First Set of Rural School Buses to Arrive Next Week

Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, Hon. Daryl Vaz, has confirmed that the first set of buses procured for the Rural School Bus Programme is scheduled to begin arriving in the island next week.

He made the disclosure during Thursday’s (June 19) arrival of 63 new compressed natural gas (CNG) buses – procured for the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) – at Kingston Wharves.

“Next week, we’ll be back here [at Kingston Wharves] for the first set of school buses, and we’ll be back here every week for the next three or four weeks until the 110 buses arrive, so that we can get them in place to go out [for the 2025/26 academic year, beginning] September,” he shared.

Under the Rural School Bus Programme, approximately 100 buses are slated for rollout in time for the start of the new academic year, serving 258 of the island’s more than 850 rural schools.

The buses will be allocated as follows: rural St. Andrew – seven buses, serving 23 schools; St. Thomas – seven buses, serving 10 schools; St. Mary – seven buses, serving 11 schools; Portland – seven buses, serving eight schools, St. Ann – 10 buses, serving 29 schools; Trelawny – five buses, serving 22 schools; St. James – eight buses, serving 17 schools; Hanover – eight buses, serving 12 schools; Westmoreland – eight buses, serving 11 schools; Manchester – seven buses, serving 25 schools; St. Elizabeth – seven buses, serving 25 schools; and Clarendon – nine buses, serving 32 schools.

Minister Vaz reiterated that a flat fare of $50 per trip will apply to all rural school bus routes, ensuring affordable transportation for students islandwide.

More than 320,000 students are expected to benefit from the subsidised fares, leading to considerable savings for their parents.

Mr. Vaz said the intention is to further expand the programme in the coming years, with plans to procure “300 or 400 buses to be able to fully operate an efficient, safe, and economical school bus system”.

“I expect… we will be in a position to roll out a school bus service within three years, including this year. So, two more years to service 850 rural schools in Jamaica,” he stated.