Route enforcement protest puts brakes on bus service
(CNS): Bus drivers objecting to the sudden enforcement of what they believe is a poor route plan put the brakes on the service Wednesday and began strike action. Further stoppages were reportedly averted after the drivers had a Zoom meeting with Transport Minister Kenneth Bryan, who was off-island. A compromise was reached as suggestions by drivers were taken on board, according to a press release from the Ministry of Tourism and Transport.
However, several problems associated with the current system for both drivers and passengers remain as the government begins the long-overdue process of developing a new national public transport system.
For several months public bus drivers have been disgruntled over a block on fare hikes, given the price of fuel. But a decision on Friday to prevent drivers on the West Bay routes, especially West Bay #2, from dropping off their regular commuter passengers at ‘off-route’ places in George Town created a new problem and led to a short strike.
The drivers were forced, with they said, no notice, to follow the strict route or be threatened with citations, CNS has learned. Bus users told CNS that enforcement of the exact route around town had caused some passengers to yell at the drivers because they now had to take a second bus to get to work. Several passengers refused to board the #2 buses in West Bay and waited for a #1 bus to avoid either paying double or being late for work.
The release from the ministry said the issue had been resolved after Bryan, Chief Officer Stran Bodden and Public Transport Unit staff met with a small number of public bus operators and drivers on Wednesday, 8 March, to discuss the enforcement of that route.
Bryan, who is in Barbados for a Caribbean Tourism Organization meeting, attended virtually, and following lengthy discussions, “the issue was amicably resolved, pending final approval by the Public Transport Board (PTB)”, the release stated. It was also agreed to improve communication with the drivers who had complained about not being informed when the board made changes.
The ministry has hired consultants to produce a report on the traffic situation, and a preliminary review of efficiency and safety has already identified myriad issues with the current system. Bryan has stated that the report will guide the government in shaping a new public transport system, which it hopes will lead to many more people using it to mitigate Cayman’s traffic congestion crisis.
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Hi CNS team,
This isnt intended to be a comment that is posted, but rather an inquiry and request for help. XXXX
CNS: Wendy is keeping an eye on the case and will update when something more happens. However, it’s not unusual for it to take a long time for charges to be brought in such cases. You are welcome to email wendyledger@caymannewsservice.com if you have more questions.
Kenny has no clue. Drivers who are driving for daily rental of busses from owners are self paid. They create their own routes and schedules to maximize cash. Simple.
Ie. The bus owners have us by the gills!
Fix it.
Subsidize them or replace them with good local drivers as does the school bus system.
Make them run on schedule 24 hours.
Centrally hire drivers and give them proper benefits like monthly salary, uniform, healthcare and pension.
Then will the local drivers emerge.
Put bus trackers and an app so Public can track where and when they are. PTU can use this too instead of hiding in bushes.
From East End to NW Point, Camana Bay, Airport and worse yet NSide, these busses are a tragic joke!!
It’s not flipping rocket science.
If this is the core of a new public transport system, the project is doomed from the start.
I trust that the new system will be owned by a statutory authority and hopefully (for once in the history of Cayman Islands government projects) managed competently. The drivers being hirelings who can be turned into firelings if they go on strike or do not do their job properly.
Take a look at Bermuda’s system for a nice example. Not perfect, but damn good for a small country. Bogota Columbia is another place with a very advanced bus system.
And did I hear someone say “sustainable”? PACT-less just awarded PwC $89K to assist PACT-less with sustainability policy. Let’s see if they suggest electric buses. If the bus system plan does not include electric buses, then PACT-less is not at all serious about sustainability.
And in other news, the Panton PACT-less Clown Car (PPCC) have announced that they plan on wasting time, money and resources to hold a Car Free Week. The event is slated to take place some time this spring. More news: bus drivers have told government to shove their bus routes where the sun don’t shine and have gone on strike. While in other news an unfortunate car-free person recently met their demise on our roads.
News update: During the upcoming Car-free Week, people will be encouraged to take a Car-free Pledge. Some of the alternatives suggested by the PPCC is that people ride a bike or a scooter and in so doing they can participate in the opportunity to become fresh targets for reckless drivers or be stranded at home due to totally unreliable alternatives to driving a car.
More news as it happens…
Stupidity by the hour, on the hour, brought to you by the PPCC.
I really don’t understand how this who bus situation is so difficult. It’s astonishing how incompetent the whole thing is. Are they trying to look stupid. It’s like the movie Jackass.
It’s really quite simple. The drivers, who are paid by the passenger, don’t like following the prescribed routes but would rather compete with each other for the passengers on the most heavily used routes, irrespective of what their designated route is. So the passengers on the less busy routes get worse and worse service, and even those on the popular routes get poorer service because the drivers divert from the route to service passengers demands. Forget any concept of timetable, and enter the wacky races down West Bay Road as buses overtake each other to snaffle up the next passengers. And when someone tries to enforce following the routes and a timetable, the DS rivers strike, and rather than tell them to damn we’ll follow the route or find another job, government caves, because god forbid we should enforce the rules. Quite apart from the government being spineless, the whole problem wouldn’t exist if the drivers were paid a hourly rate rather than living off passenger fees, which inevitably leads to a conflict between a social service bus route and free market fre for all. But no one in government has either the brains to realize that or the bravery to commit public funds to a transportation service.
https://www.buses.gg/
An island a 1/3 of the size of Cayman and it works a treat. Regular, reliable, clean, cheap and all on roads that make you slow down because they are so narrow. And there are no ‘wotes’ at stake either.
