By Rochelle Williams
KINGSTON, Jamaica, (JIS) – A total of 100 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses arrived in the island on Monday July 15, which will significantly boost the Jamaica Urban Transit Company Limited (JUTC) fleet and improve service delivery to the public.
The new units, acquired at a cost of approximately US$$20 million, were transported to the Portmore Depot after being cleared at the Kingston Wharves.
They bring the total number of buses introduced into the public transportation system to 170 since 2023.
minister of science, energy, telecommunications and transport, Daryl Vaz, who was at Kingston Wharves for the arrival of the units, said the buses will go a far way in transforming the public transportation sector.
“With these 100 buses, we are going to get the waiting time down in the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region to 45 minutes… . These are 100 smart buses and we are going to use every inch of technology that they give to assist commuters and assist JUTC in the management and tracking of these buses,” minister Vaz said. The units are the first set of 300 new buses that are to be introduced into the public transport sector.
“You will recall that Minister [of finance and the public service, Dr Nigel] Clarke, made a commitment for 300 buses, and I want to assure Jamaica that the process for the other 200 is already underway,” he said.
Meanwhile, the minister noted that as part of the JUTC’s strategic plan to improve its operations, the entity is looking to introduce an application (app) that will better enable members of the public to organise their commute.
“It will give all the details about where the buses are, how much load it has, what is the estimated time for it to get to the location, and all of the things to help them better manage their time,” he pointed out.
Minister Clarke, who was also on hand for the arrival of the units, said the acquisition of the buses is an indicator of the country’s strong macroeconomic position.
“Our macroeconomic environment is in the best shape it has been in 50 years, notwithstanding Beryl, and it is because of the improved macroeconomic fundamentals. It is because of a stable fiscal trajectory [that] the government of Jamaica is able to buy 100 buses in one go. These buses have been acquired with the revenue that the Government of Jamaica has, and we did not need to turn to… any other source to get the buses.
It is testament that macro improvements actually lead to improvements in public service delivery,” he emphasised.
“This is just the beginning. We are going to continue to leverage macroeconomic stability in your interest and to improve public services and thereby improve the quality of your life,” Dr Clarke added.
