Sinanan: Taxi driver campaign coming next week

Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan said, beginning next week, his ministry will launch a campaign to encourage people to join the legal taxi system. He was addressing members of the TT Taxi Drivers Network (TTTDN), an umbrella body for taxi associations.

Sinanan said this campaign was approved on Thursday, and would be implemented beginning next week. He told the taxi drivers this was one measure the government would be taking to make sure they were not at a disadvantage compared to PH taxi drivers.

Sinanan said a framework for a holistic approach to public transportation was submitted to Cabinet two weeks ago and he hoped it would be approved on Thursday.

“Once Cabinet approves that, I want to assure the taxi associations that they are the first group on the list for consultation, and we are expecting to happen as early as next week because we have a timeframe for implementation.

"The Police Commissioner has indicated his willingness to be at the meeting because we must accept the fact that the drivers are under some stress and pressure from some unruly PH drivers. They do have challenges at some of the stands where they are being overpowered by the illegal forms of transportation. The consultations will involve members of the TTPS, the Transport Board, the Transport Commissioner, it’s a holistic approach, and I can assure you we will have all the right people there to address your concerns.”

Sinanan said he was pleased to see that the taxi associations had formed themselves into an umbrella body, as he had requested. He said this would make it easier to form a taxi driver advisory committee, similar to the maxi-taxi advisory committee, which will meet with the Ministry, PS and technical staff on a more formal, regular basis to identify challenges.

Sinanan said there were no plans to regularise PH cars. He said the framework would take a holistic approach to the transportation system, including rideshares.

TTTDN president Adrian Acosta said members of the network, which represents approximately 30 associations and is trying to add more, had come to the Works and Transport Ministry to see the minister who had promised to meet with them since August 2020. He said there were several issues the drivers wanted to speak about.

He challenged PH drivers to get their taxi badges and fill the gap left by H car drivers in the night.

“Go and do your regulations, get your taxi badges and come out and service the travelling public in the night.

"The law clearly states that we are not supposed to work more than ten hours a day but some of us work 16 hours a day to make the money we are supposed to, and at the end of the day we have families to support too, so we have to take our time off.”

The Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act Chapter 48:50 Clause 121 says, “No person shall drive or cause or permit any person employed by him or subject to his orders to drive any hiring car or motor omnibus, or any goods vehicle, continuously for more than five-and-a-half hours without at least a half hour intervening during which the driver can obtain rest and refreshment, nor for an aggregate of more than ten hours in any twenty-four-hour period, nor for more than fifty-six hours in any one week, and provided that the driver shall have at least ten consecutive hours for rest during such twenty-four-hour period and shall not be employed in any capacity by his employer for more than eleven hours during such twenty-four-hour period.”

Acosta also said the network was promoting uniforms on their member routes, which would have the network’s logo and the route being travelled by that particular taxi. He said the network was working with a company to develop a “a security feature where you can place a sticker on your car, and each passenger that is travelling can scan that sticker to know who is the driver driving the vehicle.”

He said the main reason many taxi drivers did not work at night was because they had been robbed at night and were concerned about their safety.

“We have had discussions with the police and they have said they will try to put more safety measures in place for the travelling public and have a bigger presence around the taxi stands and we have seen them trying their best, we hope it will be continuous and not just for two to three days.”

Acosta also called on the ministry to improve the time it takes to renew a taxi badge, as he said it currently takes three to four weeks. He called on government to do the right thing and fix the roads. He asked that taxi drivers be allowed to fill their vehicles to 100 per cent capacity.

“We see the government has reopened contact sports so we are calling on the people in authority to give us back 100 per cent in our vehicles. The buses and P cars are running with 100 per cent, so as taxi drivers we are losing and we want to cut that loss from next week, otherwise we will be taking action again, we are the only essential service losing money at this time.”