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Transport Minister Daryl Vaz
By Nakinskie Robinson
State transportation in western Jamaica will receive a significant boost with the addition of 12 new buses to the fleet of Montego Bay Metro Company.
Commuters can expect some relief as eight of the buses have arrived just over a week before the start of the new academic year on September 2. Four others will arrive on Sunday.
During the handing over ceremony on Thursday, Transport Minister Daryl Vaz explained that only six buses had been in operation, so the additional buses will augur well for the fleet.
"This is going to make a huge impact in the back to school and the routes that are served. So they will upgrade from...dedicated service for five schools to nine, and they're going to continue to serve four parishes, moving from...five routes to eleven routes," he disclosed.
Montego Bay Metro serves all four western parishes, namely Westmoreland, Hanover, Trelawny and St. James.
The eight air-conditioned diesel units, in addition to the four which will come on Sunday, will bring the fleet count to eighteen - two of which can accommodate persons with disabilities.
Fifteen will be used to ply routes for schools on a specific schedule and three will remain in-terminal to provide relief during heavy traffic.
Minister Vaz has also committed to another expansion of the rural bus fleet over the next two years.
"We're going to look also to go outside of these routes to other routes as we get more and more buses over the next 12 to 24 months. Based on my discussions this morning, in the short term, we would need probably another 10 to 20 buses - 20 ideal, but 10 could make a big impact," he noted.
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