The President of the Gros Islet Minibus Association, Danny Edward, has explained that a traffic backup due to a collision between two vehicles at Choc and not strike action by bus operators caused commuters at the Gros Islet bus stand in Castries to endure a long wait for public transportation on Tuesday morning.
“I want to put on the record that we have 179 buses operating on the Gros Islet route which I find is sufficient,” Edward told St Lucia Times.
But he observed that for the past year, there had been several vehicles on the Castries to Gros Islet route.
Edward said his association had unsuccessfully tried different initiatives to address the problem.
And he explained that there had been much more pressure on bus operators’ resources over the past week since the authorities closed the  Vieux Sucrieux road.
The association President noted that Tuesday’s vehicle accident at Choc trapped Gros Islet minibus operators in traffic.
“There was a traffic backup because of the accident,” Edward explained.
He felt that the long-term solution is a better road network since the vehicle traffic has outgrown the current one.
In this regard, Edward recalled a conversation with a Transport Ministry official who disclosed that there had been almost 30,000 vehicle registrations since the start of the year.
“That is not sustainable,” he asserted.
“So what the government, or the powers that be, need to do, in my view, is accommodate minibuses to have less vehicles on the road so people could park their vehicles and use the bus service,” Edward told St Lucia Times.
“Now what sense does it make if you have to take the bus and you’re still caught up in the traffic?” He said.
In this regard, Edward noted that some countries, including some in the Caribbean, have bus routes.
“I believe the time has come when we should have a discussion about giving priority to the buses so we can transport the people at a faster pace and in a more timely manner. I think that would be the long-term solution for the Castries-Gros Islet Highway,” he stated.
However, Edward acknowledged that the idea of specialised for buses-only routes might not sit well with motorists.
But he said the authorities could incentivise people to park their vehicles and use the bus system.
It makes sense. In many countries there are only bus roads and anyone that isn’t transporting people that on that road will be arrested
Upgrade your service by having clean buses for the least. We not even going on to the attitudes of some of the drivers.
There is nothing like minibus operators, they are minibus drivers.
“He felt that the long-term solution is a better road network since the vehicle traffic has outgrown the current one.”
Irrespective of how good the network is, if drivers are not educated on proper road usage and behave like morons, you will have the chaos we have here. Driving habits are totally idiotic, like yielding on a “highway” to allow a merge from a minor road. Never see that kind of madness except in St. Lucia.
Some of these old, nasty buses should not be on the road. I don’t mind leaving my vehicle at home to go to work in Castries since parking is a shitparty down there, but I would hate to be caught in traffic in the rain, yet alone on a highest speed wrikitty wreck piece of junk which stinks of oil. There are also a couple of donkeys who don’t know how to deal with people behind the wheels too, but that’s another story. Until then, I will drive my Jap trap to Castries tun!
I agree wholeheartedly with Traffic Engineer, especially with yielding on a highway. Most St. Lucian drivers are morons, they stand in traffic for hours but when they get to a minor road they stop and allow 20+ vehicles to come onto the highway. This happens at almost every intersection be it business place or otherwise especially at the intersection near Computer World. Lord help the morons!!!!. When will they learn!!
Solution: Sea ferries. It may be slower in time efficiency, but one gets away from the madness on the roads. This time – allow the government to run it (OMG!!). I sincerely hope they can standardise and maintain this system.
Ray and Traffic are spot on. The funniest bit, is a driver speeding past you or cutting you off to get ahead only to stop at every junction to let others in while flooring it in between stops. That kind of driving takes a serious toll on the engine with the starts and stops and varied engine speed. Your fuel economy will suffer badly as well. Vehicles burn on average 30% more fuel with constant stopping versus maintain a constant speed. So these morons and their idiotic driving on the highway is costing you serious money in fuel. Then there is the added wear and tear on your brakes, suspension and of course loss of time. If drivers here learn the concept of right of way the traffic issue will lessen significantly. These people’s heads need to be checked. Unfortunately, we’re in a place where everything is ass backwards. This place is a zoo that is masquerading as a country.
Seem like Wednesday morning and afternoon had accident too!
These nasty buses and unmannerly and disrespectful bus drivers were the reasons for me to get my own vehicle. Imagine taking bus to work and when you get off you are smelling like the dirty bus, your beige skirt dirty because the seats dirty.
having riad blocks at traffic pick hours dosent help so many contributing factors we need roads above roads from vigie to the north the pm took out the largest loan now is the time to put it to use give us a reason to put u back in power next time around do right by us and we will return the favor
60% or more of those busses should not be on the road! From seating issues to broken brake lights etc! The busses are always dirty! The Bus drivers are rude!!!!!! Fix YOUR System and maybe persons will be more inclined to park and ride!
Bus drives drive as if the roads belong to them! Stopping in the middle of the road to let off and pick up passengers! Coming out with no indication etc
Someone in authority has to step in to arrest the crap that passes for bus service on the 1A route. It suck like real shit. The drivers treat money paying passengers like dirt. I was very opposed to the increase they got because I felt they did not deserve it and would make them more arrogant, it did exactly that. I know the highway it a major source of frustration to all but the service in 2023 for the most popular route, it woeful and sorrowful. If that organization has any headship, they should be ashamed of the lousy service metted to us the paying public.