MPW Engineering Conference

1. THE SEASON FOR REFORM OF PUBLIC
TRANSPORT IN GUYANA
Patrick Thompson
Ministry of Public Works
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MINISTRY OF PUBLIC WORKS
5TH ENGINEERING CONFERENCE
February 5, 2015

2. OUR TRANSPORT SYSTEM
 Provides many benefits but causes many problems such as:
 It serves non-drivers poorly.
 It distributes benefits and costs inequitably.
 It is financially burdensome to households, governments and businesses.
 It is increasingly inefficient due to traffic congestion and dispersed land use.
 It is a major cause of death and disability.
 It contradicts environmental and quality of life objectives.
 It relies on non-renewable resources that may become scarce in the future.
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3. THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPORTATION TO OUR ECONOMY
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•A sustainable economy is sensitive to economic, social and
environmental constraints.
•Sustainability requires more efficient, equitable, and
environmentally sensitive transport.
•This cannot be achieved simply by improving the efficiency of
vehicle designs or traffic management.
•It requires changes in the way we think about transportation,
and how we identify and evaluate solutions to transport
problems
Sustainable Transportation is the capacity to support the mobility needs of people, freight and
information in a manner that is the least damageable to the environment

4. THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT TO OUR ECONOMY
 More than 60% of Guyana’s
productively labour force
uses Public Transportation
everyday;
 About 50% of the MPW staff
use public transportation
everyday;
 Public Transportation is
widely available and fairly
reliable.
 Public Transportation is a
lifeline to our economy
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5. “PARADIGM SHIFT”
 It requires changes in the way we
think about transportation, and
how we identify and evaluate
solutions to transport problems
 Its difficult, almost impossible to
solve our transport problems in
isolation.
 Transport is closely interlocked
with land use, urbanization,
environment, communication, etc.
 Traditional Transport Planning
treats vehicle movements as an
end in itself;
 Sustainable transportation
planning focuses on access,
which can often be improved with
strategies that reduce the need to
travel altogether..
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“Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them.”
– Albert Einstein.

6. WHY REFORM?
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1. Poor Safety Rating
2. Huge potential to solve our congestion
problem
3. Fragmented Oversight, poorly
regulated
4. Poor economies of scale hence high
fares
5. Poor Customer Service

7. 1.POOR SAFETY RATING
 Minibuses used in Guyana are not designed
to public transport vehicle standards;
 With 15 seats, the vehicles are operating at
the limits of their design capacity;
 Even minimal overloading is an unacceptable
strain on the suspension system;
 At overloaded condition, the vehicles’ centre
of gravity will be elevated and, when
operated at high speeds, they tend to
become unstable and subject to the
possibility of rolling over.
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8. PTV ACCIDENT RECORD
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24.1
9.8
Fatality Rates in 2013
(per 10,000 vehicles)
PTVs
Non PTVs
117
33.1
Fatality Rates in 2000
(per 10,000 vehicles)
PTVs
Non PTVs

9. AGE OF VEHICLE FLEET
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0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
< 5 YRS OLD 5 YRS <AGE< 10 YRS 10 YRS <AGE< 20 YRS > 20 YRS OLD UNKNOWN
3
953
3811
492
37
Noofvehicles
Decade of Manufacture
Age of Public Transportation Vehicles

