The state-owned Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) has placed on hold plans to expand its services outside the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR), due to existing challenges with service delivery on its primary routes.

Paul Abrahams, managing director of the JUTC, says a decision has been made to delay the expansion of its operations to Williamsfield in Manchester and Albion in St Thomas.

The KMTR includes Portmore and Spanish Town in St Catherine. The JUTC also operates a peak-hour service to Old Harbour, St Catherine and Longville Park, Clarendon

He told Our Today that the decision was arrived at during discussions with Minister of Transport Daryl Vaz, who had initially announced the expansion.

“We have started discussions on [it], but we thought it best to slow that process just to ensure that we could move commuters in the Kingston metropolitan region first. But as soon as the additional buses do come, maybe in February, we will start a one-leg operation,” Abrahams told Our Today.

Vaz had announced the expansion of the JUTC operations at the opening of the May Pen to Williamsfield leg of Highway 2000 in September last year. He said that the expansion is needed as the country continues to build out its road infrastructure, which demands easier access to public transportation.

At the time of the announcement, the transport minister was seemingly responding to concerns raised by citizens about transportation in rural Jamaica, who highlighted the need for cheaper and safer forms of transportation, especially for students.

With both urban and rural Jamaica demanding access to more affordable and reliable forms of public transport, Vaz shared in Parliament that he had formulated a three-year plan to procure 300 buses for the JUTC by 2026. The first 100 are scheduled to arrive by June 2024.