t the Transport Board have a performance system that would expose the rogue supervisors?
This is troubling indeed because that would mean they purposely back up traffic and inconvenience commuters will unnecessary breakdowns.
A couple of questions well maybe more…. Don’t the buses have fuel gauges? If they have aren’t the gauges in working order? Can’t a driver tell when a guage is reading E or F?
such nonsense if this person want to talk about the attude of the bus drivers and the way the transport board allow they staff to conduct themself that is fair enougth, but because a vehicle appears to be out of fuel is not a reason to be down on the transport board they could be a lot of reasons why the engine cut out it may have had a broken fuel line,the fuel filter may have been blocked ,water could have got into the fuel line,the persons fueling the veicle may have missed that one ,it may have come out of the workshop without the the mechanic realising it was not refuled .We are all responsible for how thing are done look at you traveling on a bus that was over loaded if you don’t respect your self how is the driver going to respect you if you demand better you get better I live here in England and i know even buses here run out of fuel so that is not a big thing
You have a statement from a driver that there is negligence on the part of the Board. What more is needed. I have never seen a Minibus out of gas, maybe someone else may have but those guys know that they depend on up-time for a living. The Cliffton Hall vans (when we had them) were famous for pulling into Gas stations (Tweedside Road and Market Hill) with passengers in them, just to make sure they were fueled up. There is no reasonable excuse why Transport Board buses should be running out of gas as frequently as they do. This isn’t a one-off incident, it’s an ongoing problem.
Sargeant // September 12, 2009 at 10:45 AM
A couple of questions well maybe more…. Don’t the buses have fuel gauges? If they have aren’t the gauges in working order? Can’t a driver tell when a guage is reading E or F?
********************************
Actually, most of the fuel gauges don’t work. of the 280 buses or so only about a 1/4 to a 1/3 of those work.
David
@driver
You are making a very serious charge. Are you saying some supervisors deliberately send buses on the road which they know will run out of diesel? If the answer is yes are you saying they are doing this to feed UCAL business? If you are saying yes it begs the question, doesn’t the Transport Board have a performance system that would expose the rogue supervisors?
******************************
Not that the supervisors are doing it purposely, don’t get me wrong. What happens is that they know that to go for diesel may take from 15mins to close to and hour depending on traffic. So when you take that into consideration along with the fact that commuters need the bus they break/bend the rules with the hope that you will get a few more trips in then to get the diesel at a later time. Like I said earlier, most of the gauges don’t work. We know that parts are expensive so somethings we drivers try to make out with. And also their are somethings that we cannot put down (don’t work) a but for fuel gauge, fan, wind visor to name a few.
Their are sheets that can tell when last the bus had diesel, by with driver etc.
If a driver is found to have put down a bus with out first refueling it, thus causing it to run out of diesel it is hard for management to win that case, cause the union delegates, they fight at all cost for the driver not to get time home, the penality for that could be between 2 days to a week. But that is a irregular thing for them to win a case like that.
The sad part is that we (transport board) sell diesel to the psv’s they come wait sometimes more that an hour to get their diesel hardly run out, we drivers get it free, and EVERY NIGHT we get at least 2 “suspected out of diesel” reports. One night there were eleven that I know about. In my nine years there I ran out twice. You have to be strong and let the supervisors know that you know what you have to do, as soon as you are and yes man you will get pushed around. Every bus delivered to a new driver in the terminal is supposed to go for diesel or the driver told when last it was fueled. I usually go, or call and ask a question.
We can do a lot to reduce some of this money wastage (between 75.00 – 123.00 for UCAL to deliver 5 gallons of diesel
There are now many ZR and minibus drivers who are now driving foir the Transport Board and they have brought their dirty habits over with them. There seems to be no way of controlling them and the service of the Board has detiriorated badly. I know of a case where an old lady fell out of her seat because of the driver’s reckless driving and the jerk may have been the cause of that lady’s life a few weeks after.
I agree Scout,a lot of these nasty driving habits are by former minibus drivers now driving buses at the transport board.
When this decision was made some time back I knew the chicken would come home to roost.
In addition why is it that these brand new buses that the BLP transport ministers spent soooo many millions buying through kyffin simpson of Simpson Motors,and now these persons are defective and breaking down all the time for various reasons.
A whole lot of them were parked up at Simpson motors for a long time.
Was there any gifts given to rommel marshall,Anthony Wood and Glyne clarke all former ministers of transport to purchase those buses through that source?
