A plan announced yesterday to allow minibuses into terminals beside Transport Board units to enhance transport service islandwide has won the approval of the private operators.
However, veteran minibus operator and head of the Association of Public Transport Operators (APTO), Morris Lee, has called on Minister of Transport and Works Michael Lashley to go one step further by removing the restriction of private operators to a single route, and making at least 100 idle buses, including those not now in working order, available to them so they can put them back on the road.
During a tour of the Fairchild Street terminal yesterday morning accompanied by Minister of Education Ronald Jones and officials of the Transport Board, Lashley said the requirements and the guidelines that would allow the private operators to work side by side with Government-owned buses would shortly be going to Cabinet.
Later he explained to the DAILY NATION that they would begin by carefully selecting the first set of operators who were willing to conform to the standards set, which would include regular inspection of the vehicles to ensure they remained roadworthy.
