Retired nurse, Ophelia Linton, has made an impassioned call to government for a standardization or re-organization of the current public transport system in Dominica.
Linton, who retired after 35 years in the nursing profession, insists that the current system is a liability to the country and a danger to nurses, who sometimes cannot find adequate, timely transportation home.
“If we have a good transportation system, everybody will be accommodated, not only nursing personnel leaving work late, children going to classes; we will have that facility. And if we continue to leave the transport system in the hands of private citizens we have to have laws [by] which it can be governed,” she remarked.
Linton pointed out that progress is tied to people’s ability to move around the country and the fact that privately owned buses are governed by the whim and fancy of the owners and drivers is detriment to the country’s development.
“The [buses] cannot stop running at 6 o’clock, the world does not end at 6 o’clock. And on Saturdays and Sundays and bank holidays, the transportation system is not friendly to people wanting move up and down in the country and must be dealt with at a national level,” Linton said.
The only reason why myself and my wife both have a vehicle is because of the unreliable bus service in this country.
There are many places around the island I would like to visit but sometimes just too tired to drive there and back…
The public transportation system definitely has to be looked into…!
You guys are crazy. Its sad, yet intresting to read the comments stated. This article has been one of the few much needed toipcs to address. T’was about time, the radio commentators need to stop entertaining nonsense and indeed step up, this addressing much needed issues.
Its amazing, during the day buses race to town via the west coast road and from six the biggest bull could run to town via the same route.. You guys need to think outside the box. You need not travel to observe these things cause it looks you in the eye.
Dominicas is time to take stand and think positively. Stop allowing politics to bombard your minds. We are better than this.
If they knew that there would be buses running on Sunday then maybe the people would be on the road.
You are correct! I would be roaming all over Dominica on a Sunday if only I could get a
bus.
i agree hundred percent, on a sunday i want to go on the beach or somewhere to relax and i cant even do that cuz there are no buses running, this is so ridiculous.
Remember our ministers travel and they damn well see the sytems in other countries.the ball is in their camp longtime.
I have being stating this sentiments for way too long. That is why everyone trying to purchase a car cause those bus drivers stop very early and then they saying things tight in Dominica. They want to raise bus fees, they must raise the hours they work for.
I agree! It seems they cannot unite to organize themselves into groups and divide the day into shifts
so that there are busses on the road for longer hours but they CAN unite to strike and demand that
we pay them more money for the same poor service.
Oh dear.
i agree, but we too busy fighting over politics – maybe later, okay?
i agree. this is something i have been saying for a while. the bus drivers need to be regulated. further more, who are they contributing to the economic growth of the country? everybody who has a reasonable job pays income tax… You can think of bus drivers as being self employed, do they pay income tax? i beleive if they were paying tax they would want to stay on the road longer.
i couldnt agrees with you more about paying taxes not only the bus driver people in the building trade as well and farmers who always geting duty free but making little contribution
our people and government still thinks we are living in the 18th century
Is tru that the bus system sucks sometimes, but u have to look at it from the point of the bus drivers too. As a bus driver, I would not be running up and down on a Sunday cause nobody does be on the road. I have to put gas in the bus after-all, and is money that going to full the tank, and I might be wrong, but the price of gas doesn’t magically go lower on a Sunday
I like your comment and it is true and that is why we need a national(Public) bus system. To pick up people who needs to move on weekends and late nights. I remember picking up people on the road on a sunday when I was in Dominica last year in my renter Car/SUV on my way to Melville hall aiport. I remember picking up one lady on her way to the airport to get a flight.
I was wondering what would become of her if I did not stop:( I felt sad as it seemed lonesome waiting in the sun on a desolate Sunday afternoon.
That’s exactly why it should be regulated brother. Nobody wants you pounding the roads, burning gas without reward.
I agree that bus drivers wont want to run on a Sunday because it seems like no one wants
to travel on that day. But the lack of people on the road is due to the lack of transportation.
Look at it this way, no one went to Melville Hall looking for a direct flight to Margarita before,
but it wasnt because no one wanted to travel there, it was because people knew that no
such flight was available. Once Conviasa introduced Dominica-Margarita flights people HAVE
travelled that route and the airline HAS had passengers.
So I believe that people do want to travel on a Sunday but are discouraged by the lack of
reliable transportation. Once there is a bus service they can count on, they will come out to
patronize it! And of course, the numbers will be small at first and grow with time. That is why
the bus drivers should get together, organize themselves and rotate. So that he who runs
his route on this sunday will have the next 2 or 3 sundays off.
At the basic level peharps the bus drivers can agree a rota system say from 7 till 10pm on some routes.
The bus drivers moto is ‘every bus driver for himself and God for us all!’ so good luck with the rota system…!
I totally agree with the nurse. There’s also alot more things in Dominica that needs changing into standard systems but Dominicans including the politicians are so much up their arses and small minded they cant see them. It will be exhausting changing Dominicans. But they need to change or go somewhere abroad to broaden their minds. Maybe the nurse did just that!!
I gree 100% this has always been my desire. People can say what they want but the positive far outweighs the negative. If we are talking progress this is a must. We will also see a reduction in traffic accidents because no one will be speeding to make 100 trips, since everyone will operate on schedule.
I agree completely with Nurse Linton.
