Category: News

The Jamaica Urban Transit Company Limited has noticed in recent times that commuters to include students, who use our service at North and South Parade downtown, Kingston, specifically at our lay-bys, have been doing so recklessly. Commuters have been engaging in the dangerous practice of running along buses as the unit enter the lay-bys in an effort to get inside of them. This practice is wholly unsafe and could result in injury or worse, a fatality.

“We understand the challenge currently being experienced and the frustration that the long waiting time is causing. However, we implore teachers, parents and guardians to remind children/students not to rush or run alongside a bus before it comes to a complete stop. Students and adult passenger alike must wait on the sidewalk or curb until it is safe to enter the bus” Mr. Thoms said.

Continuing, he noted that “the JUTC will be reaching out to schools to enlist the support of Principals, the Road Safety Council and parent teacher groups in reminding students about proper road usage as well as good pedestrian behaviour. While we make this appeal, we are also encouraging our adults to be proper role models and to protect our children”.

Additionally, we know that as the Christmas season approaches, there will be more demand for our service and as such we are doing all we can to increase our bus rollout to reduce crowding at our lay-bys. We ask for your continued patience and understanding as we look forward to receiving brand new buses next year.

The Jamaica Urban Transit Company, JUTC, is advising commuters that there will be an increase in the replacement of Smartercards effective Monday, September 26, 2022. This is due to a significant increase in the production cost of our Smartercards by our international supplier.

Concession passengers will now pay $400 up from $300.
Adult passengers will now pay $700 up from $500.

No fees are attached to new Smartercards. However, customers are free to determine how much they wish to load on the card.

The Smartercard is a convenient rechargeable system used by JUTC passengers to pay for their fares.

If you have any questions, please visit Customer Service, or call 876-948-4240.

The Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) has for over two decades, been relied on to transport large groups of people and carry our children to and from school. Our commuters are primarily from the working class and those sections of the population deemed most vulnerable. While safety is our utmost priority, we cannot predict collisions, accidents or incidents example stone throwing. However, we can and have been engaged in several mitigation programmes to reduce accident numbers.

Since April 2017 to March 2022, we have had a total of 3, 963 accidents which is inclusive of accidents where third parties are at fault and/or contributed to the accidents. Please see breakdown of the number of accidents in each year below.

• April 2017 to March 2018: 1,049
• April 2018 to March 2019: 1,033
• April 2019 to  March 2020: 891
• April 2020 to March 2021: 543
• April 2021 to March 2022: 447

An analysis of the data reveals a few things, firstly, that since April 2017 to March 2022, there has been a 57% reduction in accidents. Secondly, year over year, the number of accidents have been trending down from 1,049 in 2017 to 1,033 (16 less accidents) in 2018. Between 2019 and 2020, there was a 33% decline in accidents with 891 and 543 respectively. While for 2021 to March 2022, there were 447 accidents.

For many years, the JUTC has battled with stone throwing incidents, that is, vandalism of buses which has caused injury to some of its drivers and passengers alike. It has also resulted in spending millions of dollars to repair broken windscreens and bus infrastructure. Over the past three years, the problem has been exacerbated! These incidents have caused massive dislocation resulting in buses being down for inordinate periods of time, as spare parts which are not available here has to be sourced overseas. This not only affects the operations and the ability of the Company to generate much needed revenue but also the public i.e. productivity.

A brief summary reveals that since January 2018 to October 2021, there have been 311 incidents of vandalism. The year 2018 is the highest on record with 99 incidents reported. This is followed by 2019 with 95 incidents. The JUTC also received reports of 63 cases in 2020. With two months to go before the close of 2021, already there are 54 reported cases where the windscreens of the buses were mainly damaged in these incidents. An analysis of a report by our Security Department reveals that from August 10, 2021 to October 16, 2021 most of the stone throwing incidents occurred in the Three Miles Hunts Bay Police Station area.

What is very alarming from that report is that a driver last week sustained a minor injury to his shoulder in the execution of his duty. Fortunately, most of the drivers have not sustained any major injuries. However, this does not mean that our drivers are not psychologically affected by these incidents. This practice creates an unsafe working environment for them. The practice is not only dangerous to our drivers but also commuters. Imagine boarding a bus en-route to work in order to provide food on the table and while peacefully seated, someone throws a stone inside the bus hitting you above your right eye. While you try to create a mental picture, that was the reality for one of our passengers in 2018. That was not the only incident involving the public, as several other incidents have resulted in injury to other passengers.

We continue to engage the police in putting an end to this criminal practice. We have also partnered with Crime Stop and have offered rewards to put an end to this nonsensical and heinous practice. As we have done before, we are again appealing to the public to report these incidents. A JUTC bus cost an average 30 million Jamaican dollars. It behooves every well thinking Jamaican to protect this asset. Anyone with information that can assist with arresting those responsible, are being asked to report it to the nearest police station. Persons with information may also contact the JUTC at 876-570-1789 via WhatsApp or via our social media platforms. Pleaseee stop stoning and damaging our buses!