Transport system will need to be 24-hour
(CNS): Consultants engaged by the Cayman Islands Government to assess the county’s public transport needs are expected to complete their work by the end of this month or the first week of next, according to Transport Minister Kenneth Bryan. He also said that the CIG would need to roll out a reliable 24-hour service to ensure that workers are able to get to and from their jobs no matter what time they start and finish.
Deloitte was awarded a CI$200,000 contract to develop a public transport strategy with recommendations for a national government-run public bus system. Their report is expected to set the PACT Government on the road to a more effective bus service to help reduce traffic.
Calling into Radio Cayman’s morning talk show, For the Record, on Monday, where Infrastructure Minister Jay Ebanks was a guest, Bryan said that until the government had developed a new transport system, it could not begin to consider policies like import bans or restrictions on car ownership by work permit holders.
“The goal is to put in a system that is energy efficient as well as cost-effective that can help alleviate the problem of traffic,” he said, adding that government could not put any restrictions on what cars can be imported and who can import and own them until a more reliable public transport system is rolled out.
Ebanks, who is ultimately responsible for the current road construction projects, described himself as still being an independent member, despite being part of the PACT front bench. He said he supported the idea of banning some work permit holders from driving cars as well as stopping the flow of certain types of used vehicles. He said a committee had been put together to examine these issues, but he too said that could not go ahead until the public transport aspect was addressed.
Ebanks accused some drivers in the current bus service of not completing routes, leaving his constituents and those in the neighbouring district of East End stranded. While the bus system between West Bay and George Town is relatively reliable during the daytime on weekdays, the lack of a night service means that many people start or finish work too early to be able to rely on the existing system.
Bryan pointed out that the government needed to make the investment and roll out the system because workers cannot be restricted from owning or driving until there is a fully functioning reliable transport system.
Previously Bryan has said the consultants would talk to all the relevant stakeholders affected by public transport, including workers currently using the buses, the drivers, those managing the road systems and involved in tourism. He said a number of questions need to be addressed, such as changes to legislation and the best type of buses to use.
The minister has also indicated the need to consolidate transport issues under one umbrella. “We’re going to have to do that eventually,” he said during a radio appearance at the end of last year.
Bryan has told Deloitte that the PACT vision is for an electric system, even though he was aware this could prove to be a costly endeavour. He has also said that this will not be a speedy process and the ministry would do this the right way, not the quick way. “The public wants answers now,” Bryan said recently. “Unfortunately, there is a long process that has to happen.”
The minister has suggested that he will be looking to find the money for this project, which could be as much as CI$30 million, in the 2024 budget and has even suggested it could come from the Environmental Protection Fund, which was created for land conservation.
But wherever the money is sourced, it could still be several years before a comprehensive, user-friendly system is implemented. In the meantime, traffic is almost certainly likely to get worse, even with the new roads, unless the government takes other action such as the decentralisation of government offices, encouraging more home or remote working, staggered start and finish work times and the expansion of the school bus provision to all of the private schools.
While the government is considering a policy to reduce the estimated 300 cars that are imported here almost every month, Bryan said a reliable bus service that the public wants to use must be in place before the government can place restrictions on ownership and imports. He also said he would be outlining the findings from the consultants as soon as their work is complete.
- Fascinated
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- Afraid
No need to gold plate this and mess it up. Buy normal, new, modern, clean, reliable busses. GPS track them, create a basic app showing where they all are and a schedule. Make it free for the first year, reassess in a year and see where we go from there. THIS IS SIMPLE. No need to over complicate it.
There’s no way for friends and family to skim a few million from keeping it simple!
You are talking about mom&pop kind of transportation service, not a Public Transport System.
Please Weed out all these Smooth drivers who is target vulnerable Girls who must use their transportation services especially late nite so.
Will PACT (MP Kenneth Bryan) really do what PPM (MP Moses Kitkconnel) did when he stole CI $20M from the Environmental Fund to fund a non-environment entity – the DART Dump works.
Politician after politician does not have the ability to be compliant with laws.
It is unlawful to use the environment fund to pay for infrastructure entities.
Kenny your controlling tourism buddies are the reason for the high import of cheap labour who need to use your subsidized bus service.
Kenny, tourism needs to pay its way, stop using financial industry income to subsidise tourism entities.
