JUTC to Discuss Proposed Route Timetable Change with Port Royal Residents

The Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) will be meeting with the residents of Port Royal in east Kingston as well as workers at the Norman Manley International Airport on Saturday, August 20 to review the proposed bus timetable for Route 98, the route that services that area.
Route 98 goes from Port Royal to Downtown Kingston via the Norman Manley International Airport and Windward Road. The move comes at a time when the bus company is in the advanced stages of preparing for publicly posted timetables.
Speaking with JIS News Service Planning Manager at the JUTC, Kirk Finnikin pointed out that the “new” timetable would display to the customer an accurate time at which buses plying that route would arrive in Port Royal and when they would depart.
“Barring any unforeseen circumstances”, he said “we will give customers the flexibility to plan their departure and arrival times, which should have an impact on their day’s productivity.”
“If a passenger looked at the timetable it would actually tell the expected waiting time for the next bus.” These times are actually based on the demand.
“We’ve done our due diligence checks,” he noted “and the adjustments we’ve made are based on demands of customers gleaned from analysis carried out on the particular route,” he said, adding, “for example, we noticed that on this particular route to Port Royal the ridership decreased significantly after 7:00 p.m. and therefore we had decreased the number of buses on the route after that period to maximize efficiency”.
Of significance is the analysis of the “trip time” surveys that was executed. According to Mr. Finnikin this was so detailed that the departure and arrival times set, will allow crew members to meet the schedule without having to speed.
“The benefits to the passenger of the introduction and posting of the timetable therefore would naturally be the ability to plan around the JUTC buses with some degree of accuracy, while for the company, efficiency in bus movement and all the beneficial changes that follow,” he continued.
The JUTC Planning Manager was quick to point out however that the “schedule was not cast in stone” and if the demands changed for the service “then adjustments can and will be made”.
The community meeting is set for Saturday at 6:00 p.m. in the Port Royal Town Square and Mr. Finnikin said he was confident all would go well. He noted, “we have our information, we have our plan and we’re going out there with a view to inform the populace of Port Royal.”
The community will also see the layout of the bus timetable that will be posted in the town.