KINGSTON, Jamaica — Member of Parliament for Manchester Northwestern, Mikael Phillips, wants the Transport Authority to grant more licences for route taxis to operate in rural areas which he said are underserved.

Phillips made the call recently during his contribution to the State of the Constituency Debate in the House of Representatives.

By way of example, Phillips pointed out that it is a 13-minute drive but an hour and 45-minute walk from Mile Gully to Ballynure in his constituency. However, there are no taxis, except for robot taxis serving the route.

“Yet we expect those residents to get home. Where is the justice? Where is the prosperity?” he asked.

“Rural communities are challenged by access to proper transportation,” Phillips said, pointing out that communities are scattered far and wide, and residents have challenges once they disembark a route taxi that must drop them off at their termination point. “They then have the challenge of figuring out ‘how do I get home’, especially if they have a load,” Phillips highlighted.

Phillips said it was time that the Transport Authority looks at expanding routes in rural communities.

He said: “They (the Transport Authority) are quick to prosecute operators who go outside of their prescribed routes. The robots, or what we refer to as the white plates, will transport passengers from the termination point to their communities. (But) they too will be held and prosecuted for operating without a licence,” he stated.

Phillips said he has written to the Transport Authority, making suggestions on potential expanded routes. He said a meeting date was set but it was rescheduled. “Yet still, after years, no progress has been made,” he said.

Phillips said he and the operators are ready to sit at the table to see how best they can be regularised so that they and the traveling public are not treated with contempt.