Not restrict expats from driving cars, only stopping them from importing cars.One of the reasons why is so many cars on the road is because the car license and the personal driver license is too cheap. Any one can get a old junk car and
pay the small fees.
Need to double those fees.
Better yet, increase the fees on Teslas and all luxury vehicles instead
They didn’t need to hire Deloitte to come up with something everybody knows already.
What they need is someone who would make it happen.. I believe Canadians did initial setup of the modern day Bermuda Transportation System.
History
Buses were introduced to Bermuda in 1945 by the Bermuda Omni Bus Service, a division of the Bermuda Railway Service. The railway system closed in 1948. The Public Transportation Board was created in 1946 and operates all bus services. Buses, the backbone of the island’s public transportation system, are supplemented by a public ferry service.
Buses
Bermuda buses are specifically designed for the peculiarities of the island, being narrow enough to navigate the Bermuda roads. They have no provisions for transport of luggage, bicycles, or golf bags. Sightseeing buses are also provided by the Board.
MAN manufactures the diesel buses, and Berkhof outfits them as coaches. Bermuda received 15 new low-floor buses in March 2009. These buses have 32–34 seats, fewer than the older buses, but allow wheelchair access. The livery of all buses is pink and blue recalling the colors of the Bermuda beaches.
Please could we start with a taxi system with metered fares that are visible to the passengers. Some of the poorest countries in the world have taxi with meters. There are phone apps that provide a fare-based meter system.
Why is this hard to do? I only visit and I could set up bus routes around the island. This should not be hard to do.
Because the immediate beneficiarys would be poor immigrant workers who cant vote and the immediate losers would be local car dealers, garages and taxi drivers.
If we want to go whole hog on this then the Bermuda system is the way to go. Everyone here who has lived in Bermuda speaks in glowing terms about it.
Here are some cold hard facts (did I quote Sandra here?) on public transportation in Bermuda.
https://www.gov.bm/sites/default/files/Budget_202223_Statement.pdf
1. Bermuda’s Ministry of Transport (an who wouldn’t want Kenny as Minister of Transport for Life) has a 2023 budget of $72 million or a paltry 6% of the governments entire budget. Last year’s actual spend was $99, million which was $40 million above what was budgeted, but we all know how difficult it is to budget.
2. $30 million of the $72 million budget is for the Ministry of Transport Headquarters. God knows we need more government buildings to maintain, and it could double as a hurricane shelter for all of the voters in GTC during any threats.
3. $4.5 million is allocated to the Transport Control Department. That could be split amongst the CNS posters who freely offer their advice, or it could be paid jobs for the few King Kenny supporters who can read and write. Drug tests not required.
Kenneth is all talk and no action.
The beach facility for cruise tourist being an example of nothing happening.
He could park the busses there.
Until they properly vet the taxi and bus drivers and make them adhere to basic road laws things will never improve. Nothing but accidents waiting to happen.
You can hire all the consultants you want Kenny. Start with the low hanging fruit if you want to solve a problem.
Please start taxing real estate companies now ! They are responsible for this strain on our infrastructure and over development. It’s time for PACT to Act levied a tax of at least 45 % on all real estate transactions over 100K on the company only .
You blaming the realtors for Cayman’s success is plain ignorance.
$200k to report on a solution to something that every other developed country in the world solved more than a century ago.
Most of the largest cities in the world don’t have a 24 hour public transport system.
As has been pointed out in dozens of comments already, it really isn’t rocket science.
Pastor Alfredo
Exactly, 24 hour public transport system is unheard of in most big cities. it’s simply too expensive to have system running in hours where there would be only handful of users. Stupidity.
just import buses?
Public transportation SYSTEM includes:
buses
daily inspections, cleaning, maintenance
road emergency assistance
repairs service
parts supply
training and certification of drivers
drag testing and health checkups of drivers
dispatch
tickets/passes sale
ongoing transit performance analysis
bus stops spacing/location analysis
building vandal-resistant and graffiti-resistant bus shelters accessible by people with restricted mobility
and MORE
We do not need anything gold plated, we just need something to start.
A park and ride in Savannah and one in WB.
