Public service vehicle (PSV) operators are set to tighten security measures this year in response to a surge in violent crime, the head of the private transport owners group revealed on Tuesday.
The move, which includes the introduction of cashless fares and surveillance cameras, comes as police express alarm over a spate of murders and gun attacks involving young offenders.
Chairman of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) Roy Raphael said concerns surrounding the surge in crime last year have prompted his association to heighten security this year.
“One of the concerns for last year was the increase in crime with the escalation in shootings. That is one of our major concerns, which would force some of our members not to work after hours. So, we will be urging the government to do something about this. We will continue to heighten our security,” Raphael told Barbados TODAY.
“Where crime has escalated in a country it could also trickle down to the public transport sector in some way or another, which includes the taxi operators. Those could be targeted as part of the crime situation.”
Insisting that the industry does not want that to happen, the PSV leader is proposing to meet with the Commissioner of Police to be advised on ways to minimise their risks.
Raphael also pointed out that PSV owners and operators will be encouraged to install cameras and global positioning system (GPS) navigation and to report any suspicious-looking individuals to the police.
He said the enhanced security will also mean PSV workers will not carry large sums of money while on duty.
“We have already started to work with the cashless system,” the AOPT head said. “We promise to have the system in place by December. The Transport Board has gone ahead with theirs, but I think there are some issues we need to resolve, and as soon as they are resolved, we should see our first cashless bus hitting the roads of Barbados this year.”
In 2019, a ZR driver was shot by a passenger who tried to rob him. In another incident, a ZR conductor was stabbed to death at the Cheapside Terminal.
In 2023, the driver of a Route 6 van was stabbed several times by another motorist in an apparent case of road rage, in Hindsbury, St Michael, and was hospitalised.
Reports had also reached the AOPT that year of taxi workers being attacked over fare disputes, including an incident in which a passenger stabbed a driver on the Wanstead route after refusing to pay him.
In July that year, in a case that gained massive public attention, two men tried to rob ZR driver Marlon Tempro at gunpoint.
On Monday, Acting Commissioner of Police Erwin Boyce expressed particular concern that there have been three homicides in the first two weeks of the year.
Boyce also said the police are concerned that illegal firearms are ending up in the hands of very young men who are acting recklessly.
The police have pledged an all-out war on crime.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
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