Public service vehicle (PSV) owners are much closer to rolling out their cashless payment system.
However, chairman of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT), Roy Raphael, says although they are seeking to make the payment process more efficient and ensure the safety of operators, cash will still be accepted.
He said recently they were striving to have the pilot project up and running in December.
“The cashless system came up during COVID because at the time we were getting a lot of attacks on PSV workers and we felt the time had come for us to roll out the cashless system. We are closer to the reality. We are in discussion with two providers and we are expected to sign a deal with either one or both of them,” Raphael said.
In the meantime, he said they would be implementing a public awareness campaign to inform Barbadians about the upcoming changes and incentives.
“We realised that a lot of Barbadians didn’t understand so we will have a public education campaign. Cash will not be ruled out altogether. However, we want to make it attractive for people to use the cashless system. When you go cashless, we propose that you will get some free rides in between. Those are some of the incentives we are looking at. For example, if you leave Six Roads to go to Warrens, if you get on one of the cashless buses, you have up to two hours to get on another bus without paying again,” he added.
When the pilot project begins, Raphael said, between five and ten operators on five routes will be participating, which will be publicised at another date.
He said there were various ways to pay.
“You can use a QR code, a debit card to tap and go. We are also speaking to the Ministry of Technology so that older persons can use the Trident IDs on the buses. Within the next six months there are a lot of issues we will have to deal with so that’s why we decided to go the route of the pilot, rather than rolling [out] 300 one time,” he said.
He said most owners were on board with the process.
While noting that some jobs could be affected, the AOPT boss said plans were being put in place to prevent significant displacement.
“Some of the conductors will be displaced because with a cashless system you don’t need as many conductors, but we can make a number of them drivers. With the new Road Traffic Act you have to attend a course to work on a PSV, so we will train them to become drivers. We also expect that there will be five to eight persons to be employed because there are areas where people have to top up their cards,” he said.
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