Dear Editor,
There are in excess of thirty buses plying the Georgetown/Timehri route but the Timehri bus park can only accommodate eleven buses at any given time. Nine of these buses can park diagonally (East to West) and two can park North to South.
The Park is located between Brickdam and Hadfield Streets and is west of Parlia-ment building. At the corner of Brickdam just outside Parliament building there are two road marking signs viz “No-Stopping- No-Parking” and at Hadfield Street – there is a No-Parking sign also. On the northern side of Hadfield Street the Linden Bus Park is situated and on the southern side the Linden hire car park and the Georgetown to Lethem/Mahdia bus park is located. Whenever these Timehri buses come from Timehri if there is no vacant parking space at the Park, where will they stop for their passengers to disembark bearing in mind that a ‘No-Parking’ area is there, also `No-Stopping’.
They cannot stop by the Linden Bus Park because those buses that ply the Linden route are parked two abreast, so the drivers risk being charged for obstruction of traffic should they stop there to put off passengers. The closest area where they can stop without having to be afraid of committing a traffic breach is on Hadfield Street and east of High Street.
The other option is to take a chance and stop on the “No-Stopping” zone hoping that traffic officer does not show up and apprehend you as it takes less than five minutes for those passengers to disembark. However, for the bus to be loaded with passengers will take sometimes in excess of two hours. This is where the problem lies. You cannot have the bus on the restricted areas for such long periods to load passengers. It means therefore that the driver wishing to load his bus will have to wait until a vacant space on the park is available. Sometime this will require him to circle the area until such space becomes available.
I have monitored this situation and observed that having accommodation for 15 buses to occupy the park at the same time will solve this problem. This requires for space to be created for one more bus to be parked diagonally and three others to park North to South. I am not sure whether or not a meeting with the members of the mini-bus association was held so that input and concerns could have been made before the actual location of the bus park was decided.
Finally a “No-Stopping” Zone close to a bus park which does not have adequate parking space to accommodate the buses is a recipe for corruption when the traffic officer apprehends you for either stopping on the ‘No-Stopping area’ or obstruction of traffic. It is either they take the bus and driver to Brickdam Police Station or for the driver do what he has to do. If the driver and bus are taken to the station they are detained for long periods and this is so unfair. Why not give the driver a traffic ticket and allow him to continue working. I think if the `No-Stopping’ marking is removed and `No-Parking’ markings remain three more buses can be accommodated North to South.
Yours faithfully,
Colin Gill
