Here is an update to one of my entries in Wikipedia on St. James. The entry was made to provide some information to those who visit the area either from another area or from another country.
When I worked for short stints in other CARICOM countries, given the nature of the work, it was a bit difficult to work on weekends, hence visits to other parts of the island where we were located was an important part of work life balance. Thus research formed an important part of planning where to visit which was fun or historic or just interesting and also economical.
Public Transportation
St. James can be accessed via route taxis or maxi taxis or via the Public Transportation Service Corporation (PTSC) buses.
The route taxis have been in existence from as far back as the 1970's and before. Those which drive through or up to St. James are:
The Wrightson Road, Long Circular Road (via Courts Furniture Store) taxi.
These taxis can take four or five persons along the route and can be accessed at Independence Square and Chacon Street, next to Republic Bank Limited, Independence Square branch. While the route may vary depending on the needs of the passengers to go "off route", these taxis drive along Wrightson Road to the Hasely Crawford Stadium, from there the driver may proceed up any of the first three side streets to intersect Ariapita Avenue and continue to "Roxy Roundabout".
In recent years (2015 - 2016) these taxis have extended their route to KFC in Maraval. During the early morning busy period, the taxis are re - routed to some of the back streets close to Long Circular Mall to allow for one way traffic to proceed to Maraval.
The Long Circular Road (Courts- St. James) Taxi to KFC Maraval
These taxis operate as short drops. The fee is less than one which was taken from Port of Spain (Independence Square) and the drivers tend to be efficient in their movement to benefit from the number of trips which they can make in any given time. Their clientele tends to be the persons who work along the Saddle Road into Maraval such as Massy Stores Maraval, Shoppes of Maraval, KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken), SuperPharm, Royal Palm Hotel and Mall.
The St. James Taxi
These taxis operate from Holy Trinity Cathedral next to Woodford Square, proceed along Tragarete Road on the outskirts of Woodbrook to Roxy Roundabout and along the Western Main Road to the Link Road to Mucurapo Road, St. James.
The clientele of these taxi drivers are the persons who work on Victoria Avenue, Stanmore Avenue or Cipriani Boulevard, or Philip Street, the teams at the fast food restaurants along Tragarete Road, or in St. James or the funeral attendee who needs to visit Mucurapo Cemetery or Western Cemetery or Lapeyrouse Cemetery.
The Petit Valley Maxi Taxi & Bus
These Maxi taxis start on Charlotte Street and Park Street, near to Holy Rosary Church and The L'hospice. The "maxis" proceed along Charlotte Street to Memorial Park, around the Savannah, past BP, the US embassy, up to the entrance to Maraval Road, then around the roundabout to the side of QRC (Queen's Royal College) along St. Clair Avenue, past the back of the Queen's Park Oval and parallel to Nelson Mandela Park around Roxy roundabout along the Western Main Road to the end of St. James.
The Petit Valley bus starts at the Port of Spain Bus Terminal, proceeds along Independence Square, exiting through one of the side streets to Tragarete Road, through the Western Main Road, St. James, via the overpass through the Main Road in Cocorite, then to Petit Valley.
The Mucurapo Road Route
The PTSC bus which operates from Port of Spain to and from Carenage or the bus which operates from Port of Spain to and from Diego Martin passes along Mucurapo Road, St. James. These buses would have started at the Port of Spain Bus Terminal, proceeded along Wrightson Road, with a turn off which takes them to Ariapita Ave and then to Mucurapo Road, then to the Foreshore to West Mall where their routes separate. The Carenage bus continues along the Main Road to Carenage, while the Diego Martin Bus proceeds to Diego Martin.
Some Diego Martin taxis pass along Mucurapo Road, however given the number of students who attend Fatima College which commences at 7:30 a.m., there is a back up of cars dropping off and collecting students at peak times, hence this route tends to be not the preferred one for early morning commuters or early afternoon commuters who wish to get to POS or to the outskirts of the area. However given its access to a pizza franchise, a roti shop, an art gallery, art framing store, the numerous exits to the Western Main Road in St. James, Mucurapo Road can be a choice for some persons.
Here is the link to the page in Wikipedia if you are interested in reading more about St. James and checking out the links to supporting articles in this area of the encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_James,_Trinidad_and_Tobago#Public_Transportation
copyright Jennifer N Bailey email: jennifernbailey24d@gmail.com
During 2009 to 2011 I visited several CARICOM countries as part of a team which performed audits of projects which were funded by grants and or loans.
No comments:
Post a Comment