A scheduled route from 5:00am-11:00pm
West Bay WBR to Camana bay, back to WBR downtown to Cricket square and back the bypass to WB
Savannah to Cricket square, downtown WBR to Camana bay and back the bypass to Savananah
One an hour from 5am 7am,10am-3pm, 7;00pm-11:00pm three an hour from 7-10 and 3-7
All students (all schools) living over 1/2 mile from school are mandatorily bused.
Staggered shifts for office workers. Work from home with adequate controls for productivity. Let government lead the way for all civil servants!
Speed limits and driving standards aggressively enforced.
GPS tracking for the ‘public buses’ so that they must adhere to their schedules and published routes. Enforce minimum comfort standards on ‘public buses’ unlike the current situation, often with NO A/C working!
Real incentives for car-pooling/ride sharing.
Speed limits and load safety enforced on trucks. Heavy fines for excessive noise and ‘Jake Brakes’ usage!
Put on our thinking caps, and make the hard decisions to make our roads safer and less congested.
So as of right now I could bring in a tank (weapons removed), or a vehicle designed for traveling on snow, or a cement truck, as well as a bus and a spark-ignition internal combustion reciprocating piston engine vehicle (car) under $20,000 and pay 8% less in duty than for a scooter or motorcycle (non-electric) over 90cc
So get an electric scooter/motorcycle. Unlike your tank there’s no need for more than an electric motor in a two-wheeler.
It’s reassuring that it seems you’ve done a fair bit of research on them, thank you for the contribution
Yes, I have a tank on the way (weapons removed) that I plan on parking on any car I find in the handicapped blue spot without a badge
How can we implement a bus system yet we have no flights to little cayman because of a broken down brand new fire truck? A disgrace is what I call this whole mess!!
We need to stop overdevelopment – both sprawl AND high-rise density – as they both have growing impacts on traffic.
Thoughts?💭
🟢Protect our environment
🟠Halt overexpansion
🔴Stop duplicity
https://extinctionrebellion.uk/2022/12/31/we-quit/
You can be sure any ban on importation of cars and trucks will only affect the poor.
Teslas, F150s, Audi SUVs, etc will continue unabated
An electric system??
Yes, trams over the North Sound.
Thought they are working with Barbados?
Cayman looks to partner with Barbados on creation … – YouTube\https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=cSkqyy2sbzU
Deloitte is an accounting firm. Why were they hired?
Geez you are stupid. Deloitte has one of the largest management consulting groups in the world. Start using Google and get with it.
They outsource everything like everybody else. I did work in one of the big 4 in Cayman.
10@4:53pm – For decades Deloitte has managed to ‘outbid’ on almost every CIG and its SAGCs consultancy put out to tender. For those which fall under the threshold of public tendering (departmental tender), Deloitte has managed to secure many of those also. FOI could show numerous at CIAA alone, as one example.
Deloitte offers a range of services besides accounting. They are frequently asked to consult on these types of government projects, as have KPMG etc.
Nowhere else in the world public buses work 24hr. Taxi yes, but not public transport. Who came up with this nonsense?
Here’s a list of 24 hour public transit, mainly buses:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_service_(public_transport)
apples and oranges
4:52, Some of the major bus lines in Bermuda run 24 hours a day.
We have 24 hour bus service where I live in th UK
Lots of cities have a 24h bus service. it’s just that the nighttime timetable has a reduced frequency eg an hourly service after 11pm compared to 4 times an hour during daylight.
Lots of cities have 24 hour bus service.
Have you ever actually been to anywhere else in the world?
https://londonbuses.fandom.com/wiki/Night_and_24-hour_bus_routes
Ummmm, New York and London, for starters …
Atlanta too
Chicago as well. And Toronto.
Take a wild guess !
Seems we really are the island time forgot. We say we are a first world, developed nation, and we’re only just now getting around to something our neighbors figured out decades ago.
and still can’t meter taxi’s…..
Not “can’t”, “won’t”
Just import normal busses they have everywhere else. Create easements and scheduled bus routes. Implement public transit card or smartphone apps and pay bus driver’s a salary. Government is over thinking this as per usual. Therefore more money is being spent and less actual work is being done.
No wotes in that idea.
Dumb and Dumber bobo
The ministry really needed a third party to tell them this? A 5 year old could’ve drawn up this plan. And why haven’t they actually gone out and spoken to people who take the bus on a daily basis? Maybe they could’ve taken their ideas into account.
