One Flew Into The Cuckoo's Nest: In the Madhouse With PSVs

Here we go, the inmates are about to run the mental asylum. I read this morning that representatives of those who own public service vehicles (PSVs) are angry because the Attorney General (AG), Mr. Freundel Stuart, commented that a new move to combat the bad behaviour on PSVs and by their operators "may well involve legislation that would temporarily relieve the owners of their licences to those vehicles if they are unwilling to control [their] people" (see Nation article and Nation report)

The press reported that Vice-president of the Association of Public Transport Operators (APTO), Judy Forde, said her concern was that Mr. Stuart "is making these comments as though the owners themselves are not concerned as well." That's right. Because if there was concern why had the problems not been addressed? Why the crocodile tears?

But not to be outdone, the press reported that:

'David Bynoe, an owner since the mid-1990s, was adamant that owners could not accept responsibility for the actions of their drivers. He too pointed to the judicial system which allowed drivers with several convictions to simply pay a fine and not have their licences revoked.

"I don't understand the system, because how can we be under threat of losing our licences when there are drivers in this industry [who] have over 20 convictions but never lose their licence? They simply pay fine after fine and the problem continues," he said'

Well, the AG is doing what the courts should have done, so Mr. Bynoe should be happy.

Who is supposed to be responsible then, the public with their lives? If an owner does not know the true state of a driver's records that is irresponsible for a public service provider. To talk glibly about drivers with 20 convictions and think that people will not see that as the state of affairs that is the result of complicit owners is ridiculous. Passengers cannot be expected to accept that checks are not being done. Other road users cannot get to a stop light and pull down the window and say "Driver, show me your papers, man." Let American Airlines or LIAT start flying planes with rogue pilots and making the kind of arguments we are getting from the PSV sector. What utter madness. Let the schools start employing sex offenders and not doing background checks and sending letters to parents saying "It's not our responsibility to check that we are employing molesters and rapists to teach your children...We are concerned." Better still, let's take any jack rabbit who wants to be a policeman, stick the person in a uniform and hand out the guns.

Please! We don't even have to get emotive about the carnage that happens as a result of an attitude that is the epitome of recklessness not concern.

When such problems have occurred with PSVs around the world and over the centuries, it was only the threat and application of the removal of privileges to carry passengers that led to changes. Why will it be different in Barbados?

On The Road To Somewhere?

Today's Advocate leader points to the way that highway management issues are now to be addressed. The text is below (my highlighting). I'm not sure that I would agree that they should take so much of the credit but let that pass for today. What is more important is that a series of not well thought out aspects to road use are apparently going to be addressed. I have touched on some of the aspects of highway design (such as pedestrian crossings along stretches of supposedly fast, free-flowing roads; see Why did the chicken cross the road). Many of us have also contributed in other online forums with ideas to deal with the ways that driving is done on the ABC Highway. Anyway, the point is that something may get done. I am not sure that a booklet on how to drive will help. Remedial training will be needed for many drivers, for whom highway driving is really a new concept. But, let's be good and give the Minister a chance to get things right.

Positive signs

10/21/2009

Time to follow through

Although much is said about the “power of the press” and much credence is given to the impact of call-in programmes and other media of public discourse, at times it can seem as though comments and suggestions made by the general public and other commentators go unnoticed by the powers that be. Therefore, it is to some extent heartening when we see moves being made to implement some of the suggestions made by persons outside of the halls of Parliament.

This was the case recently with the announcement in the House of Assembly that the Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) will be publishing a guide on how to use the ABC highway correctly. Minister John Boyce apologised for the lack of public relations programme thus far, noting that this was an “absolute priority”. He concurred with our view that if the matter is not dealt with post haste, road users will develop their own individual road practices, which would be hard to reverse.

Having commented on the “roundabout nightmare” that now pertains at regular intervals along the ABC highway, we are pleased to hear that this matter will be accorded the necessary attention and hope to hear more concrete news of the publication’s release.

In highlighting the difficulties encountered with manoeuvring the new highway, we also made mention of the importance of clear, understandable road markings. Therefore, we were pleased to learn that the Minister revealed at a recent DLP branch meeting that “When we [government] consider estimates this year – which we will be doing shortly – it is my intention to have road markings for the entire Barbados on the front burner to be completed by depots.”

However, while not wanting to seem greedy, as the saying goes: “one must make hay while the sun shines”. Thus, since it appears that road usage is again high on the agenda, we take the opportunity to call once again for better signage along this country’s roads.

