ROAD USERS in and around The City of Bridgetown may soon have an ease in the congestion thanks to the introduction of a new park and ride system traversing the Bridgetown Circle.
Minister of Transport and Works John Boyce yesterday announced plans for a park and ride shuttle system which will see motorists leaving their cars at the Barbados Tourism Investment Incorporated (BTI) car parks at Lower Bay Street and Princess Alice Highway and taking the shuttle service using the tickets that they would have been issued by the car park attendant. Â
The shuttle service was conceptualised to alleviate some of the congestion in and around Bridgetown caused by the temporary closure of Wharf Road.
Lynda Holder, manager of marketing and corporate communication with the Barbados Transport Board, said the free shuttle service would start at the Lower Bay Street car park at 10 a.m. and finish at 5 p.m. and would run every half hour for the first two weeks. Holder noted that this arrangement would be in place at the initial stages but the schedule might change according to the demand for the service which would continue on into the month of December. The buses to be used are the replica buses which can seat 42 persons, but based on the response to the system and if need be, buses from the regular stock will also be utilised.
   Holder added that in light of the financial constraints of the Transport Board, the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), along with several other stakeholders, had come together to make the shuttle possible. The service is a collaborative effort of the BCCI, BTI, the Barbados Transport Board and the Ministry of Transport. Lalu Vaswani, senior vice president of the BCCI, applauded the cooperation by the stakeholders; he explained the need for the initiative, noting that there were over 2 000 business into Bridgetown with over 9 000 employees.
Yesterday, after travelling the route to the Princess Alice car park to get a feel for the journey in the company of Inspector Leon Blades of the Royal Barbados Police Force, Sandra Forde, general manager of the Barbados Transport Board and other officials, Boyce commended those responsible for the effort, noting that any effort to help deal with the mass transport was a great idea. He commended the Transport Board for the initiative to provide a reliable and comfortable service so Barbados can exercise that option of using it, with the hope of making travel easier, especially during the upcoming Christmas period.
  The route for the shuttle service will start at the Lower Bay Street car park, move along the Charles Duncan O’Neal Bridge, take a right to the west of Heroes Square, and turn left onto Broad Street, allowing passengers to disembark at FirstCaribbean International Bank. It takes a left turn onto Prince William Henry Street, travel along Parry Street, then onto Princess Alice Highway. The shuttle will enter the BTI car park and allow passengers to disembark there.
 It will then collect passengers and travel past St Mary’s Church, past City Centre Mall and onto Broad Street, turn left at Prince William Henry Street, go past Central Police Station and move onto Coleridge Street. After moving along Magazine Lane, the shuttle will turn left onto Lower Roebuck Street, turning right at the traffic lights and moving onto Crumpton Street. It will then turn right onto St Michael Row, left onto Charles Duncan O’Neal Bridge and make its way back to the Lower Bay Street BTI car park. (LK)
