KINGSTON, Jamaica — Manchester Northwestern MP Mikael Phillips wants the Transport Authority to grant more licenses to road taxis to operate in rural areas which he says are underserved.

Phillips recently made the call during his contribution to the State of the District debate in the House of Representatives.

As an example, Phillips highlighted that it is a 13-minute drive but 1 hour and 45 minutes of walking between Mile Gully and Ballynure in his constituency. However, there are no taxis, except for robot taxis which serve the route.

“Still, we hope these residents will return home. Where is justice? Where is the prosperity? he asked.

“Rural communities face challenges in accessing adequate transportation,” Phillips said, noting that communities are scattered all over the place and that residents have difficulty once they disembark from a highway taxi. must drop them off at their point of arrival. “They then have the challenge of figuring out ‘how to get home,’ especially if they have a burden,” Phillips noted.

Phillips said it’s time for the Transportation Authority to consider expanding routes in rural communities.

He said: “They (the Transport Authority) are quick to take legal action against operators who stray from prescribed routes. The robots, or what we call white plates, will transport passengers from the point of arrival to their communities. (But) they too will be detained and prosecuted for operating without a license,” he said.

Phillips said he had written to the Transportation Authority, making suggestions on possible expanded routes. He said a meeting date had been set but it had been postponed. “Yet after years, no progress has been made,” he said.

Phillips said he and the operators are willing to come to the table to see how best to regularize them so that they and the traveling public are not treated with contempt.