Apart from the large signs along major arteries indicating popular destinations such as Holetown, Bridgetown, Farley Hill or the Airport, there is no real attempt to give drivers clear directions. Many road signs are damaged, illegible, or simply confusing, since they do not point in the correct direction and, inexplicably, they are almost always positioned at the entrance of the precise turn off, so that unless one is extremely vigilant, it is missed altogether.

Compounding this situation is the rapidly changing face of our landscape, with the large number of new buildings and developments constructed in the last few years, as well as renamings of buildings and districts. The idea of navigating one’s way around using local maps is unheard of, given the poor quality of those currently available. Indeed, it would take an intimate knowledge of the country to find them useful for giving more than just a general idea. Too often, they are not drawn to scale and roads and other landmarks are not accurately represented.

We therefore think it is past time for the MTW to also look into upgrading the roads signs in this country. While there are still many other transport matters that need their attention, such as traffic congestion, the ATV conundrum et al, we believe that if cosmetic features such as road markings and road usage guide are being considered as a top priority, another that should be added to the list is better road signage.

We hope to soon see the signs that this and the promised measures are going in the right direction.

CADRES Political Opinion Poll

Broadly speaking, the results from CADRES poll, which were released yesterday, are not too damaging to the government after some 18 months in power. peoples' main concerns are economic; the highest concerns are: Cost of Living--33%, Economy--20%, and Unemployment--20%. The overwhelming priority seen by people is Housing--52%; next highest are Improved Water Resource Management--15% and Road Improvement--10%. The following draws directly from the reports.

On the two Budgets presented so far "a majority of Barbadians had a favourable opinion of both budgets. It is striking that while there was some disagreement regarding the extent to which the budget was “reasonable” or “good”, there was consensus that neither was excellent/outstanding".

On THE hot potato, "70% of Barbadians support the PM’s stance on immigration, while 14% object and the remainder preferred not to offer an opinion".

On utility pricing, "It is interesting that more Barbadians appear opposed to increases in electricity than water rates since 63% think that electricity increases are NOT justified, while 54% think that water rates are not justified. In both instances one quarter of Barbadians believe that the timing of the two increases could have been better."

People thought the DLP performed better than BLP on a range of issues--economy, crime, employment, infrastructure/roads, and integrity. Tp quote, "It is interesting to note that Barbadians do not think that the BLP has distinguished itself from the DLP in the area of economics or the economy which is consistent with the scores identified above."

The vast majority of Barbadians do not desire change at this time (43%) while some 23% do believe that this is a good time for a change of government.

On leadership, the PM is overwhelmingly supported (90%) by his faithful--with barely a smile from his opponents. However, among the opposition, there is an interesting split of opinion within the opposition: right now, 51% of BLP supporters prefer former PM Owen Arthur, while only 38% support current leader, Mia Mottley. However, that difference is widened if asked about leadership for the 2013 elections. The waves of that will no doubt wash hard across the rocks.

On The Road To Where?

For a country that supposedly loves following rules, Barbados has some of the most lawless individuals when you get onto the roads. Since arriving here nearly two years ago I have had to observe the 'saga' of 'how do we control the PSVs?' The regular episodes of lamenting the freedom with which licence plates can be produced. Stories of accidents where drivers are either not insured, or they are driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs or both, or all three offences; vehicles not fit to pass but somehow having their licences renewed; some tragic road accident; the saga of the never-to-be-finished-in-our-lifetime ABC highway; and so on.

Yesterday we saw the latest episode of these soap operas as many PSV vehicles were pulled in for investigation (see Nation News, January 9, 2009). Was it a lesson?

Barbados has the dubious pleasure of being amongst the world top 10 for road accidents (see Nation News, March 10, 2008). To recap, there was an annual rate of 763 victims for every 100 000 people on the island, putting it in the eighth spot, just ahead of Japan, the United States, Serbia, Slovenia, Austria, Canada and South Korea, among others. Only Qatar, Kuwait, Rwanda, Costa Rica, Panama and Jordan were higher on the list. No other Caribbean country was listed among the top 50 states when it came to road accident victims. Barbados has about 305 cars for every 1,000 people living within its borders and was ranked 33rd in the world. We know that the island has one the world's densest road networks, also ranked in the top ten.

But many of the island's traffic problems are not major but the accumulated little things on a small island soon send out ripples that can cripple large parts of the roadways quickly. The bus that does not pull into the designated stopping area, leaves a trail of vehicles waiting needlessly behind. The principals of a fender bender stopping their vehicles in the middle of the road to exchange accident details and even trying to find the damage leave another long line of frustrated drives behind them. The drivers at the roundabouts who block the flow leave another series of idle vehicles around them.

