On May 22, 2025, the Prime Minister condemned the Priority Bus Route pass system as a "free for all," describing the passes as "little gifts without substance" handed out like "Kiss cake" and "cookies." She ordered the recall of all letter permits numbered 0001 through 0645. The permit listing told its own story: beauty queens, sportsmen, soca artistes, former cabinet members, economists, a clothing designer, a comedian, and a steelband manager all held passes giving them access to the 24.5-kilometre dedicated transit corridor from Port of Spain to Arima - a lane built for buses and maxi taxis, not personal vehicles.
Nearly a year later, the Guardian investigated what happened after the recall. The findings: distribution patterns are largely unchanged. Only 360 of the 650 recalled passes were returned. The system has been reformed in name only.
The Recall That Was Not a Recall
The July 1, 2025 recall deadline produced only 132 returns. The number eventually reached 360 - a return rate of 55%. That means 290 passes are unaccounted for. They may be in use. They may have been discarded. But the system cannot track them because the passes have no digital monitoring mechanism.
On July 31, the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation introduced an electronic application system for new permits. Between April 28 and September 15, 2025, 401 applications were received. Of these, 140 were approved for private citizens, 41 were issued to Members of Parliament, and 30 to Senators. The breakdown of the 140 private approvals: 47 for medical purposes, 62 for execution of duties, 24 for security, and 7 for media. Two hundred and sixty-one applications remained pending due to incomplete documentation. The number denied: zero.
Twenty-seven of the approved applicants had previously held PBR passes under the old system. The ministry did not identify them or explain the overlap. If the goal of the recall was to break the pattern of pass distribution, reissuing passes to the same people is not a break. It is continuity with extra paperwork.
Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Eli Zakour did not respond to the Guardian's questions, sent via both WhatsApp and email.
What a Pass Is Worth
The Priority Bus Route exists to give public transport a dedicated lane free of private vehicle traffic. Every pass issued to a private citizen, MP, or senator is a vehicle sharing the lane with buses, reducing the speed advantage that justifies the infrastructure. The more passes in circulation, the less priority the bus route provides.
The broader transport context makes this worse. The Public Transport Service Corporation can service only 79 of its 163 routes. Just 160 to 170 buses operate daily. One hundred and eighty-seven buses have been identified for disposal. The Auditor General's November 2024 report on PTSC, examining the 2020 fiscal year, found $850 million in accumulated deficit and government grants that could not be properly verified and issued an adverse opinion. Operating income was $38 million against operating costs of $205 million, producing a net operating loss of $166 million before administrative costs pushed the figure to $287 million. Government grants of $288 million - including $192 million for salaries alone - kept the corporation afloat.
This is the system that PBR passes undermine. While PTSC cannot put enough buses on the road to serve half its routes, private vehicles with political passes share the lane that was supposed to give those buses an advantage.
The Toll That Doubled
Separately, the government doubled the PBR quarterly toll for maxi taxi operators from $300 to $600 effective January 1, 2026, raising the annual cost from $1,200 to $2,400. Over 1,150 Red Band Maxi Taxi operators were affected. Route 2 Maxi Taxi Association president Brenton Knights called the increase "unilateral" and warned of "strong resistance." Drivers suggested raising fares to $8 for short drops - a $3 increase that commuters, not operators, would absorb.
The Prime Minister described the toll increase as the cost of "a small Coca-Cola per day." For the maxi operators running the PBR alongside a public transit system that cannot cover half its routes, the increase felt less like policy adjustment and more like revenue extraction from a captive service provider.
Knights also offered the most clear-eyed comment on the pass system itself: "I've always believed the PBR has been used as a political football." Both administrations stand accused. Under the PNM, passes were distributed to allies and supporters. Under the UNC, the recall was announced with fanfare but executed without follow-through. The PBR pass system is a small example of a larger pattern - state employment and privilege distribution in Trinidad and Tobago operates on a bipartisan patronage cycle. The faces change with every election. The structure does not. The fraud problem was known for years - counterfeit passes were being made with materials available at local art and craft stores. Households received multiple passes, with the PM herself noting that "husband, wife, and even children" held them.
The Electric Bus Promise
The 2026 budget promised that PTSC would introduce 30 electric buses by mid-2026 and expand routes through public-private partnerships with maxi taxi operators. The broader procurement plan calls for 240 electric buses and 60 CNG-powered buses - 300 total, which would increase the fleet by more than 50%. PTSC must build a sub-station at its Port of Spain facility to support charging, at an estimated cost of up to $30 million. GPS tracking on all buses and a real-time tracking app for commuters are also planned.
These are the right ideas. But they exist in the same institutional environment where a bus pass recall returned 55% of the passes, where an electronic application system denied zero of 401 applicants, and where the minister responsible did not respond to press questions. The gap between announcement and execution is the story of public transport in Trinidad and Tobago.
What a Reformed System Would Look Like
A transparent PBR pass system would publish eligibility criteria, track usage digitally, audit pass holders regularly, and disclose the distribution list publicly. None of these measures have been confirmed as implemented. The pass holders' names are obtainable through a Freedom of Information request, but a transparent system would not require one.
The PBR pass issue is small in fiscal terms compared to billion-dollar infrastructure projects and state enterprise losses. But it is the kind of governance indicator that reveals how reform actually works in Trinidad and Tobago: publicly announced, symbolically dramatic, and substantively unchanged.
The PM condemned the system. The minister was told to fix it. A year later, 290 passes are unaccounted for, 27 people who held old passes got new ones, zero applications were denied, the toll for legitimate users doubled, and the minister did not respond to questions. The people sitting in traffic while pass holders use the bus lane are left to conclude that nothing changed except the rhetoric.
Sources
- Trinidad Guardian: "Bus route pass reset under scrutiny as old system appears to persist" (March 29, 2026)
- CNC3: "Bus route pass reset under scrutiny as old system appears to persist" (March 2026)
- Tringlobe: "Trinidad and Tobago bus route pass system under review as distribution patterns persist" (March 2026)
- Trinidad Express: "Beauty queens, soca artistes had PBR access" (May 2025)
- Trinidad Express: "Transport Ministry recalls 645 bus route permits" (May 2025)
- Trinidad Express: "Bus route passes sharing like roti: 625 recalled" (May 2025)
- Trinidad Express: "Maxi-taxi operators to pay double to use PBR" (December 2025)
- Stabroek News: "Beauty queens, soca artistes had Trinidad priority bus route access" (May 2025)
- CNC3: "Priority Bus Route toll doubles from January 1" (December 2025)
- TTT News: "Fare hikes loom as PBR toll doubles" (December 2025)
- Newsday: "PBR maxi drivers suggest $8 for short drops" (December 2025)
- Newsday: "Maxi Taxi Association: PM has right to revoke PBR passes" (May 2025)
- Newsday: "Auditor General scolds PTSC: $850M not properly accounted for" (December 2024)
- Trinidad Guardian: "Shortage of buses limits PTSC routes"
- Newsday: "PTSC running 79 of 163 routes" (June 2023)
- Trinidad Express: "PTSC to buy 240 electric buses" (2023)