Are they all drivers of mercedes benzs?
Just asking.
Sorry – 7th line should read…’now these buses are defective.’
@Driver
54 and not ready yet? That’s not particularly correct. In the 60′s/70′s the Transport Board had a Preventive and Maintenance Programme that would have rivaled any bus company anywhere in the Commonwealth.I worked for the Transport Board and later London Transport,and then for one of the largest fleet operators in Europe.Under such people as Dacosta Payne and Capt. Hill,and many other dedicated employees, buses running out of fuel,or missing its periodic service were rare occasions. We have not learnt anything from those who went before us and laid down some solid ground rules.But a driver today, not only in Transport Board, is just that. A person who sees himself as an operator of a gear lever,a steering box and 2/3 foot pedals,anything more than that is the job of a Mechanic.All drivers,especially Public Service Vehicle’s ,after the tragic accident on the Joy Road, should be required by law to carry out some specific tests on vehicles assigned to them before they are taken on the road.And sign a check list to verify such.
Its not a matter of the Transport Board not ready yet, its a case of we as a people are not ready yet.
Lets face it the Operations Supervisor is mainly concerned with getting a bus into a particular route slot and on time.He should not have the added headache of determining the serviceability of the unit.When private concessionaire used to operate, very frequently drivers would stop off at their depot and refuel.The driver made it his responsibility to replenish the tank.
Since 100% of the Transport Board’s buses are fitted with diesel engines,and there is very little risks in refueling such,as compared with petrol engined vehicles, maybe the Transport Board could take a leaf out of the airline’s book,and have a small refueling truck , 500 gallons or so, stationed in the main terminal,where it will be able to refuel buses while they are parked up in the loading bays,and before passengers start to embark.
If routine checks like refueling is neglected, what about the more serious matters? how offer is the brakes checked? or engine oil? or transmission fuel? Even though there is a maintenance crew, it is the responsibility of the driver to see that his unit is suited for transporting passengers. What if unchecked faulty brakes was on a bus going to Bathsheba at peck hours? My Dad used to be a driver for a company and even though there were machanics to check his vehicle, he used to check himself and he taught me something that I did even to this day, I put a clean piece of paper under all my vehicles occasionall to see if there is any oil leaks and where. Driver today see themselves as persons just to turn a key and move. The onus must also be on the driver to look after the safety of not only the passengers but also himself. Joes River incedent for instance.
i will say this the bus station look so nasty it could do with a good cleaning all ah that chewing gum on the floor bout time some body did clean it off
I am not impressed by the durability of these Simpson Motors buses, I believe the ensignia on the front of these buses are fake. I rememder the days of the Leyland, Albion and Seddan buses that hardly even used to break down or not as ofetn as these modern buses and the roads were not as good. There are too Leylands that will always remain in my memory, the nunmbers on those buses were M1901 and M 3876. These buses were well over 15 years old and still working like dreams, today a few week after a bus on the road we can see it parked in the graveyard in Roebuck Street.
@ The Scout
Actually M3876 (The Stud) M1901,M365,and all the other Leyland Tiger Cubs with PneumoCyclic gearboxes on average gave the Transport Board some 25 years service,and one wonders why the Board did not continue with this line of bus. Incidentally , sometime after the Transport Board got their Tiger Cubs, a a barge with a shipment of Tiger Cubs destined for Cuba was rammed in the River Thames, all of the Leylands were submerged. They were later recovered, from the murky water and their engines all started immediately afterwards.Reliability is the sales pitch of Leyland,and not Kickback. The Logo on the present South American buses are genuine enough. The European vehicle manufacturers usually send their worn out manufacturing plants to third world countries, where the manufacturing process there starts off with built- in defects.
Bro Scout,
‘Drivers today see themselves as persons just to turn a key and move”.
You describing me to a T, bro. Scout. All these years still can’t change a flat tyre. Serious. A nice ‘guy’ always comes along to assist. What would I do widout dese sexy hunks nah? doan ansa.
Michael,
You don’t think that the time has come for Bajans to be more responsibly for their actions? Littering is one. YOu ever visited Canada? We like too much littering man.
W B Astard
Thanks for reminding me about the other bus M365. I think the yellow “old time” bus that Transport Board has, got in one of those engines. I don’t think they are many bus drivers today who could handle one of those old Leylands though.
Bonny Peppa
I wouldn’t ansa you but I guess you already know the ansa. However, I just LOVE the clean atmosphere of Canada especially in Scarborough and Markham where I usually stay the most.
