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Este informe no está disponible en español. CARIBBEAN BUSINESSTourism Co. To Take Over Island’s Ground Transportation By JulyWill receive about $4 million in fiscal 2004-05 to assume responsibilityBy EVELYN GUADALUPE-FAJARDOJanuary 9, 2003 Within the next six months, the Puerto Rico Tourism Co. will assume responsibility for regulating the island’s tourism-related ground transportation, which means the agency must create a new division. The new ground transportation division won’t be located at the Tourism Co.’s headquarters at Paseo La Princesa in Old San Juan because of insufficient space. Instead, the agency is looking at several vacant buildings belonging to the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Co. (Pridco). For fiscal year 2004-05, the Tourism Co. will be assigned $4 million from the General Fund to regulate the island’s ground transportation. "We expect to assume complete responsibility for overseeing the ground transportation by summer because it’s a complicated process and we need time to adjust," said Jose Suarez, executive director of the Tourism Co. On Dec. 27, Gov. Calderon signed the new Tourism Ground Transportation Law, which authorizes the Tourism Co. to develop an adequate ground transportation infrastructure to allow Puerto Rico to compete with other tourism destinations. The new law seeks to stimulate competition between ground transportation providers, as well as to improve existing services and increase transportation options for tourists. The Tourism Co. must now form a committee, comprised of members related to the island’s ground transportation sector, to oversee the design of the regulations. It also must identify a candidate to head the new division. The Tourism Ground Transportation Law allows the Tourism Co. to collect funds, audit, hold hearings, administrate, regulate, investigate, and determine fines and sanctions. The agency has the authority to grant franchises, authorizations, licenses, permits, and inspection certificates in accordance with the law. The agency also can establish new tourism transportation zones independent of those designated by the Puerto Rico Planning Board. Under the new law, employees authorized by the Tourism Co. and the Puerto Rico Police Department can intervene, remove, or summon anyone who violates the law. The Tourism Co. has the discretion to freeze the issuance of new franchises, authorizations, permits, and licenses, but only if credible, concrete evidence exists that the ground transportation market is saturated or when extraordinary circumstances in the tourism industry exist. Furthermore, the Tourism Co. can represent any plaintiff who is away from Puerto Rico during an investigation or adjudicative hearing. Among other requirements, ground transportation providers must be between the ages of 18 and 65, must be authorized by the Department of Transportation & Public Works to drive a vehicle, and must pass a driving course offered by the Public Service Commission in coordination with the Department of Transportation. The course has to be taken every two years. Ground transportation operators must also know how to speak, read, and write in Spanish and speak English, must have over a year of experience, and must take and pass an educational course, to be determined by the Tourism Co., about Puerto Rico tourism information, the history of the island, conversational English, and human relations. The 12-hour course also must be taken every two years. This Caribbean Business article appears courtesy of Casiano Communications.
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