THE Transport Authority yesterday stopped accepting applications for new road licences for all categories of public passenger vehicles.

The “indefinite” suspension will affect persons applying for new licences to provide stage carriage services, express carriage services, contract carriage services, hackney carriage services and route taxi services.

Communication and Customer Service Manager for the Authority, Petra-Kene Williams, told the Observer that the decision was taken to suspend the issuance process while the Authority undertook its first ever islandwide assessment of the public transportation sector.

“The Transport Authority undertakes surveys of specific routes…However, we have never carried out an islandwide survey to assess what is happening across the island and we believe that at this point in time it is critical to do so.

“The sector has evolved rapidly and there are changes in both the trends in terms of commuters’ activities as well as the demand and supply for public transportation,” Williams argued.

She said the islandwide survey would serve to assess the needs of the travelling public in relation to the demand for and supply of public passenger vehicles; determine the number of persons travelling daily islandwide, evaluate the adequacy of vehicles licensed to operate on the various routes and ascertain the number of illegally operated vehicles islandwide.

Williams disclosed that consultations held with several stakeholders across the island, including the Presidential Council which represents taxis across the island, the National Association of Taxi Operators (NATO), the Jamaica Union of Travellers Association (JUTA) and representatives of other tour companies had met with good response.

“The dialogue and the responses have been good so far, and the various groups and stakeholders are in support of our move for the most part,” Williams told the Observer.

Williams said the Authority would be in touch with the public prior to the beginning of the new licensing period in February, 2007, apparently to indicate when the application process would resume.

In the meantime, the Authority urged owners of public passenger vehicles who had not yet renewed their licences to do so.

Contacted by the Observer, National Transport Co-operative boss, Ezroy Millwood, and Director/ Treasurer of JUTA, Everard Chaplin, said their operations would not be affected by the decision.

For the 2005/06 financial year, the Transport Authority issued a total of 34,894 new licences across all categories.