I always say that I wish bajans could keep here that way. Last Saturday, i attended the Caribbean Wellness Day and I was with a friend, we both bought drinks in disposable containers, when he was finished, he dropped him, I kept walking with mine until I found a refuge bin, I was labelled a clean freek. Needless to say my wife took a turn in him for his untidiness and he was not very please about it. We adults, especially those who travel to places like Canada should be the ones to set the example here in Bim
I travelled in a Transport Board bus quite recently and realise that passengers are now eating in the bus, like they do in the PSV’s plus the seats designated for special passengers up front are taken by anyone and they are not moving when someone to whom these seats are for board the bus. Also I see the driver’s friend/fan standing right next to him and carrying on a conversation. All this is PSV culture that have been transferred to the Transport Board. i said nothing because I once reported a Transport Board driver for reckless driving that almost swiped me off the road. The person who took the complaint, told me
to let it drop because this particular driver got his gang who would harass me if I wanted to take it further. he said it has happen before and the matter was dropped. I boarded a bus one day to Sam Lord’s Castle and someone had to go call the driver from in a rum shop to put the bus to the gate, it was 10 minutes late. when he got by John Beckles Drive/ River Road junction, he made the wrong turn. When the passengers stopped him, the man swore, then proceeded to mount the triangle by the junction with a load of people, he almost ripped out the bottom of the bus. It was only because he was driving on flat road that I continued to travel in that bus.
@ Wright B.Astard & Scout
You guys want to stat me up now with memories of M365 M 404 & M 4012 that used to run to Gall Hill and St Patricks?
Then there were M6o5 & M813 which I think wewre Mercedes Benz. Wow ! Dem was busses! LOL fuh trute!
Georgie Porgie
Yes, those blue and white Mercedes with the engine in the back and the bus bouncing real pretty. Remember how the fellows used to sit up by the back window. Those WERE mercedes benz, I don’t know about the ones they have now.
@ Wright B. Astard
You are so right. I worked a government institution where we had to use the vehicles. In the manual (road rules), you had to do a circle check each time you used a vehicle. You had to check: lights, gas, oil, air pressure and emergency kit.
To this day, I still do it with my car. By the way, are you still working or you retired now?
Scout,
You now jog my mem’ry man. I remember as a lil gurl ,de Mercedez benz buses plying de Deacons Rd. route. Yes, big n round and de botsy bouncing all bout de road. Jus like Bonny. (teehee) Dem buses use ta glide man. Too sweet. I chan rememba de number-plates now but I cud see dem now, glidin n bouncin gine down Deacons Rd. and tekkin de corna day by Brandons real neat, n bouncin.
Those were the days my friend. We thought they’d never end…………………
I think the numbers were M 603, 605 & 813 They were three of them ; painted blue and white.
I was on a bus towards Bathsheba when the driver was chatting to a friend , the bus stopped by the stop, an oId Iady tried to get off, the bus started before she couId get off and she tumbIed down the drop, her hat wig feII off and stiII the driver went on chatting. I had to get off and rescue her the poor thing was so ashamed meanwhiIe driver stiII chatting away. Speightstown bus station. Dont get me started! Rude schooIkids push the eIderIy out of the queue get on the bus and throw rubbish Iike nut husks everywhere. Gone are the days when a driver can put a schooIboy off the bus for having an untidy uniform.
victor
All this is happening because the powers that be refused to nip it in the bud. I think it has gone too far and we are in trouble. By the way, I now see guyanese driving PSV’s. Lord have mercy, if these guys drive anything like how they drive in Guyana, then we really lost it. I have NEVER gotten into a passenger van in Guyana again after a roller-coaster ride from the airport to G.T one day, it was a hit or miss ride. It seems that as the Transport Board moves to the PSV culture, the PSV’s are moving to the guyanese culture. All this means is that the barbadian roads are going to become a bigger death trap. When will this all end?
Bro Scout,
Mawnin.
You ever drive on a ZR in Vincie town? Well lemme tell ya sumting. Dem tek de cake. I travelled on one a few years aback while vacationing day. I was going from Kingstown Park up to somewhere South. Think it is Georgetown. Can’t rememba but it is in the South. My God. Me and one of my sons actually vomitted all over the van. It went off route to get us some assistance doe. I rememba de van passed through a tunnel but can’t rememba where we went. The hills n mountains off set me too, along wid de black sand. My Godddddddddddddddd.