I think our development is being limited by the poor transportation. What if someone from La Plaine
wants to take an evening french class or a CXC math class? That person cannot do that because
the last bus to La Plaine leaves too early. Unless that person buys a vehicle that opportunity for
advancement is lost.
And what of the local who wants to visit the toe of the island and take a sea bath at Scottshead.
Can that local count on a bus service that will get him/her from Scottshead to Roseau and back on
a Sunday? Unless a reliable bus service can be provided, the people of Scottshead will continue
to loose these potential tourists who will certainly patronise bars and shops after a sea bath.
YES YES YES YES YES .. they need regulation or a national system.
All buses leave the same time!
All buses pass the same route!
Most buses do not go certain areas .. too far, etc.
Most buses want to run Roseau to Mahaut or Pte Mitchel to Roseau
After 6pm it’s hard to find a bus to go to St. Joseph or Portsmouth.
Forget Sundays and holidays!
why waste time with standards in dominica…its is a factual matter that dominicans are not worried about anything…they love their skero and thats the fact….dominica is a drunken society which includes some rather highly educated fools…
I would believe and rank you in the uneducated fool category then. Based on your comment you have no significant desire to improve the system of your such beloved Dominica. Why then shall you appeal to not being worried about such an issue at hand. It is with good deed that the nurse hopes that such a system be regulated and its not only being done in the Island of Dominica. Many other islands have bus schedules and Dominica does not. Sometimes you find your self getting the next bus in less than 5 minutes or so and other times you find your self sitting or standing and waiting for the next hour. Why not regulate the system? There are many positives that will DEFINITELY outweigh the negatives. Its not because its a Sunday that people wouldn’t want to move around from village to village, its because BUS DRIVERS DO NOT CONSIDER THEIR MARKET and because of laziness people tend to either stay home or stay in the village. Wasn’t it on Sunday that you find your grandparents have visitors, sometimes they have to hire a bus driver just to drop them from one point A to point B on a Sunday, some people go to church throughout the day. Their best option is to “BUM-A-RIDE” as we call it.
Wouldn’t it be fair if nurses know that every hour between the hours of 10pm to 5am a bus will be traveling to their destination depending on the distance from Roseau? Wouldn’t it be fair to workers and school children to know that every 15 minutes between 6am to 6pm a bus will be traveling from Grand Bay to Roseau? Wouldn’t it be fair for workers and school kids in portsmouth and marigot to know that the next bus will be leaving every 20mins on the hour from 6am to 7pm back and forth? wouldn’t be good to know that buses will be traveling to the airport or in the canefield area every 10 mins? Wouldn’t bus drivers then take their time to drive knowing that they are on a schedule and even they are on time they do not have to speed because the next driver will take their sale? Wouldn’t be fair to tourists and other visitors to know when the next bus is leaving so they too can plan their day in a good manner? wouldn’t it be better for YOU so you won’t have to hustle for the next bus because you know its okay you won’t be late because the next bus will be leaving in 10mins?? SO MANY OTHER WOULDN’TS I can come up with.
Scammer your name says it all you would love to scam the people’s mind in this country only because you do not seek development. You seek the olden days of riding a mule and a donkey!!
Friend, you’re rather late. After 35years, u speak as if u just start the job. Y didn’t u make the remarks to the “good” governments of the past when u were supposed to have been fearful for your safety?
It does not matter how long it has taken Mrs Linton to state the obvious.
The bus service in Dominica is in a mess, if it was regulated we would have a safer and more reliable service. The streets of Roseau would not be so congested. At present it’s a free for all, do as you please service, with no thought for the travelling public.
No one after 6 ,so no buses. Ask LIAT.
YO WANT LIAT TO START A BUS SERVICE IN DOMINICA? LIAT would do a better job.
I agree ….We need a Bus Terminal
All this rah rah, that is being brought up after the nurse made a sensible observation is not necessary. The buses need to be governed by an independent body or by the government itself. The public transportation system cannot be governed by the bus drivers themselves, who will operate on their own time, and shut down when they feel like it. As a result the public is left standing in no mans land because there is no standard system. The commuters are practically lost, with no idea of when the bus will be coming and if it is still operating, leaving late night commuters abandoned or neglected by the lack of a system of operation.
This is the most sensible and intelligent suggestion i have heard in a while on DNO…..these are the type to topic that the hot seat and the kairi shows should entertain. Its time Kairi, Q95 and DBS step up the level back home and stop with the baseless conversation.
Linton you see very late when you were in the nursing profession your jaw was shot I find you love them too much now If you wants to have a bus service you can go ahead and operate after hours for people to brakay you or go up for election in marigot in Eddo’s position because he is hallucinating
What a lot of crap!!
Its not cr*p. Its the truth. I agree with LC.
Excellent suggestion. And why can’t we have a scheduled bus service to Melville Hall airport? Not everyone can afford the fares of the taxi monopoly that operates there are the moment.
Good POINT MS LINTON YOU MAKE SOME GOOD OBSERVATION. SAY HI TO YOUR HUBBY FOR ME MR LINTON. EX. POLICE.
U have the wrong nurse linton. this nurse linton is the cousin to the x-police not his wife….
Hahahah .. funny!
From the same family not too far off. But thanks for the correction see all the way from Germany and a stroke on the net. We have come a long way?
Dominica need Licensed Buses and Taxes like a metro system. That way some bus drivers wouldn’t tiff ppl. Sometimes they charge u way over the nromal price cause they hear an accent.. I know about this.