One to go, straight to Arima we going!!

So we meet again for another blog entryJ. In order to get to school on a morning, I first take a car then I walk to the maxi stop. While walking I thought to myself “I already have an entry on walking and cars as a form of mobility, what else can I use.” Then it hit me, well to be more specific it pulled up in front of me, yes the maxi taxi! So far we have covered walking, cycling, driving and the use of buses as forms of mobility, but this week we will be focusing on the maxi taxi as a form of mobility in the city. For me personally, the maxi has been my main form of transport form San Juan to St Augustine on a daily basis. With hundreds of maxi taxi of different sizes and colours available in Trinidad and Tobago it is seen that the maxi taxi is one of the main ways to traverse from city to city. This picture was taken in San Juan showing red band maxi taxis as they await passengers to make the trek to Arima/ Sangre Grande/ Trinicity.

We now live in a world where much of our life in cities is bound up with issues of how to get somewhere ( Hall and Barrett 2012,283.) With this in mine you ask yourself what is a maxi taxi? A maxi taxi is a privately owned mini buses that are used in public transport. These minibuses operate along fixed routes, having fixed fare and meeting points. In addition, they do not operate under a schedule or timetable like the buses. In different parts of the world maxi taxis are called : shared taxi, dollar van, tap tap (Haiti), van or even ruletero (Guatemala), jitney (Atlantic city). Whether you call it maxi taxi or jitney, this form of transport is one of the cheapest available.

Before maxi taxis become so popular in Trinidad the main form of transport was that of trains. The Trinidad Government Railway existed between 1876 and 28^th December 1968. The railway was originally built to connect Port of Spain to Arima, but was later extended to Couva in 1880, San Fernando in 1882, Sangre Grande in 1897, Tabaquite in 1898, Siparia in 1913 and Rio Claro in 1914. At its greatest extent the railway covered approximately 173 km. However, after the end of World War I and the appearance of automobiles, this led to massive changes taking place in the transport system in Trinidad. I began with the phased closure of the railway in April 1953 and on December 1968 the entire railway system was closed (PTSC). In 1981 the advent of the maxi taxi came about. They existed in small 12 seater maxis and the bigger 25 seaters. The colours of the maxis varied like the colours on a rainbow to signify their routes. The colours and destinations of the maxis are as followed:

Port of Spain to Sangre Grande ( Red Band)

Port of Spain to Diego Martin  (Yellow Band)

Port of Spain to San Fernando and including Curepe to Chaguanas ( Green Band)

San Fernando to Princess Town (Black Band)

South of San Fernando ( including Point Fortin, Cedros and Siparia) (Brown Band)

Entire Tobago ( Blue Band)

Maxi taxi hubs can be found in Port of Spain, Arima, Curepe, San Fernando Chaguanas and many other places. This abundance of hubs has made the maxi taxi one of the most popular forms of transport in the country. In addition with fares ranging from $3-10 this is also one of the cheapest ways to get from one town to another. So out of the colours of maxis that I have highlighted how many have you travelled in?

I am sure all the persons who have travelled in a maxi taxi before can relate to this video. For the persons who never travelled in one before, this video basically explains how your journey will most likely be J.

References

Hall and Barrett,2012. Urban Geography. 4^th Edition. London and New York, Routledge Publishing. 2012 (pages 282-301 )

Public Transport Service Corporation.nd. “About Us.” Accessed March 31, 2013 http://www.ptsc.co.tt/about-us.html

Trinidad and Tobago The True Caribbean.2013. “Travel Information, Getting Around.” Accessed March 31, 2013. http://gotrinidadandtobago.com/travel-information/getting-around/