Rapid
rail forum: Buying buses, maxis and taxis don’t
make a mass transit system
By Sherwin Long
The Trinidad Guardian
Port
Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
02 11 07
Special
interest groups renew call for rapid transit bus
service, Transit Authority, financial feasibility
study of rapid rail project.
Dr
Rae Furlonge: buying buses, maxis and taxis don’t
make a mass transit system.
Furlonge: Roads improved 5 per cent, but population
grew 40 per cent, numbers of driver’s licenses
issued increased 300 per cent.
Furlonge:
at peak times 200,000 persons travel from East Trinidad
into Port-of-Spain in 7,000 vehicles. 16,000 from
all directions enter San Fernando in 6,000 vehicles
Dr
Trevor Townsend: Government should do a national
physical development plan, comprehensive national
transportation plan and investment study before
making decision on rail project
Economist
Dennis Pantin: Government should provide incentives
for businesses to relocate out of Port-of-Spain.
JCC
president Winston Riley, T&T Transparency Institute
vice-chairman Victor Hart question tendering process
Hart:
it’s like Piarco Airport project, questions
need for fast-tracking
Riley:
principles of white paper on public sector reform
sidestepped.
Government
will award a contract for the construction of the
proposed rapid rail system in three weeks, but special
interest groups are again demanding consideration
of a rapid transit bus service, a Transit Authority
and a financial feasibility study for the project.
These
calls were made yesterday during a public forum
on the rapid rail project hosted by the Association
of Professional Engineers (APETT).The forum was
held at the Bureau of Standard’s auditorium,
Century Drive, Macoya.
Traffic
and transportation consultant Dr Rae Furlonge suggested
that T&T had a skewed perception of mass transit.
“Buses,
maxis and taxis don’t form a transit system.
We feel when we buy 50 PTSC buses or buy maxis that
is a transit system,” he said. “It requires
management, it requires organisation.”
He
said from 1966 to 1996, roads were improved by 5
per cent, the population increased by 40 per cent
and the amount of driver’s licenses issued
increased by 300 per cent.
Furlonge
gave estimates on the amount of persons travelling
and San Fernando during peak hours.
He
said during peak hours 200,000 persons travelled
from the East into Port-of-Spain in 7,000 vehicles.
He
said 16,000 persons travelled from all directions
into San Fernando in 6,000 vehicles during peak
hours.
Furlonge
also made an argument for rapid transit bus service,
showing video of the bus services in Brazil, Colombia
and Australia.
Transport
engineer Dr Trevor Townsend said the Government
had to undertake several initiatives before considering
the rapid rail project.
He
mentioned the need for a national physical development
plan and comprehensive national transportation plan.
These
plans, plus an investment study, would inform the
Government on the rail project, he added.
Townsend
was a former CEO of the Public Transport Service
Corporation.
Economist
Dennis Pantin said the Government should provide
incentives for private sector companies to relocate
from Port-of-Spain.
He
also noted that if the rapid rail system will take
eight years to complete there should be a plan to
ease traffic woes in the interim.
Pantin
said if the rail system was constructed alongside
the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway, there would be
traffic problems during its construction.
Both
JCC president Winston Riley and T&T Transparency
Institute vice-chairman Victor Hart questioned the
tendering process for the project.
Hart
compared the rapid rail to the scandal-ridden Piarco
Airport development project.
“The
rapid rail project is being fast-tracked, as was
Piarco, both for reasons never fully explained,”
he said. “In the name of fast-tracking, corners
were cut on Piarco with disastrous results.”
Riley
said principles in the white paper on public sector
reform were being sidestepped.
He
questioned the National Infrastructure Development
Company’s ability to evaluate consultants
for the project.
And
he claimed that one of the preferred organisations
in the bidding process had been investigated by
the European Commission for improprieties.
He
said the organisation had been fined $750 million.
Former
UNC Works and Transport Minister Sadiq Baksh, who
was in attendance, told the Guardian afterward that
the forum was important, adding that it was unfortunate
Works and Transport Minister Colm Imbert was not
present.
“There
is no doubt that I absolutely support the white
paper on the revamping of the procurement process
and the establishment of all the monitoring agencies
that go along with it,” he said.
“I
would love to have had the benefit of this counsel
ten years ago.”
The
Trinidad Guardian
Thursday 8th February, 2007
Copyright
©2006 The Trinidad Guardian. All Rights Reserved.
