I'm Seeing Buses!

saw them on the news today, they look real nice.

I had seen one on the road last month. I'm now very skeptical after the new ferries went out of service after about 2 weeks.

Soon the new buses will be broken and in dis-repair. That's how they roll down here.

VI Gov't can't pay their WAPA bills or pay for street lights, but by golly they can purchase new buses! Makes perfect sense to me!

That's because the feds paid for the new buses. Unfortunately, the VI.government has to pay for the gas, and I think there was a time.years ago when they couldn't pay for gas so service was suspended.

That's because the feds paid for the new buses. Unfortunately, the VI.government has to pay for the gas, and I think there was a time.years ago when they couldn't pay for gas so service was suspended.

Maybe they can just add the cost of gas to our WAPA bill.

very negative, please stay positive

Just because you perceive it to be negative doesn't make it inaccurate.

ms411, the board of ed was very very late on paying for the school bus contract. remember when they suspended bus delivery for those couple of days

Let's not forget the buses have almost the same route as the safaris.
If you live on northside, you can forget about any public transportation.
Ditto for South side: Bolongo to Fr. Reef or town.
I think they may go by hometown but since I actually have only seen 1 bus on the road while driving, in months, not even sure about that.

You still never know when one is coming or has just passed. Blind faith required.
Do they post schedules at the few bus stop that they actually have?

Alana, that's not actually true. The safari doesn't go to Bordeaux, and I used to take VITRAN to the farmers' market every month. As the buses got older, it wasn't an option most of the time.

One of the buses goes through Old and New Tutu. Another goes to Bovoni.

I think I have been on every route, though it's been years. Glad to see the buses back.

I am not saying they are not a welcome addition. I know they go farther west to Bordeaux and south to Bovoni tho they don't go further than Bovoni. That's about it.

These buses are not made for our steep, narrow, winding roads so cannot service many areas tho school buses make it up and down Hull Bay Rd so why they don't have some Public bus service on northside is beyond me. They do make buses that would be better suited but no-one considers purchasing those for the VI.

I don't think every community wants public transportation, and I think they also check number of registered vehicles against number of households to determine areas with greatest need.

I was really glad to see them too - shiny and new, and even one accessible one too (which we should definitely have). Just need to get information to everybody about where they run and when, certainly if they're nice enough that people who already have cars choose to take the bus instead of driving it is to everyone's benefit.

That's just it, ChrisMI.

They absolutely need to post the schedules of the buses and make sure they stick to them.

When I have taken buses in San Francisco or even New Zealand and Bermuda
for that matter, the buses were always on time, within a couple of minutes and you could absolutely depend on getting where you were going and back. They posted the routes and schedules right at the bus-stops as well.

Well, this is the VI where they assume the riders know the schedule and route. But regardless of what the schedule is, the safaris will come more frequently, but the routes not on safari route should pick up more riders.

The government rebuilt/fixed some bus stops and now have new buses, both large and medium sized. They are promoting riding the buses. The least they can do is map out the routes with approximated schedules, so ridership can increase. We, as residents, shouldn't be guessing or assume that we know the routes and schedules. That's a big fail by the government right there!

Did anyone go for a ride yesterday? http://stthomassource.com/content/news/local-news/2014/10/03/residents-skip-fuss-and-ride-new-buses-free

From the above article:
“There were a number of years where we did not provide reliable service, but we feel now that we are in a position with our equipment to be able to do that,” Smalls said. “But, in order for this to be totally effective, we are going to need support from the community. Right now, we compete with other transportation services out there, but I think we are poised to re-take the position of being able to offer reliable, on-time and most importantly safe vehicles for the transportation of residents and visitors throughout the territory."

To retake the position of being able to offer reliable, on-time transportation to residents and visitors, VITRAN needs to map the routes and add some new routes and also have an approximated time schedule for each bus. Probably can't have an exact time schedule, especially during high season because of all the traffic on the roads and because we don't have bus lanes. That is the only way they will actually have a chance with competing with other transportation services. Did anyone actually stand at a bus stop waiting on a bus? You will be waiting a long, long time, unless you happen to be lucky, while dozens and dozens of dollar safaris pick up passengers.

i know if there were reliable bus service out east to the casino and hotel there would be people riding the bus. there are a 200-400 ( roughly ) people that work at those two places. if they do not have there own transportation, they have to rely on the taxis or friends. taxis are not cheap

I keep trying to wait for one, but safari comes so I jump on. Hopefully can spot one today, though I haven't seen one yet. Let me head to a bus stop. Hoping to get the 2 pm boat to St John.

Somebody just told me that STT buses don't run on Saturday. They used to run 7 days a week. Stood for 10 minutes and 4 safaris passed by.

Maybe you should make that point, in writing, to Commissioner Smalls.

Now that would be a waste of time. I'm only posting here so that people who are interested in public transportation can see just how dysfunctional the system is.