Stupsss You Know How Long I Waiting On The Bus?

So we meet again for a next blog entry :) . So we have covered the main forms of mobility in the city ( can you remember them?) This post is now focused on the problems some persons experience in getting from one place to another in or out of the city. The persons to whom I refer to are those that depend on public transport daily as their main form of mobility in the city. For those persons who lack their own vehicle, their next option to get around the city is to walk or use public transport. The above picture on the left was taken in Curepe on my way to Port-of- Spain. It’s a picture of dozens of persons waiting on the PTSC bus to get to their destination. The picture on the right was taken in City Gate, Port- of –Spain. It’s a picture of numerous nonfunctional PTSC buses. I can personally relate to this stranded commuters as I too was stranded on many occasions as a maxi taxis were difficult to get. Isn’t this picture ironic? On the left, many commuters waiting on a bus and on the right dozens of nonfunctional buses. Why not fix these buses to boost the number of buses available?

According to Hall and Barrett (2012) there are several issues surrounding car based mobility. Two of these problems are : increased traffic congestion and environmental damage. In order to reduce the traffic congestion, Hall and Barrett ( 2012) recommends the use of bicycles as a form of mobility, However bicycles are very impracticable  when persons have to travel long distances. According to City of Albuquerque (2013) one of the best ways to reduce traffic congestion and reduce environmental damage is by using mass transit. In Trinidad we have mass transit in the form of Buses. These public forms of transport helps reduce traffic congestion as dozens of persons travel at the same time in one bus, so instead of having numerous cars on the road there will just be one bus. This form of transport is also beneficial to the environment as it reduces the carbon dioxide that is being emitted by cars. Also, this is a very economic form of transport as buses are cheap and also reduces the amount of maintenance a person will have to do on their car if they were to drive it every day. With all the benefits of taking the bus one would think that all persons will be willing to avoid buying a car or leave their personal vehicles home and use the bus. However, when the bus is late or there are few buses to serve an area results in person being forced to use their personal vehicle. The problems faced by commuters with respect to buses arriving late are not something that is new. When questioned about the buses arriving late a frequent user of the bus responded “ the bus and thing nice but they always run late, we fed up running late to work.” In order to encourage more persons to use the bus in Trinidad, PTSC must have more buses in the service to avoid the delay in buses arriving late at certain pick up destinations.

With respect to the commuter I interviewed about the tardiness of the buses, he responded  "the bus and thing nice but they always run late, we fed up running late to work.” From this response I thought the below song  was just perfect with respect to the cries of persons who use the bus as a form of mobility. Just a small verse from the song (8) I fed up of the same thing over and over(8)

Reference

City of Albuquerque.2013. “Riding the Bus” Accessed April 10 2013. http://www.cabq.gov/transit/modes-of-transportation/riding-the-bus

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