Control public transport

Editorial

THE move to have taxi services, especially in Port Moresby, controlled is long overdue.
It is time authorities get serious with ensuring service providers deliver services to a certain standard especially for public transport.
This week, Road Traffic Authority has come out advising on its corporatising plan for all taxi services.
That means all individual taxis operating as a business should be registered with taxi companies.
Registered taxi companies have all their details in the RTA database and their taxis are coloured or branded for clear identification.
Others that do not fall into the above mentioned categories are registered under Motor Vehicle Insurance Ltd (MVIL) as a private vehicle and their business of providing taxi services are deemed illegal.
Their services are paid for by the travelling public hence should be good, safe, clean and efficient for the people to use.
Taxi companies have been put on notice to ensure the vehicles are roadworthy, lights working, brake lights working and registered properly.
This sector has not been given much attention by authorities allowing providers to get away with the sub-standard service provided.
Public transport is crucial to the livability of any city.
You do not have to drive far to see some taxi drivers, including bus drivers, becoming kings of the road through their reckless actions on the road – not stopping at designated stops, sudden stop with no indication on, you find most lights are not working especially after 6pm.
The same should now be done for PMV buses.
The current system in the cities allow bus/taxi owners and operators to dictate how they operate – whether they complete their route, provide service along the designated routes or pull of their service if and when they want it.
Most countries have a public transport bus services which are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable.
NCD Governor Powes Parkop has talked about adopting the overseas public transport model where public transport is run by the Government.
If this becomes a reality, all PMV buses and taxis should be operated by NCDC and the owners of these vehicles could become subcontractors.
There should be standard colour and designs, rules and regulations, routes and CCTV.
Lae city authorities should do the same so there is uniformity in the countries two top cities.
PMV numbers have increased and so too passenger numbers. But the running of the PMV’s have remained unreliable and quite frankly erratic.
There were talks leading up to the Apec Summit in 2018 that the country’s public transport system will come under scrutiny when legislation is passed before Apec 2018.
The bill was to see the issuing of licences, monitoring, and especially the way PMVs and taxis are operated in the city.
Unfortunately, nothing much has transpired.
A city without public transport is a city that regularly grinds to a halt.
While we sympathise with the owners who have been struggling to provide such service without much support from authorities, it is time for them to be accountable.
When we make people accountable for their actions, we are teaching them to value their work.
Providing good quality public service is a challenge but if everyone works together, it can be achieved.