JUTC Earned $2.27 Billion in 2004/05

Transport and Works Minister, Robert Pickersgill has reported that the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) had a revenue intake of $2.27 billion for the 2004/05 fiscal year, representing an increase of $39 million or 2.2 per cent in comparison to the previous period.
The Minister, who was making his contribution to the 2005/06 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on June 14, said that the swell in Smart Card sales contributed to the high revenue intake, with marketing strategies resulting in an increase in earnings from card sales by 85 per cent, from $59.7 million in 2004, to $100.9 million in 2005.
Meanwhile, Smart Cards rider also registered a 71 per cent increase, moving from 2.2 million passengers for the previous fiscal year, to 3.8 million passengers. However, overall passengers carriage decreased by 12.5 per cent in 2004/05, from 88.4 million in 2003/04 to 77 million passengers.
Mr. Pickersgill attributed the decline to “intense competition from illegal operators due primarily to the absence of regulatory requirements.”
The JUTC also launched its safety awareness campaign in 2004 with a view to encourage safe driving habits.
Elements of the safety awareness programme include: the company’s bus drivers keeping the buses’ headlights on in daylight hours; regular written communication to drivers; refresher training with commuter/customer friendly focus during the summer period; retraining of accident investigators; and the acquisition of four speed guns to increase monitoring of speeds across the zones traversed by the JUTC’s buses.
The Transport Minister noted also, that the agency was seeking to streamline its operations, and had recently acquired a Trapeze Software Solutions-FX Blockbuster, OPS and PLAN modules, to enhance its ability to prepare effective schedules in a timely manner, as well to effectively manage bus and duty assignments.
He explained that the systems, which will be implemented in January of next year, were aimed “at enhancing the ability of dispatch and road management personnel to more easily contact and assign available bus crews to duties as required, while improving the ability to manage attendance and absenteeism.”