While going to Primary school, on evenings after school I would have to travel home with my aunt 2/5 days in the week, and I hated it. The mode of transport we used back then, as the bus was not operating where I lived at the time were taxis. In Trinidad, taxis are not generic yellow and black vehicles, but rather vehicles that would usually be associated with personal vehicles in North American countries. Although they are personal vehicles which one buys, it is a vehicle licensed for hire.
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| For Hire vehicles lined on Broadway, Port-of-Spain |
According to Vuchin (1981) these taxis are a form of paratransit transportation. The drivers or operators seen around the cars are calling for passengers going Chaguanas or San Fernando. Although previously stated in another post that there are maxi taxis to go these areas, the benefit of taxis are that if one lives far from the general transport route or from a hub, taxis facilitate drop offs closer to where one resides. These for hire taxis provide another mode of transport which link persons to different urban areas. On the words of Rodrigue et al (2013) modal split, referring to the transportation mode used for urban trips, are dependent on preference, availability, travel time, technology and income. In reference to technology, some taxis may not have air condition and would cause a commuter to take a green band maxi instead and vice versa. Also to some persons, taxi fares may be too expensive for them to pay due to their income and, opt to use a greed band maxi which is more affordable.
Reference
·
Rodrigue, J., C. Comtois, B.
Slack.2013.The geography of transport systems.3rd ed. London and New
York:
Routledge. http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch6en/conc6en/ch6c1en.html.
(accessed February 10, 2014).
·
Vuchic, V.
R.1981. Urban public transport: systems and technology. New Jersey:
Prentice Hall.
http://www.reconnectingamerica.org/assets/Uploads/20020114urbanpubtrsysVuchic.pdf
(accessed April 10, 2014)
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