MINISTER PICKERSGILL OUTLINES PLANS FOR NEW LICENCING PERIOD AT TRANSPORT AUTHORITY

In the pic from left to right are: Ms. Maureen Webber, Chief Adviser to Minister Pickersgill; Mr. Keith Goodison, Managing Director of the Transport Authority; Hon. Richard Azan, Minister Of State; Minister Pickersgill and Mr. Norton Hinds, Chairman of the TA. Partly hidden is Mrs. Elsa-May Binns, Senior Director, Policy Planning and Evaluation.

Minister Robert Pickersgill outlined plans the 2007/08 licensing period of the Transport Authority at a Press Conference on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 at the Ministry's Corporate Office, 138H Maxfield Avenue.

The Transport Authority's new licensing period commenced on Thursday, February 15, 2007 and at that time the Authority started accepting both new and renewal applications for public Passenger vehicles and commercial carriers licenses By law, all categories of public passenger vehicles and commercial carrier's licenses save and except for Rural Stage licenses will expire on March 31, 2007.

Speaking at the Press Conference, Minister Pickersgill said, "As Minister with responsibility for the Transportation portfolio, I am aware that, from time to time, some persons may have experienced difficulties in processing applications for licenses. It is against this background that the Transport Authority has re-organised its operations to improve the level of service afforded to its customers."

The Minister also used the opportunity to appeal to operators of public passenger vehicles and commercial carriers to apply for licenses early citing the fact that the Authority would have to again suspend processing of new applications in order to complete a survey, if they didn't.

For the 2007/08 licensing period, the Authority will implement the following measures:

In the case of the new license forms and stickers, Minister Pickersgill noted that over the past few years, the incidents of forgery of licenses had increased, especially in a climate where advancements in technology change rapidly. It is against that background, he said, that the Transport Authority had moved to improve the security features on licenses to make them virtually tamper proof. He informed the Press Conference that the new licenses would be used for all categories of public passenger vehicles and commercial carriers from February 15, 2007.