I wasn’t prepared for such so me and my son were very nauseous. We puke like dogsssssssssssssssssssss.
@Pat. A few more years before I retire, I started out at a young age.
@Bonny Peppa, I have always had a different view of the Vincie ZR operators from the time I saw a driver cut across in front of a another,and his conductor apologise to the other driver.
Those “Mercy Benns” were originals from Germany and for many years that model was used by the Bundeswehr to transport troops.
Wright Bastard,
Conductor apologise to driver? Sus Crois. Not ’bout hay. De conductor wood be looking ta lick up a fella. I thought it was nice of them to go off route to assist me n my son too. But what i mean is how cruel they drive. Fast is an understatement to describe how they drive.
Germany produces really good quality stuff but you have to pay a good price too. Referring to the “Mercy Benns’.
Bonny Peppa
Ha Ha HA . I believe you were going to Chatau Belair, that run is only for the strong at heart, mind and stomach.
It is cheaper to buy an expensive bus which needs little maintenance than a cheap bus that is expensive to operate. These mercedes we have now just can’t take the grinding.
Bro Scout,
What I realised ’bout Vincie Town too is that they have no public transportation. At least not when I was there, so your only mode of transportation was dese crazy-ass-zr maniacs.
Never me ta visit Vincie town na time soon bosey.
@Wright B. Astard:
Welcome to the blog, my fellow josephine! ha ha ha.
@Pat.
O,O,O ya Wright.
I thought I would share this one with the BU family. Yesterday I boarded a Transport Board bus in Six Roads, St. Philip to B’town. The bus was mostly Lodge School students with about 25 regular passengers on board. As I got in I was a bit concerned with the behaviour of those childern, however, as a past student, I decided that maybe this is the norm now in recent times. As the bus proceeded to B’town, the language got worse and cursing and swearing started, then insults got into it. Eventually, they were ready to fight and fight they did. In a few short moments the entire rear end of the bus, from the exit door backwards, became a war zone. Boys and girls, yes girls, were flying their hands and feet in all directions, even as regular passengers tried desperately to escape the violence. The bus driver stopped the bus and a few ablebodied men on board eventually brought the fighting under control, while the driver was calling for assistance, the ringleaders jumped out of the bus and ran away. i didn’t stay around much as I moved away and awaited alternative transport. As the new bus i was in got a little distance down the road from the “fighting bus” this group were stopping the bus but I informed the driver about the incedent and he drove pass them. These are the type of young citizens that my government is bending over backwards to accomodate? All that has happened is that the PSV culture has now been fully transferred to the Transport Board buses and we taxpayers have to carry the cost of these uncouth, violent, mis-directed young people who are having a few ride throughout life. Unless this problem is nipped in the bud, this country is doomed. I said that because I was told by a few individuals that this is the norm alomost every day and no school is excluded.
Ya know whats really gets me about this country? we are a spineless people. Ever so often we see the Royal Barbados Police come up with some grand sounding named exercise to combat crime and indiscipline in this society, such as Operation Road Order Maintenance, and some other one to patrol school buses. But all the criminals and little bad behaved bastards have to do is to wait out 7 to 9 days,and as true as night follows days the whole programme in tossed through the eddoes,and its back to business as usual. Just like the Buses,Ambulances and the QEH, we do not have the backbone and will to maintain anything.
No wonder that some of the other islands in the region have opted to bring in men from the RCMP or the Met in London to man or manage their police forces, because it appears that our policemen would rather take and execute orders for an ex colonial master, rather than his very own,who may have more experience and qualification. But this is nothing new in this society.
Around the same period that these notable buses worked across the island, there were also three man whom the bus conductor and drivers feared.
(a) PC Payne, a mountie from St Phillip who I have never seen reported a single person, but would keep that bus held up for 15/20 minutes lecturing the crew on the law and traffic regulations. A man to be avoided.
(b) PC ,Goulbourne ‘The Phantom”Cyrus, the legendary Motor Cycle Cop.
(c) And lastly the Guyanese born Magistrate ,Lennox Perry.
There was a time when police on the lower road (Route 1) used to follow buses,and only stop and report them when they got into Mr Perry’s jurisdiction.
During that same time the wives of policemen who lives along route 1 used to send their husbands Enamel Food Carrier by Transport Board bus to Central Station. One day one of these speed cops stop and report the driver of the bus which contained a number of Food Carriers.The bus driver ,said nothing ,but when he got to Sandy Lane Bride, he stopped and tossed every carried in the gully below.