And made $200k for doing so
“Deloitte was awarded a CI$200,000 contract to develop a public transport strategy with recommendations for a national government-run public bus system.”
???? What, really!?! This useless government can get all the info and recommendations for free if they would ask the people of this beautiful country. No need to pay a third party almost a quarter of a million dollars, when even a blind person can see what is wrong with the system.
Bermuda, similar population to Cayman, has an efficient and effective government owned public transportation system comprised of modern buses and ferries, with published schedules etc.
I lived there for 6 months. It works, both for residents and visitors.
We dont need years….just a link to Bermuda’s website..
http://www.gov.bm/department/public-transportation
Bang on 1:09. But we are a brilliant people and learn from nobody.
The minister for tourism is right. Step one is a GOOD public transport system. Then a lot of people will voluntarily use it, reducing traffic, and that number only gets better with ‘incentives’ (like limiting vehicle ownership, raising vehicle/fuel taxes, etc.) – The discussion shouldn’t be about who can or cannot own/drive a car but how many persons can we get out of single-occupancy vehicles and into multiple-occupant vehicles on average on an average day.
“[Minister Ebanks] said he supported the idea of banning some work permit holders from driving cars” – Quick fairness test for anyone proposing this: All work permit holders in the legal and accounting professions may not own/drive cars (may only use public transport). … Still support the idea? I mean, a car is a car on the road. It takes up the same space no matter how pretty it is.
Laughable. You’ll find half of them pulled up sleeping somewhere. Did anyone else see the Purple Ribbon bus on New Year Eve? No, me neither. Nap time.
I believe a public transport system that operates 24/7, and picks you up from wherever you want and transports you to wherever you want to go is called a TAXI. Some countries have experimented with alternatives like UBER, but nobody has ever thought it worthwhile to provide a 40-seater bus to transport one person.
Correct. The proposed solution is typical government-think. Very expensive (electric buses), employs hundreds of new government employees (new votes and handouts), and all run by the government. Since when did the govermment ever operate something efficiently. The correct model here is the minibus drivers. They make it work for a dollar a fare. Imagine what they could achieve with three dollars a fare – you would probably get a rum punch on the way for free. License the drivers and the vehicles and let them go!
They are still not going to drive unsocial hours. Or drive all the way to East End with only a couple of passengers. But wil all still race each other down West Bay Road to try and pick up the next group of tourists standing at a stop. Unregulated private sector provision of bus services simply results in supply for the commercially viable routes and times, not the social service obligations.
Could easily start restrictions on vehicles by even and odd license plates depending on days
Could easily reduce speed limits to 30mph everywhere they’re above that and have traffic monitors everywhere
Could easily restrict construction work hours to 10am start times to ease morning traffic
Could easily put traffic lights on roundabouts
Could easily do lots of things
traffic lights on roundabouts????….go back to sleep.
You should get out more.
In very heavy traffic they do work, like ALT roundabout during rush hours lights would probably help. Useless the rest of the time though. The whole post misses the elephant in the room that is proper driver training and driving tests. The point is half our drivers are unsafe at any speed on any junction.
They work if people take note but look at what they do at the traffic lights at Shedden Road by the gas station, they just block up the central area that should be kept clear when the lights change, meaning nobody can get out from Shedden. Can’t fix stupid.
Some people just love to show how dumb they are by suggesting stupidity like this.
Could easily make all students use buses
So the games have begun. How can Jay describe himself as still being an independent member despite being part of the PACT front bench. What a load of crap.
The PACT government was founded on Jay, Sabrina and Isaac jumping ship from PPM to join PACT.
Now he says he’s still independent? We are not falling for that crap.
Jay you are basically saying you don’t support the government that you have collective responsibility to represent. You are not independent.
You cannot have your cake and eat it too.
Kanny – have a private company bid for and operate the whole thing. Then you do not need to raid the environmental protection fund – just provide a managed subsidy out of cashflow.
it’s already a private company, that why it runs like shit.
Hahahahaha……yeah, I’d LOVE to see the tendering process for that.
wow 24 hrs buses???…whats next, being able to buy groceries on a sunday?????………..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I got a nice chuckle from this.
