JUTC Earns $115 Million in Smart Card Sales for July to September

The Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) has reaped great success from its Smart Card service, with the company reporting sales of $115.5 million for the period July to September 2004.
As stated by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), in its Economic Update and Outlook for July to September, the figure represents a $23 million increase over the $92.5 million in sales for the previous April to June quarter. Approximately 39,373 Smart Cards were in circulation by the end of September, as compared with 35,003 for April to June.
According to the report, earnings for the July to September quarter was $23 million, which constituted 4.7 per cent of the total consolidated revenue, which is an improvement over the 4.2 per cent contribution to revenue for the previous quarter. The growth in sales is said to be partly explained by the employment of a sales team last April. The JUTC also reported a slight increase in the number of buses, which operated in the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR) for the review period, where an average of 383 operated per month, one more than the figure for the corresponding quarter of 2003.
The monthly average passenger trips, however, fell to 16.1 million from 21.1 million, while fare income dropped to $489.7 million, a decline of 4.5 per cent, relative to the comparable period of 2003.
“The lower out-turn in the review quarter has been attributed in part to the disruptions to the service caused by Hurricane Ivan. There were no bus operation for three days and for seven days there was reduced service,” the Report stated.
Meanwhile, real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the transportation, storage and communication sectors grew by an estimated 0.4 per cent in July to September 2004, compared with the corresponding period of 2003.