One of my views is that many problems witnessed here are about habits: running red lights is becoming much more common--green means go, yellow means go fast, red means go faster! The system is riddled with indiscipline, and some loose practices, as witnessed by no legal control over who can produce vehicle licence plates: go for lunch, and get licence plates with a plate of food.

This afternoon I went to the Errol Barrow Gallery and heard the Minister of Transport and Works, John Boyce, give a good overview of the past and say hopeful things about the future of transport in Barbados. He mentioned major projects that needed to be addressed, such as upgrading bus terminal facilities. He painted a picture of a government that has already laid down some important markers for its view on transport policy--for instance, less subsidy of gasoline, economic and social policies in providing free transport for school children, and reviewing major road construction contracts. Beyond that, the Minister indicated a desire to make some significant management changes in transport, including better focus on maintenance and having the needed financial resources and better personnel relations. These developments may not give us immediate relief to the many problems we experience daily. He painted an interesting picture of the 'ABC' Highway being used as a means of transferring people across various roundabouts, especially at off-peak times. It's not immediately clear what he has in mind, but let's see how he fleshes out that idea.

He did indicate that some 'poor management practices' would end, including unacceptably long completion times for projects. His tone suggested that ABC Highway might end up being renamed XYZ by the time that it is finished. He did not hold out much hope for the economic viability of ferry services--that seems to make sense, as the island size and passenger volumes that Barbados have do not seem to offer a good economic prospect, for what is a really costly option. He painted a picture of a Barbados that had 'modern' transport information systems, such as bus schedules and route maps at bus stops--oooh--and advisories about accidents--aaah. He saw little need for new buses and quoted figures suggesting that bus availability, while a bit variable, was pretty good. He stressed how important it would be to know abut the quality staff already employed: that does sound as if personnel management has been a bit missing, but at least there's an intent to get to know who does what and where.

The transport problems in Barbados do not really need big stick solutions. Had I been in charge of planning the roads I would have never allowed some of the junctions to be controlled by roundabouts, given the heavy volumes that are there for simple four way stops, and well-controlled lights would have been better, not least because you have two grades of road being controlled in some areas: a highway (supposedly carrying faster moving vehicles often on dual carriageway) crossing another lessor category of road (single carriageway) cannot give equal access to the lesser category, but that is a common problem in Barbados. There has been a welcome change in some areas (Wildey) to a one way system, but the mindset of drivers needs to be adjusted to how to deal with the problems (minor) of merging, i.e. alternating flows, onto a roadway, which seems an alien notion.

One of Barbados' biggest assets is also a major problem: its many buses operate on roads that can only take single lines of vehicles, so the flow is often controlled by the passage of that one big vehicle, and that is both frustrating and unnecessary. Dare I say that someone had not thought things through? Add to this the indiscipline of buses just stopping when and where there feel like it (more so the smaller buses), and you start to have the makings of daily chaos.

An unwillingness to sanction bad road behaviour has become a part of how life is lived on the roads in Bim. Run a red light? Nothing done. Heaven help us till we witness a major crash. Have no insurance and crash? No problem. Need a new licence plate, go to the fried fish bar and have a new one served up.

Someone told a story of a policeman who called his lady friend and asked where she was going. She told him that after she left work she would be headed home. He said he was driving behind her car right then. She said "No. I am in the office." The officer pulled up to the car he was following and say a man inside. The car the man was driving was stolen and the plates had been fake. Need I say more?

The Life of Brian and another first for Barbados.

I have been making a plea to a friend, whom I shall call "Brian", so far in vain, that he should not add another car to Barbados' roads. Now I have more information that will perhaps convince him of the right thing to do.

Yes, Barbados gained the highest mark (29th) in the Caribbean and Latin America in the World Economic Forum's 2008 annual assessment of Travel and Tourism. Mauritius was 41st and our nearest regional rival, Costa Rica, was 44th. Switzerland, Austria and Germany were, respectively, 1st through 3rd; all are very rich countries with well-developed infrastructure to support travel (roads, trains, buses, trams) and have well-developed travel businesses based around winter sports but also general visitor arrivals for historical, social, business, and cultural events. These countries offer more than sun, sea and sex.

