PAYNESVILLE, Montserrado – Despite ongoing challenges, commercial motorcyclists on Paynesville’s A.B. Tolbert Road say they are pleased with the city’s construction of a motorbike station for them.

Prior to the station’s construction, motorcyclists solicited passengers near the ELWA Junction, about 580 feet from the new location, which is further down A.B. Tolbert Road. Not only were motorcyclists at the previous location unprotected from the sun and heavy rain while waiting for passengers, they also lacked bathroom facilities.

Harris Redd, the head of the group of commercial motorcyclists who use the station, said the station’s construction reduces confrontation with the police due to improperly parked bikes.

“We really appreciate the city corporation for constructing this parking lot for us,” Redd said. “Unlike before, now we have a place of our own to get shelter for even our passengers when it is raining, and passengers can easily locate us.”

He said motorcyclists can now park to wait for passengers without fearing detention by the police, adding “Several times we were raided by police and our bikes arrested if we parked near the [Liberia Revenue Authority] building and other places we were not to park.”

The new station, however, has not come without any problems. Despite its existence, some motorcyclists continue to violate police orders by soliciting passengers in the middle of the intersection.

“They still leave the parking station to await passengers at the main ELWA intersection. We take actions against them, but some still refuse to be law abiding,” Redd said. He said his administration is making attempts at self-regulation by impounding the bikes of motorcyclists who violate the police order. However, he admitted there were challenges and said the group’s leadership was designing further strategies to persuade members to obey the rules.

One motorcyclist, Edwin Bundor, attributed the continual violation of the police order to what he saw as the reluctance of passengers to walk down to the bike parking lot, which is an additional three-minute-walk from the previous parking location.

On a typical day, motorcyclists can be seen competing with one another to acquire passengers before potential riders even get a chance to walk down to the station. Motorcyclists who wait in the station find themselves at a disadvantage in attracting passengers.

The motorcyclists, while admitting their pleasure with the station, are pleading with the mayor’s office to provide access to the station’s office and bathroom. Redd said the facilities have been locked for months by the city.

According to him, the city corporation took the decision because of the failure of motorcyclists to pay a daily maintenance fee of L$20 (US$0.22). He appealed to the mayor to reduce the fee to L$10 (US$0.11).

Jani Jallah, Paynesville’s Public Relations Director, confirmed the city’s action and said the move followed the refusal of the riders to pay the L$20 each maintenance fee charged by the city corporation.

The station is one of the many efforts by the Paynesville’s Mayor Cyvette Gibson to ease the flow of traffic around major intersections.

“There were a lot of problems with parking and roads crossing with motorcyclists,” Jallah said. “Several times [the motorcyclists] came to our office and protested. So the mayor, also wanting to see a society of dignity for all and combat perceptions that motorcyclists are undignified people, launched that project.”

Jallah said the A.B. Tolbert Road station was a pilot of what could be replicated in the rest of Paynesville.

Featured photo by Gbatemah Senah