The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE government has identified a route for its pilot project on a new busing system, according to Transport Minister Frankie Campbell, who insisted the program moving forward.

Mr Campbell told media outside Cabinet the project will not be a "mock bus route", but a way to gather data on the feasibility of a unified system.

Funding has already been allocated for the project, he said.

"The hold-up is just getting it going, but the housing has been put in place, the team has been identified, we just need now to get the vehicles (and) put them on the road, because a route itself has already been identified."

He continued: ""The fact of the matter is The Bahamian public, particularly those of us in New Providence, deserve a system that is reliable, deserve a system that gives certain assurances, and so like any other government our job is to do the best we can for the most we can, and the most persons are not the bus drivers or the bus owners. The majority are the persons who use the system.

"So it is their voices that must matter most," he said.

"A team has been identified. They are persons who are already in the industry, but they will be dedicated to this pilot project for the time frame that it is enforced. It's going to be a six-month period to see how much data we gather.

"The route - while I don't recall the entirety of it, but it is a route that cross(es) several different routes to enable them to gather data from several different routes," he continued.

Mr Campbell acknowledged the project was initiated by the former administration under his predecessor, Englerston MP Glenys Hanna Martin.

He added: "As government continues, I'm continuing with it because I'm satisfied that it will benefit the Bahamian people."