The buses here are a disgrace, they dint indicate, just stop randomly wherever they decide including on entry and exit roads blocking them, roundabouts and other absurd places, they are a complete embarrassment and 3rd world at best
And now they want to choose their own routes!
I think it’s probably too late for a viable solution due to a lack of space for light rail no ability to tunnel (water table) and no space for vehicles.
Large buses here are unfortunately only going to make it worse for traffic and dangerous.
Sorry y’all screwed it up for everyone else.
I present to you… https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Tunnel
The lesson for Cayman. You can’t do things the Jamaican way and expect a different outcome than Jamaica. Learn Cayman. Learn.
Big Buses to go up and down the big roads all day long, little buses to go into the residential areas and industrial park areas. Routes posted, developed and constantly evaluated to best serve passenger needs.
One digital ticketing system, using smart phone apps and/or a chip card ( for those without smart phones. )
Bus to only stop at designated stops according to a preset schedule. With the ability for passengers to view bus locations and directions on an app (similar to Uber).
Bus drivers paid as skilled employees with training in defensive driving, first aid and in hospitality etiquette.
Payments for day use, week use, monthly use – regardless of numbers of trips.
No cash collected by driver, passengers only need to show valid readable card or phone app payment to get onboard.
Drivers and passengers receive spot checks by transport monitors.
Why is it that the people can figure this out but CIG can’t?
Because we elect idiots!
Sounds great but along long roads like Marina Drive and out East older folk and those with disabilities folk still have a long way to walk to the current designated spots and they are the main ones who pay a little extra to get dropped off closer to home. We must consider the big picture and understand the needs of the community. Admittedly many are bad drivers, but some of them are a God send even help me with my bags when I get off.
“The ministry has hired consultants to produce a report on the traffic situation.”
Elected officials love hiring “experts” to produce expensive reports, for it to then sit on a shelf somewhere. Like we all don’t know the extent of the problems faced daily, especially the traffic problem.
The experts preparing the reports should be forced to sit on the buses every route every day for weeks 7-9 am and 4-7 pm so they actually have a clue what they’re dealing with and give more useful perspective.
I bet collisions on the road were down about 50% for the brief hiatus of these ‘drivers’.
Well the roads were safer for a short period of time
Who do these clowns think they are?
Voters
back to work or should be let go and sent home. create more jobs for locals.👍
We really do have the most useless traffic enforcement police force in the world. Utterly pathetic.
cig…. the people who banned uber to protect a rip-off taxi cartel
Bring in UBER now and stop ripping off tourists with such short rides.
Do you know that uber prices have gone up significantly in the US?
There are no more $5 short rides, all kind of charges added to the total price.
What used to be a $12 ride is now close to $30 and they expect you tip them.
6:43, You are correct, however, nothing like the absolute rip off taxi charges we have here for such a short ride. You are not expected to tip in NYC, Philadelphia and Toronto, however, you can if the driver has helped you with your baggage.
Furthermore, every tourist from the U.S. and Canada has the UBER App on their phone making it so easy for our tourists.
We should be trying to accommodate the tourists not rip them off as soon as they arrive.
I never cease to be disillusioned by all the tourists who get ripped off by taxis in West Bay.
this is the number 1 complaint I hear from tourists. They somewhat understand how expensive things are, but are bewildered by how the taxis screw them
They screw us too, because the government allows them to.
Curb app is what people use for taxis in the real world, Uber Black for an off-duty limo (that doesn’t exist here), or UberX for a guy in a Honda. Mainly, some way to pay for ride electronically with recourse and accountability. Not sure how much cheaper they would be here, if at all, but I’d welcome the accountability part, and vehicle arrival, route tracking and driver/passenger ratings.
Did u know for under 1.2 miles four people using a taxi the fare is only 7 usd? That means 4 persons using a taxi is cheaper than a bus,fare which will be 10usd for four passengers. That means the taxi fare is less than a gallon of gas and a gallon of milk.
Mate, here it $15 to literally go around the corner often in filthy vehicles they want tips too.
Yeah right. Will take a lecture on Uber fares being rip offs when you explain why a taxi from the airport to SMB is CI$35 – or $42 if you want to compare to Uber. It’s 5 miles and under 15 minutes for heavens sake
Because government sets the tariff: https://www.caymantransport.ky/transportation-services/taxi
They also make sure buses can’t pick up at the airport or charge you more than $2 SMH.
Advocating for Uber? Read this: https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-cheaper-an-uber-or-a-taxi-4157965
“ Uber is typically cheaper for longer trips moving at a faster speed, while taxis are a better choice for trips in congested areas like New York City. ”
So imagine a Uber trip cost in Cayman with a bumper to bumper traffic.
