5,000 commuters used JUTC St. Thomas service in first five days

   

Transport Minister Daryl Vaz says 5,000 commuters utilised the Jamaica Urban Transit Company's St. Thomas to Kingston route during its rollout last week.

 

The data was collected over five days.

 

Mr. Vaz led a team from the JUTC, including director Owen Ellington on a tour of the bus service on Tuesday morning.

 

Speaking with Radio Jamaica News following the tour, Mr. Vaz said there were enough commuters for both the state-owned JUTC and private bus operators in response to complaints of PPV operators being at a disadvantage. 

 

"Once you have competition, people will never be happy. But the fact of the matter is what I'm seeing here is that there is more than enough passenger flow to satisfy both the public transportation and the JUTC. And we just have to integrate to make sure that we offer the best services for the citizens of St. Thomas and of course, the country at large," he noted.   

 

Mr. Vaz expressed satisfaction with the bus service, but indicated that he was disappointed with the lack of a transport centre in Yallahs, which raised a safety concern. 

 

"I was a bit concerned that Yallahs does not have a transport centre, and it has quite a bit of public transportation in the township. MP [James] Robertson has indicated that there is a possibility that there may be a site at the old market in Yallahs, which he'll have discussions with the Ministry of Local Government and the municipal corporation to see whether or not that could be actually used as a dual purpose, both as a market and transport centre," he disclosed. 

 

Plans are to be implemented at the Church Street Transport Centre in an effort to create more space for the JUTC buses.