10. 2. HUGE POTENTIAL TO SOLVE OUR CONGESTION PROBLEM
 The small size and large numbers of vehicles
aggravate traffic congestion problems on
Georgetown streets and at terminal facilities;
 Congestion could be alleviated, with little
negative impact on service frequency, by a
smaller number of larger vehicles;
 Optimizing the use of PTVs is central to
sustainable urban transport planning.
 Phasing out of minibuses in Guyana must be
carefully planned and implemented over a
period of time
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11. 3. FRAGMENTED OVERSIGHT, POORLY REGULATED
MPW GRA MHA & GPF MTIC M&CC
MPW had an
historic role with
regards to the
management and
operation of the
original public
sector (bus)
transport system.
Current role limited
to maintenance of
bus parks/tarmacs,
construction of bus
laybys, road
markings and
erection bus stops
signs
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Many agencies involved, some gaps, some
overlaps
collection of import duties,
consumption taxes,
vehicle licensing fees, and
driver licensing fees for
minibuses, and the LRO
for keeping records of
vehicle registrations and
licensed vehicles
the existing legislation
identifies the ‘Licensing
Authority’ as the
‘Prescribed Authority’ for
regulating public transport
in Guyana;
‘Part VIII of the ‘Motor
Vehicle and Road Traffic
Act, Chapter 51:02’
This Ministry has been
given Government
responsibility for
monitoring the overall
fare structure for
minibuses (and hire
cars (taxis)
the Minister acts as the
Government
spokesperson on the
fare issue.

12. M%CC MHA & GPF
This Ministry thru the
GPF has responsibility
to issue Road Service
Licences (RSL) for
minibuses each year,
and to conduct the
vehicle’s mandatory
‘fitness’
(roadworthiness)
check every 6 months
3. FRAGMENTED OVERSIGHT, POORLY REGULATED
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MHA and GPF M&CC
The City’s
Engineering
Department in theory
has responsibility for
the upkeep of roads,
sidewalks and public
transport terminals
within the City

13. 4. POOR ECONOMIES OF SCALE HENCE HIGH FARES
 Minibuses have a marginally lower initial cost
 Other than this aspect, all the arguments
(economic and operational) favor the larger
vehicles
 From experience elsewhere, the operating
costs per passenger km of the 15-seater
minibuses may be about 20-30% higher than
equivalent costs to operate the larger (26-30
seat) vehicles;
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14. 5. POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE
 MPW conducted a Commuter Satisfaction
Survey in 2014
 Report gives comprehensive details of commuter
satisfaction with respect to Accessibility,
Timeliness, Comfort, Information and Safety of
public transportation for 8 major bus routes.
 The 8 routes account for 67% of the total public
bus fleet in Guyana with a total of 3,513 buses
operating along these routes.
 Overall Commuter Satisfaction at 41%
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15. 5. POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE
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FACTORS % SATISFACTION RANK
Manner of soliciting passengers at bus park 12% 1
Type and loudness of music in public buses 15% 2
Buses being readily available during peak hours 27% 3
Adequacy of space (seating & leg room) 29% 4
Ease of boarding public buses 33% 5
Top 5 Most Worrisome Aspects of Public Transportation

16. OVERALL COMMUTER SATISFACTION
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31%
32%
68%
39%
31%
29%
41%
55%
41%
23%
28%
9%
35%
29%
38%
31%
18%
26%
46%
39%
23%
26%
40%
33%
28%
27%
33%
45 (STABROEK - MAIN, LAMAHA, ALBERTOWN)
44 (GEORGETOWN – MAHAICA)
43 (GEORGETOWN – LINDEN)
42 (GEORGETOWN – TIMEHRI)
41 (STABROEK - SOUTH RUIMVELDT)
40 (STABROEK-KITTY/CAMPBELLVILLE)
32 (GEORGETOWN - PARIKA)
31 (GEORGETOWN - WALES)
OVERALL
Satisfied DissatisfiedNeither
Reference: 2014 Public Bus Commuter Survey Report, Central Transport Planning Unit, Ministry of Public Works

17. STEPS TO REFORM
 Establish Regulatory Regime for road-based
public transport (eg. Guyana Public Transport
Agency)
 Integrate most/ possibly all multi-agency
functions to one body.
 Revise traffic laws, rules and regulations in order
that the legislation reflects the current realities
 Establish policy to gradually phase out
minibuses in favor of larger 26+ seater buses on
most routes
 Relocate the bus terminal from the Stabroek
Square, decentralize terminal facilities and
regularize of public transport operations to
remove the harmful and sometimes fatal effect
that competition has on the sector
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18. A NEW SEASON AHEAD....
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