Allowing grocery sales on Sundays would be one way to reduce traffic on weekdays by spreading out demand. The number of politicians who see the Sunday closure laws as a generator of traffic issues on every other day is probably zero.
Right. Because grocery stores on weekdays are where/why we have a traffic problem. You have missed the forest for the trees.
You can at McRuss.
but how is that possible with our strong christain heritage????
God only cares about square footage.
So the Minister will wait until we are unable to drive out of our driveways before he try to do something. If 300 cars are being imported monthly by the time the bus system gets going even the buses won’t be able to traverse the roads. What are his plans for all the cars that will be imported in the meantime. he suggested everything except carpooling.!
Another cartel initiative. Why can’t the ministry/government just put a two year moratorium on every Tom Dick and Harry being able to import these defected cars that ends up in the landfill or park on roadside a few months after being imported. Only allow well established car dealerships to import new or near new vehicles. That way only persons coming in on work permits who can afford a new/near new vehicle will be able to buy, therefore reducing the importation of vehicles. Run a survey for feedback to see if a uber/car share system ( by persons who already have a car) can be implemented to asssit those who are unable to buy a car so that they can get back and forth thereby complementing the current bus service. Discuss and implement a two shift system to all districts whereby some of the operators could start their day much earlier then the late shift can accommodate those getting off work at a later time. Encourage persons to carpool if necessary. Get cracking on the new bus system with a two year timeframe. Please do not let things continue to run as it is now, with more imports etc. etc.
hours.
For an easy quick start. All schools, public and private must have school busses to transport the brats to and fro. We all notice the improvement of traffic when school is out.
This should be an easy and quick bandaid fix until we can sort out proper public transport.
What’s the problem???
Parents drive their kids to school on their way to work. Unless their job starting time changes, they will continue to do so even if a school bus is available.
Not the stay at home moms
Whatever happens we can all be sure that instead of properly serving the people, all of the decisions will be made in a way that lines the pockets of our representatives and their ‘preferred suppliers’.
Instead of asking themselves ‘what is the best answer’, it always seems to be ‘how can I make money from this’.
This is common sense. we had to pay an outside party to put a 24 hour plan into effect??????
200 large, my guy
This has been going on far to long. I have to be at work by 7a at Morrits and leave at 7p more times than any I have to hitch no buses run afyer 6 6 30 if lucky
I would have hoped the study would have considered a viable public transport system and not only an electric bus system.
For example, we should be considering transport by water as well as by a tram system, if viable. There may be other options. We only know the viability and suitability if the study considers them.
But an electric bus is as far as Kenny can think. Poor Kenneth. So out of his depth.
Buy a car.
Agree. Since at least 2006 when I moved Pease Bay I had problems getting to work and back (although the journey was about 40 minutes then, not the 1.5 gridlock we have now). The buses used to spin around at BT police station and leave us stranded going to work and the rare (EE/NS) would usually be full. On a night I couldn’t work past 6 pm as often there were no buses… I would wait for over a hour to realise this! But when I moved NS it got even worse. You could wait for hours in a morning to see a bus and if you were lucky enough to get one home on a night, they would kick us all off at Frank Sound by the launch ramp leaving us no option but to walk or hitch. But to be fair, the few dollar bus fair has been the same for decades whereas the taxi cartel charge an arm and a leg. Fuel is very expensive now compared to back then. You have to set an equitable path if you’re going to bring about change that works.
Oh Boy, this is just what this country needs right now. $30M (but that’s just the first purchase) for electric busses should provide a good kickback for somebody, and 1,000 new civil servants to schedule, drive, maintain, etc. these new vehicles 24/7 will provide plenty of new jobs for friends and family, both near and far.
Maybe you’re right but at least there will be some peripheral benefit to the general public.
How many buses will we need? Better double what ever that is, because we have proven that we can’t properly drive or maintain public vehicles. (See garbage trucks)
At least Minister Ebanks seems to understand the problem. By the way, Bermuda doesn’t ban expats from owning vehicles. You can have only one and need a place to park it (parking is a huge issue in Bermuda but isn’t in Cayman). They can have as many scooters as they want but can you imagine the carnage on the roads with the standard of driving here? While they are looking at public transit, might as well throw in the taxi problem, which is another problem Bermuda has largely solved. No reason it can’t be done here.
