The Transport Authority (TA) is slated to complete the colour coding of taxicabs, currently being carried out islandwide, by March 31.

On completion, over 15,000 hackney carriages and route taxis will bear the designated colour and logo inscriptions, making them easily identifiable by the commuting public.

Hackney carriages will bear a yellow and black checker strip running on the side of the vehicles, while route taxis will have a black and white format affixed. All units will also display the universal globe symbol and the taxi sign.

This is part of the Transport, Works and Housing Ministry’s drive to transform the public transportation sector into one providing first class services.

Portfolio minister, Dr Omar Davies, and Transport Authority managing director, Donald Foster, gave details of the move during the official opening of the Linstead Transportation Centre, in St Catherine, on February 3.

Dr Davies said the Ministry and the authority had consultations with private operators and stakeholders in the sector, prior to commencing the programme’s implementation.

They include: the Jamaica Association of Transport Owners and Operators; National Council of Taxi Operators; Corporate Area Taxi Association, among other companies and organisations.

Dr Davies said come March 31, he expects that the colour coding exercise “will be fully implemented”.

For his part, Mr Foster said many of the operators have welcomed the initiative, pointing out that they are “very proud of their new look”.

Construction of the Linstead Transportation Centre, the first to be erected in the town, was spearheaded by the Transport Authority at a cost of $38.2 million.

The facility, which was officially opened by Dr Davies, will accommodate the 292 route taxis and 110 rural buses plying routes between Linstead and several communities across St Catherine, as well as those into Kingston and Spanish Town, under a scheduling system that has been instituted.

Among the rural communities that will be served are: Bog Walk, Guy’s Hill, Riversdale, West Prospect, and Cheesefield.

The facility will be managed by the St Catherine Parish Council and will complement the Linstead taxi stand, which was refurbished at a cost of $10 million.

The taxi stand is operated as a terminal point for 209 taxis serving 13 communities in St Catherine, including Ewarton, Moneague, Victoria and Wakefield.

— JIS