The omni buses should be replaced with proper mid-size 25-29 passenger buses. There should be bus stops with designated pull off areas for buses, and better traffic merge etiquette. They should be chipped with a IoT cellular beacon so would-be passengers and PTU officials can map exactly who’s actually on the route that is supposed to be serviced and when. Fire anyone who can’t adapt.
https://www.beforward.jp/nissan/civilian-bus/bk464835/id/2966577/
Many minds blown by your comment. This is Sci-fi stuff to our transportation minister. And CIG does not fire incompetents they instead promote them.
World Class!
And the customers can see when the bus is coming. And match it to the posted schedule at the stop. (Shoot, put in WiFi at the stops and sell advertising on that too. Thanks to Rotary for the bus stops.)
don’t worry… kenny will sort it….zzzzzzzzzz
🤣
All they do is park in the middle of the road and stop wherever, no following any laws of the road so these guys should all be fired and start with an actual public bus system that works and runs all the way to the eastern districts as well because these guys don’t drive there because all they want are the fairs that are easy in Eastern avenue and West Bay.
Don’t forget driving up on your bumper and claiming their arms, and gesticulating if I drive within the limit and they are unable to fly by. If I was the Minister I would call their bluff. That would be a good way to get rid of the crazies among them.
Oops I meant to say “flailing” their arms. The spellcheck police 🚨 must be off island?
I’ve even received a couple of raised middle fingers when going at 25mph up the ‘old’ west bay road near the Marriott….they don’t obey the laws/rules of the roads!!
Who are they to protest when they have no respect for other drivers on the road.
Expats have more rights. Do n’t you know that.
Wait, so because the PTB is trying to make bus routes more like how they are in other countries, they all lost their shit? Buses here are more like bastardised taxis, rather than buses. They should have a route and one that someone could time themselves with. Many countries in the world you might have to switch buses, figure it out. Normal countries you can’t demand to be taken off route.
Why is everything so backwards here?
Why ask why? Pass the rum.
Pass the spliff.
pon de left hand side.
Get rid and get decent buses on logical routes instead of this nonsense. If some people have to walk a little bit, boo-hoo!
“Bus service”? Hardly.
Why are our bus drivers being paid by fares? Salary them. Make bus tickets transferable. Fare collection can reduce the expenses for public transport, which should be offered as a public service. Why do we decide to engage in the equivalency of a poor taxi/commuter service with drivers more akin to independent contractors? It’s like we looked at all the places that do public transport well and said “nope, we can find a way to make it worse.”
Exactly!
The one thing Cayman IS good at… Making things worse
And to be fair on these private operators, the bus fare been $2 for decades, great if working GT/WB, not so much BT, EE, NS stuck in gridlock twice a day and driving around empty for the rest of the day.
Cowards, should have immediately revoked every single one of their licenses.
what an amazing concept. Have exact routes!!! whats next, asking drivers not to curse and not talk on their phone while driving!!! the horror!
so cig just caved in to the bus drivers…..zzzzz
just another day in wonderland.
Without another solution in place, there would be no end to the complaints if our public transportation system were shut down for any extended period of time. It would be political suicide to allow that to happen without an alternative ready to go. I hope this prompts them to nationalize the bus system and fire every single one of them that protested doing their job in the correct way.
For persons who rely on the bus service to get to work and school, the CIG chose to do what was necessary to ensure those persons did not risk their jobs because of an expanding strike from bus operator.
tail wagging the dog
Just like the developer tails.
Pass the rum.
All drivers should be doing all routes on a rotational basis, they have a license and need to follow the conditions of said license, which includes operating the stated routes.
A lot of assumptions on licenses!
At least they have licenses.
Routes? They don’t need no stinkin’ routes!
Please please please could these buffoon bus drivers not stop on the Shamrock/Marina corner right next door to McRuss? It’s incredibly dangerous because it totally blocks the view of those coming out of Marina. Unless they’re prohibited from doing it, and that prohibition is enforced (ho ho), there will one day be an almighty collision.
And further up by where Di Kitchen used to be. They stop right at the exit of the road…blocking all view from opposite traffic. They all deserve to lose their jobs, not one of them is decent.
They stop in the middle of the crosswalk outside St Matthew’s residences on West Bay Road every day. Beat that.
By the Kebab stand after Selkirk.
People coming out of Selkirk haven’t got a chance
In the middle of the turn lane leading to Tropical Gardens.
Similar situation at the junction of Northward and Shamrock roads.
There is a well defined ‘pull off’ with a bus shelter just a few yards east of the junction.
By stopping on the road they restrict the visibility of traffic turning east towards Bodden Town.
An accident waiting to happen!
Well, now they know that they need more busses on Route 1 and fewer on Route 2. See how this could have been fixed years ago if they had just followed the bus routes properly? (And tracked ridership. And the busses with GPS.)
Now get to the other routes around GT that are not being run (properly).
These guys are literally the worst and they’re protesting because the rules are being enforced? Just fire them all and start over from scratch