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| Mar 5, 2022

JUTC preparing for ‘demand surge’ as schools reopen fully on Monday

/ Our Today

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JUTC Rockfort Depot buses pictured in the Half-Way-Tree Transportation Centre in St Andrew. (Photo: jutc.gov.jm)

Ahead of the Monday (March 7) resumption of face-to-face classes, the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) has assured citizens and students its fleet of service buses will meet the increased demand.

Cecil Thoms, corporate communications manager at the State-operated entity, said that while some commuting delays should be expected, JUTC commits to rectifying any challenges as they surface.

“We expect that there will be significant crowds and students turning up for school. So the first thing that we are using is our articulated buses, which we call the double bus, which [can] move twice as much of the crowd [compared] to our regular units,” Thoms explained during a virtual town hall meeting hosted by the Ministry of Education yesterday.

Thoms indicated that the JUTC will also “bring back into operation, [several] buses that have been down to increase the fleet numbers.”

“We are doing everything possible within the resources that we have to meet the demand,” he added.

Thoms told the virtual town hall meeting that the JUTC has plans of acquiring 50 additional buses to boost the entity’s fleet.

Against the backdrop of the foreseen commuting issues, Thoms encouraged persons who travel on the JUTC’s buses to “be out early to secure [your] seats and… bear with us as we work out the details of [the anticipated] challenging situation.”

The JUTC operates largely in the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR), which covers the capital, urban St Andrew, Portmore and Spanish Town in St Catherine.

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