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Petra-Kene Williams, Corporate Communications Manager at the Transport Authority; Willard Costley, President of the Jamaica Association of Hackney and Contract Carriages; and Sophia Campbell, President of the Route Taxi Association
The Transport Authority says it has not been provided with details on how global ride-share company, Uber, will operate in Jamaica.
Uber launched its service in Kingston and St. Catherine on Tuesday.
But up to late Tuesday night, the Transport Authority said it was in the dark on how the company will operate.
Radio Jamaica News was informed that the Transport Authority held an initial meeting with Uber and the Transport Ministry several years ago regarding the international ride share company expanding its operations to Jamaica.
Petra-Kene Williams, Corporate Communications Manager at the Transport Authority, said Uber was informed that its original plan to operate locally was not in keeping with laws governing the transport sector and safety regulations, but, "it appears they have made some adjustments."
"So we would need to get the details from Uber in order to assess whether or not what they are currently doing is in line with the laws of the land. So we invite them to come in and sit with us, share that with us," she urged.
Uber is a multi-billion dollar company which launched in the United States in 2010.
The company currently has 1.5 million leases in 10,000 cities across the world.
Several questions have been raised by Jamaican taxi operators following news that Uber will be providing service in the Corporate Area.
Chief among these are the legality of the ride-sharing service operating outside of the scope of the Transport Authority, and whether there are regulations in place for its operations.
Speaking Tuesday on Radio Jamaica's Beyond the Headlines, Willard Costley, President of the Jamaica Association of Hackney and Contract Carriages, questioned whether the service would be operating "legally or illegally" and how passengers would get justice if something were to happen in an Uber ride.
Sophia Campbell, who is the president of the Route Taxi Association, had similar concerns about how Uber will be regulated. She said the Uber service could result in more problems for the public transport sector as it may encourage the operation of more robot taxis.
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