Bermuda is light years ahead of here on transportation matters. A brilliant Canadian built airport that puts our airport to shame and a wonderful airport parking lot that always works at a good price.
easy solution:
let busses run 24hrs and make sure thay are all fitted with gps linked to an app. then you can track them and see what drivers are not ding their supposed routes
Like all publically bought and fuel bought for vehicles?
Stop making sense
from the folks who banned uber….zzzz
uber runs 24hrs a day, provides income for locals and provides cheap affordable service to the public…
but blocked by cig to support the rip-off taxi cartel….welcome to wonderland…..
Uber can open any time they want. They just have to charge the same rates as anyone else. – Price controls for rent and stuff are good, right?
Every time a solution comes up CIG tells us who they work for without telling us who they work for.
Everything is hidden behind back door dealings and everyone and their mother needs to be approved by someone who issues permits and licenses unless you are willing to risk prosecution.
The purpose of the permit or license is always touted as “for the protection of the island and its residents” yet we all know its just gatekeeping.
Caymanians have no real value in the world due to their sense of entitlement (generally speaking as there are individuals who achieve success that is valued world wide). Gone are the days of thatch rope and boat making, so the only way to satisfy their ego and pretend they can do something is to find a position of authority and gatekeep entrants with some arbitrary rules.
I say this a Caymanian. We need to do better.
yawn…more soon come waffle….
the report might be delivered next month but will then be moth-balled for a coupe of years before the need for another costly review.
how many recommendations of miller shaw and e&y reports have been implemented?
Well, lets hope its better than the EY or MS reports, which were pure partisan waffle divorced from real world facts or applicability or socioeconomics.
What were the Shaw and EY reports, please?
says the work-shy civil servant
You know what will happen if the government really considers import bans and ownership for work permit holders? More of these companies that own small fleets of Honda fits and lease month to month will come about owned by the “Caymanians” allowed to import cars. So, PACT will need to consider those kinds of deals as well and which companies can “rent” or “lease” cars. I’m surprised that the insurance companies haven’t caught onto the lack of “fleet” insurance by these companies that are leasing Honda Fits.
What we have is a privatized public transport system. It’s oxymoronic and counterintuitive. The drivers should be government employees put on a salary not something ran similar to the taxi business which is private.
No Shit. I would have told him that for $150K.
Professional drivers, actual buses not sardine tins on wheels, safety standards that would at least be acceptable in a developed country about a decade ago, and scheduled routes.
Why is this hard to understand?
We currently have clown drivers, driving clown vehicles and the only reason they’re used is because they’re literally the only option for some people. This doesn’t lead to higher standards for anyone.
It means, drivers with no seatbelts on, seldom use of those pesky orange flashing bulb things, in vehicles patched up with dodgy repairs but heavily invested in the latest tat from the world of LED bulbs, crap decals, and chrome effect plastic.
A bus driver yesterday went into the left hand lane just before Camana Bay roundabout & then switched back to the middle lane (where I was driving) part way around the roundabout, almost hitting me. He then stayed in the middle lane along the by pass towards CIS & the dump. He looked truly shocked that I was leaning on my horn & in his way. Why do drivers switch lanes – esp taxi & bus drivers.
Some of the decals are nice. Hindu god statues on the dashboards would be a good idea, since they seem to work in a lot of countries.
Lol 30Million to find a problem for a solution that exist clearly in other countries.
Another day in wonderland.
CIG should amend the traffic law to allow for fully autonomous vehicles, and place public transport order for a small fleet of electric taxis like CANOO that can operate with high proficiency 24/7.
There is no bus “system” here. Just a gang of independent bus operators beholding to no one, going wherever they want to or don’t want to; whenever they want to; if they want to.
Implement a functioning system!!
Can’t demand a functioning system from a non-functioning system.
Let Uber / Lyft operate in Cayman.
Every licensed taxi and public/private bus carrying passengers should have a telemetry beacon that shows where they are and if they are on shift carrying passengers. Taxi/bus owners can then see their drivers partying in the dyke roads, running errands, sitting in bars, or buses not driving their shift or finishing their routes, check their speed etc. About $100/vehicle would provide a performance diagnostic tool to fire deadwood and that would sharpen performance quickly. We could put them in the dump trucks and container haulers too.