Government’s dead-end view of PH taxis | Print |
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Again, we are forced to revisit the issue of the illegal trade of the “PH” taxis.

“PH” taxis plying their services for hire across T&T is only one symptom of a deeper issue, which is the lack of commitment by the Government to provide reliable transportation systems, so that the traveling public would not have to depend on “PH” taxis.

Maybe those in authority should try using the public transportation service for one day during rush hours to experience what it is like waiting for as long as three hours for a taxi to take you home.

The situation with the maxi taxis at City Gate is enough to leave you in a depressed mood, and if you have a low tolerance for the drama that takes place at City Gate every afternoon, the taxi stand would make you feel even more disenchanted, because the “H” taxis have already met their quota for the day.

The PH taxis are the ones who now take up the slack for the rest of the evening and sometimes into the early hours of the next morning.

Consider this: People who work shift and do not get off until 2 in the morning have no choice but to use PH taxis.
What about people who live in rural areas or new housing developments where there isn’t a regular taxi service?

Maybe if these people were provided with a bus service in their area, they would not be obligated to make use of the PH taxi service.

Acting Police Commissioner James Philbert admitted that the police had not been doing their jobs in the “crackdown” against PH drivers on the road.

Minister of Works and Transport Colm Imbert even condemned PH taxi drivers for not paying the $140 to convert to H. Perhaps if the laws had been enforced a long time ago, we would not be faced with this situation today.

Taking PH taxis off our roadways completely would only worsen an already inefficient transportation system in this country.

The Student Press is not condoning the PH taxi trade. We cannot stress enough the need for the government of the day to put measures in place to ensure that there is a significant amount of public transportation available for those of us who do not have the luxury of owning our own vehicles to take us where we want to go.

Another plan by the government to get rid of the PH taxis is to replace the Licensing Division with a Drivers and Vehicles Licensing Authority by the end of the year. Let’s see how that turns out.

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Well...
written by random_grrl , May 09, 2009

In all of this, I know the law is supposed to protect us and also human trafficking is real. The trafikkers may be going a specific destination and one cannot tell from a PH car who is just a taxi you know. I think if the PH's want to join the H's they should change their liscence plates to H so that their can be some order on the roads and more H cars at our service. Think about it...Do you rather safety or not?


um...
written by Aliyah Rabathaly , May 12, 2009

it is believed if the government had enforced this law before then we would not be discussing it. i mean there are some common irregularities with female passengers and the drivers but all of this can be traced to the pm's dont care mentality. but then again its not the pm's lack of effort but trinidadians general enjoyment in doing illegal things.this is all a poor man's way to eat at the end of the day.


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written by brad , July 09, 2009

I gotta agree with you. I have a car but usually I travel to town, and getting from Curepe to home is difficult, say around 1pm which is usually the time I get back, and the only ones to get me there are the PH drivers.

Here is the simple catch22

1) PH drivers are illegal, yet the law doesn't do anything to stop them (well barely does anything)

2) Proper taxi routes are not extensive enough to cater to many people's destinations

3) Drivers are too lazy to work certain hours of the day

So what am I supposed to do? Wait till 3 to 4pm. Not happening. I just look for the decent looking PH cars (not the ghetto kinds) so I can get home quickly.



...
written by Tracey , August 12, 2009

lol brad, but is the law ever enforced? Especially when many officers of the law have PH cars on the roda.


hmm
written by innocent bystander , February 26, 2010

to me in this country the way it is we can implement how many thousands of new laws and pass new builds but what is the sense if there is no one to monitor the situation? the current attitude is more like put it in and see what happens!!!! but like anything in this world if the system doesnt function properly people find a way to go around this problem because life doesnt stop for the law or government or anything like that



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