However, the Nation reports that an Economist Intelligence Unit study shows Barbados with another regional first. [In passing, if you search the newspaper's archives with the actual title of the story you get no result! I had to find it on Google.] The country ranks in the top 10 for accident victims per head of population, at 763 victims for every 100,000 people. Barbados is 8th, ahead of the US, Japan, Canada and several other major industrial countries; in the region, Costa Rica was above Barbados. Barbados is reported to have about 305 cars per 1,000 habitants--that's 33rd in the world. The list is led by New Zealand (619 cars/1,000 people), with Ethiopia laast (1 car/1,000). The US was 11th (468 cars/1,000). Buses, vans and trucks are not included. Barbados is also reported amongst the places with the densest road networks, ranked 6th in the world, with nearly 63 vehicles/kilometer of roads.

Those of us living in small rock of an island sense this high density and it's good to now have some figures that support the feeling. Here, I come to "The life of (my friend) Brian". My friend has been living on the island just two months. He lives 2 minutes from his office by car, and 25 minutes away if walking (which is downhill to the office, but of course, uphill going home). He has pleaded and convinced himself that he needs a car to be "independent"; he has scouted out a small vehicle and is close to settling on a deal. His wife has a car to take the children around during the day and to run those errands that help the family stay well-fed and healthy. He currently gets a ride to work occasionally. Sometimes he walks, but complains that with the heat in Barbados, he can't do this every day. (He's a Caribbean man but one blessed with a life in well-conditioned air.)

I suggested that he use a bicycle. To this he has responded: "You may not know how bad people smell when they arrive at work all sweaty from walking [running, biking, skateboarding] to work and not taking a shower." I take his point. I know how my home office starts to smell soon after I have come back from tennis in the mornings, and try to get maximum breeze through there all day. So, Brian, I "feel your pain" on that aspect. He admits readily that the walking or biking would be good exercise, and he presently does nothing active, except to strength his arms as we share El Dorado.

He's lived in England like me. So I said, "Look, when I lived in London I walked to and from the train station from/to my house every day (15 minutes each way) and from/to the station to/from the bank (15-20 minutes each way)." [Look at a UK campaign to expand this.] He paused then replied "But in England it never gets hot like here and not for very long." Ah, that old chestnut. But, my friend, you know all too well that in England, it rains a lot and snows occasionally and when it is hot it is often humid and sticky. Well, he then mentioned the need for walking shoes. Again, mon ami, the women walkers in the US have made a sport of walking shoes (sneakers) for the journey to/from work and the swish work shoes in the office. I could mention that in the UK there are earthquakes, tornados, floods; terrorists; other impediments to walking or biking.

He thinks he has made a number of compromises already; he has relaxed his "suit and tie" uniform. "I sometimes wear 'Dockers'" he said proudly. Hey! The man is radical! I even offered to "lease" my car to him (though I never mentioned payment--he could handle the running costs); I need it mainly to do afternoon school pick up and a few other errands during the day. I could manage to coordinate with other parents on school pick up and by coordination with my wife most of the other errands could get done using her car. But I have to accept that he wants to have his car.

I think I may lose this fish, but I am still trying to hook him. We have been brought up for a long time during the latter part of the 20th century to expect the private car to be there, and it is many things, including a very significant status symbol. We work our money and one of the things on which we like to spend is a vehicle. Need is rarely that strong a justification.

My view of Brian's life in Barbados is that he will add to the nation's statistics: he has already had his accident (though it was very recent and not in the statistics reported above, I imagine). He will probably add to the cars per 1,000 people figure.

We in the Caribbean region, and worldwide, have a challenge in weaning ourselves off the private car. We have worked hard to develop our economies and societies and one of the accepted modern rewards of wealth is the car. (It used to be a good horse, then a carriage, so we are moving along a well-established curve.) I mentioned once to someone here how the Dutch (for years) and the French (more recently with self-service bikes) have worked hard to promote use of bicycles; priority lanes, etc. The recently introduced bike-sharing programs that have worked well in Paris are reported to be headed to the US and to London. "Man, people in Barbados don' wan' hear 'bout dat. Dey wan' deh car" was the response I got when I suggested that thought be given to such ideas. I can understand the fears of cycling on narrow roads, especially with drivers who have very little experience with cyclists.

I can understand the "cry for freedom" that is customarily satisfied by having a car: sometimes long waits at bus stops and train stations, and or/cancellations have been a part of my life in different large cities. But I also know that most New Yorkers do not own or drive a car. For the longest time most Europeans who could afford a car never saw the need for two. Good public transport is a great help, plus the other supports for those who want to walk or ride a two-wheeled machine. Yet, believe we need to learn to do more with less. It's a sacrifice, for sure. There is a lot of logical sense in not wanting to be the first to sacrifice. But we need to do some serious thinking about the consequences of "life as usual".

