By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Jitney owners yesterday asserted that a unified New Providence bus system will be “a win-win for everybody” as they seek to cure the project’s funding “Achilles heel” so that it can launch.

Harrison Moxey, the United Public Transportation Company’s (UPTC) president, told Tribune Business that he and his members “fully support” fundamental reforms to the industry’s existing structure on the basis this will benefit owners, drivers and passengers - contradicting the stance taken by the Bahamas Unified Bus Drivers Union’s general secretary.

While declining to directly respond to Corvell Colebrooke, who argued that the existing system does not need to be fixed, he argued that a unified structure would improve the Bahamian public’s safety; provide more reliable service by having scheduled routes and stops with set times; and afford drivers “sure, secured income” without having to recklessly race each other to be the first to pick up customers.

Suggesting that drivers are opposed to a unified system because they are afraid of something new, and “will not be in control of the money for the most part”, Mr Moxey said the proposed reform has the Government’s verbal backing. While declining to provide figures and timelines, he told this newspaper the major obstacle to progress is raising the necessary funding to “launch” and “mobilise” the initiative.

And, while bus owners and drivers may hold opposing views on unification, the UPTC president backed Mr Colebrooke over the failure to implement a second fare increase that would have taken levies to $2 per regular passengers. Mr Moxey said the 33 percent, or 50 cent, increase from the current $1.50 is vital because owners have been “hit hard” by operating and part cost rises of “more than 100 percent”.

Drivers and owners are also aligned on the need for greater enforcement by the Road Traffic Department, the Royal Bahamas Police Force and other government agencies, with Mr Moxey urging the Davis administration to translate its verbal support for reform “into action” and address “under-manning” and the lack of resources required to properly regulate the sector.

“A properly operating system will be beneficial to them [the drivers] and everybody if it’s set up correctly,” Mr Moxey told Tribune Business. “It will be beneficial to all - owners, drivers and the general public. I think it will be beneficial to both drivers, owners and the country as a whole to have a unified bus system.

“As a franchise holder and owner and president of the association of owners, we fully support a unified system. The benefits will be sure, secured income; there will be benefits for public safety; and having a time schedule for them [drivers and passengers] so it’s a more reliable service for the public. It will eliminate the disruptive competition in the system,.

“It brings benefits as far as operating costs, buying supplies and equipment in bulk and better pricing. Everything will be better in a unified system.... You could finance and do a lot of things. It will definitely be an advantage in the long-run and, in the short term, it will also be reduced working hours with safe, secure income” for drivers.

Mr Moxey acknowledged that many drivers will likely have to first work in a unified bus system, and adjust to its requirements, before they see and feel the economic and other benefits. He added that the UPTC had completed the “business plan” for the proposed New Providence reforms but is still seeking financing to make this a reality.

“We’re trying to put some stuff together, particularly to get funding,” Mr Moxey told Tribune Business. “It’s going to take funding to mobilise the project and to get it off the ground. That’s the Achilles heel right now; funding to mobilise the industry.”

While declining to place a dollar value on the financing required, he added: “We do have an idea of what it is we need and are still pursuing that to see how best we can achieve it. We have a business plan. We’re pretty close, but need a couple of ‘i’s’ dotted and ‘t’s’ crossed. to help us. I don’t want to give a timeline. We have some things. We believe in it. We believe it is a win-win.

“We just have some stuff to focus on to get it done. The Government supports it. They’ve supported it in word, but we’ve not seen it in action. We’re looking to see more from them.” Mr Moxey argued that “in many regards the system is under-manned by the authorities; we just need to be able to regulate the system better than it is right now. A lot of things can assist in getting us to where we need to be”.

He added that there needs to be a greater “authority presence on the roads” by the Road Traffic Department and police to enforce the law and regulations, especially during “peak times” of the early morning school drop-off, afternoon pick-up and post-5pm as many businesses close.

“Those things would help to cause a lot to happen as regards proper regulation of the system in its current state,” Mr Moxey said. “We don’t have that from the authorities. They are under-manned and we don’t know when the investment is going to be there to increase personnel and equipment. For right now, that’s neither here nor there. We need to see that come to fruition.”

The UPTC chief also lamented the failure thus far to implement a second fare increase, which would have taken regular passenger levies from $1.50 person to $2 following the previous 25-cent rise to the former figure. He asserted that such an increase is needed to help owners and drivers combat increased operating and living costs.

“We were not able to get back to negotiating that with them as well,” Mr Moxey said of the Government. “We are over a year behind on that. That’s another disappointing factor to us as far as our expenditure. Operating costs are really out there, like everything else with the cost of living.

“We’ve been hit hard with the operating cost of buses. In some cases, it’s more than 100 percent that some items have increased by. We’re keeping afloat.”

Besides the UPTC’s unification plan, Tribune Business last year reported on a $40m Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) project to improve key public transportation corridors around schools and in downtown Nassau. It was billed as potentially leading to the creation of a Transport Authority to oversee the sector’s planning-related issues.

IDB documents obtained by this newspaper, dating from July and August 2024, asserted that the project will both improve road safety and access to “inclusive and efficient” public bus services while also helping to tackle “inconsistencies” that have resulted in some drivers charging $3 fares that are double, or 100 percent higher, than the approved average $1.50 fare introduced last year.