By BIANCA SYMONETTE, Guardian Staff Reporter, bianca@nasguard.com

The Public Transportation Association of The Bahamas is assuring the Bahamian public that buses under its umbrella will provide an enhanced level of safety and courtesy.

This promise by PTAB President Reuben Rahming seeks to allay the fears of many people in the public busing system, and also when gasoline price increases threaten to force more people to ride jitneys.

According to Rahming, who was yesterday's guest on STAR 106.5 FM's afternoon talk show 'Jeffery', hosted by Jeff Lloyd, fears of taking a public bus should be reduced when using PTAB, as PTAB drivers will be much more safety-conscious and cautious than the other public buses.

Rahming said he is excited about the level of service provided by the drivers and assured that passengers on PTAB buses should feel comfortable and have no concern about violence, drinking by drivers or disturbance from unscrupulous passengers.

"PTAB has now shifted its position on how it does things now. The members are dedicated they are doing their best in terms of providing service," Rahming said.

Since forming the association, Rahming said he has only received one major complaint about a PTAB driver, who was reported for driving under the influence of alcohol. Rahming assured that complaints made to the association would be dealt with accordingly.

Under the association's rules, passengers have the option of reporting drivers who have not portrayed the standards of the association.

While updating the public on future plans of the association, Rahming stated that PTAB is about to embark on putting an electronic system in place. Among other things the electronic system will allow bus owners to monitor the income of the bus from the comfort of their home via the computer. Another benefit of the proposed electronic system is that parents would be able to monitor their children via the computer by logging on to the association's website and checking to see whether the bus card is in use.

Meanwhile, central fleet general of the association Percy Moss indicated that PTAB is pushing towards having handicap access to its bus fleet.

"We realize within the public transportation we have not addressed that concern and so that is one of the drives for PTAB right now. Definitely, in short order, PTAB wants to change the buses so that the country will have a bus that can accommodate handicap persons," Moss said.

Jitney drivers, owners and operators are expected to embark on a 100-day challenge to transform and revitalize the transportation industry — a challenge that could make reckless driving and unscheduled pick-ups a thing of the past. The Ministry of Transport has agreed to work with jitney drivers to improve conditions and revamp the industry.