Transport Authority to Continue Programme of Capacity Building

In recognition of the importance of transportation to Jamaica’s socio-economic development, the Transport Authority will continue its programme of capacity building, in order to strengthen its role as a regulator.
This was stated by Minister of Housing, Transport, Water and Works, Robert Pickersgill during his contribution to the 2007/08 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives, yesterday (May 30). He also pointed out that the Authority would seek to further improve the turn around time for processing and delivery of road licences to between one and three working days for renewal and 10 to 15 working days for new application.
In the meantime, during the 2006/07 financial year, the Authority implemented new initiatives, which have set the stage for better regulation and monitoring of the public transportation sector.
“The introduction of the state-of-the-art licence forms and stickers with tamper proof features on February 15, 2007 at a cost of approximately US$67,000 is by far one of the significant achievements of the Authority during the last financial year. These features are intended to reduce the incidents of forgery and tampering of licences, which were occurring frequently in the past,” informed Mr. Pickersgill.
The Minister also informed that the Transport Authority would undertake several surveys to inform planning for the public transportation system.
“Route network analysis will be done to determine the travel patterns of commuters. These include, islandwide rationalization survey, bus stop rationalisation survey, origin and destination survey, and the acquisition of a Geographical Information System should enhance the capabilities and effectiveness of the Authority’s Research capabilities,” informed Mr. Pickersgill.