Flyover to where?

Let me say upfront that I do not believe that a country the size of Barbados, even with its high rate of car ownership, needs flyovers to deal with road congestion.

Once in my life I trained in urban planning, and my first job was to work as a transport economist. At that time, working in local government in north Wales, there was a great struggle between "us" planners, who were trying to be methodical about all forms of land use policy, and "them" road contruction engineers. My first boss impressed on me that building more roads, or widening existing roads, did not reduce traffic congestion; it merely moved the congestion somewhere else.

Evidence shows that, like Parkinson's Law, traffic increases to fill the available space. The way to reduce road congestion is to manage the road system effectively; tackle the pricing of road use; provide economically affordable alternative public transport; physically restrict use private of vehicles; and change public attitudes to travel. The British government has been wrestling with road congestion for decades. The UK Ministry of Transport provides good information on the issue of road pricing, which is worth reading along with other material about improving traffic flows. The solutions are not simple and anyone who proposes a single element and says that this will solve the problem is taking you for a fool. It is instructive to read the January 2008 final report by New York City's Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission, which considered a range of carrots and sticks--various congestion pricing options, carpooling and telecommuting incentives, license plate restrictions, truck restrictions, etc.

Barbados' basic road traffic problem is that most roads were not designed for cars, and they have not been well adapted to either the volume of traffic or the nature of journeys. Widened highways that terminate as single lane roads inevitably create traffic bottlenecks. Having single lane roads where traffic volume is high and that are used frequently by local buses inevitably causes congestion even in off-peak hours because there are few or no places to pass.

Those of us who came through the British colonial system have many things to remind us of how life used to be. One of these memories is roundabouts, and Bajans would do well to consult one of the UK guides on dealing with roundabouts. Barbadian roundabouts are designed, and drivers encouraged to use them, in a way that is very restrictive, and these restrictions cause unnecessary congestion. For example, the preferred British way to turn left (taking the first exit) is to signal left and approach in the left-hand lane.... To go straight on (taking the second exit), a driver is encouraged to "select the appropriate lane" on approach to and on the roundabout; if no marking is on the road it is usually safest to keep to the left lane. But in Barbados most roundabouts are marked for the straight ahead move to start from the right lane. This could be seen as inappropriate road use.

A look around Barbados makes me ask the question: Why are roundabouts here so large?Look at the huge roundabout on the road between Mapp Hill and St. George's Church. This is a small country where most vehicles are very small. By reducing the size of roundabouts the space for vehicles to maneuver them would be increased, with little increase in risks. But that only tackles a certain part of the problem.

Some other suggestions, and everyone could think of something they have seen abroad that helps traffic flow better. Borrowing from the US: allow vehicles at most junctions to join the flow when the light is red (in Barbados' case, a left turn on red if the road is clear). Borrowing from the UK: traffic lights that respond to traffic volumes and can be manually or electronically overridden. Borrowing from many countries: using cameras at junctions to help determine how to deal with traffic flows. Oh, and better design of junctions: most junctions do not allow enough space for vehicles that wish to turn left and could do so will little inconvenience (think of the junction down from Collymore Rock at the corner with Royal Bank of Canada).

Driving behaviour does much to increase congestion. In Barbados we have a problem caused by buses, who habitually stop to take on or let off passengers, with little regard for other road users. Often there are laybys for the buses at designated stops but minibuses (both those with "ZR" or "B" plates) in particular will stop whereever they feel is concvenient. This holds up following traffic unnecessarily and can continue because there is no effective sanction. Admittedly, this is hard to police and a solution needs a re-education of bus drivers and passengers. However, if a few bus operators lost their licenses for bad road conduct that might give some salutory lessons.

My sense is that the ABC Highway improvements were never broadly discussed in any public forum. They seem like a fairly common government project that had its supporters, lacked real in-depth analysis of the costs and benefits, and probably provided some nice fees. All I have read and heard suggest that the design is still "on the drawing board"; the costs are not under control; and the need has not been proved "beyond a reasonable doubt". Certainly, there is a good argument for using the money for other social needs.

I have a side bet with my wife that the flyovers will not be built. If they are built then it will be because the general population has had a chance to consider the issues and decide that this is what it wants for this little country.