THE Ministry of Public Works (MPW) intends to reintroduce on the roadways a few big buses to observe how they fit into the road transport system.

The rationale is that these buses can impact positively and favourably on the mobility of commuters.

“They might also initiate a cultural change in the current system,” Minister Robeson Benn opined following disclosure made by the Works Services Group (WSG) of the MPW that a long-awaited study on urban transport systems in Guyana, funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), will finally be undertaken this year.

In a brief comment on the imminent study, Minister Benn said the urban transport study would address some of the questions about the role of big buses in the system. He said that Government was still of the view that some degree of participation by big buses would have to be considered.

He added: “In the meantime, pending the outcome of the study, we (the Works Ministry) are working to get a few big buses ourselves, put them on the road, and see how they impact the system.”

WSG Coordinator Geoffrey Vaughn disclosed last week that the Urban Transport Study (UTS) would help planners to develop specific diagnostics for the urban transport situation, and provide recommendations relative to public transport infrastructure, its operations, its financing, and the institutional organisation necessary for improvements.

“The UTS will give us an entire composition of what is needed to make our transport system, as well as the infrastructure that supports the transport system, much better and much more efficient…,” He said.

“The UTS will begin with the situation in Georgetown first, and then move on to other areas; so this is one of the 2015 projects,” Vaughn said. “We are looking forward to ensuring that we can actually deal effectively with some of the congestion that we have in the city,” he concluded.