JUTC to Receive 100 Additional CNG Buses in July

The Jamaica Urban Transit Company Limited (JUTC) is slated to receive 100 additional new compressed natural gas (CNG) buses in July.

These will bring the total number of new buses introduced into the public transportation system since May 2023 to 171.

This was disclosed by Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport Minister, Hon. Daryl Vaz, during Wednesday’s (June 26) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.

He said the latest acquisitions form part of the Government’s efforts to increase the daily deployment of buses within the system, so as to reduce the wait time for commuters.

“The Government, with all its demands, cannot afford to buy all the new buses that we need at one time. The Minister of Finance [and the Public Service] has already committed to 300, of which we have 100 [arriving in the island] in July. We are hoping to order and pay the deposit on another 100 by the end of this calendar year, which will mean that by March/April 2025, another 100 new buses will be in the [JUTC’s] fleet,” the Minister added.

To supplement this undertaking, Mr. Vaz said the JUTC has embarked on a refurbishing programme that will see the Company looking to introduce a number of reconditioned buses into the transportation network.

These include 24 Golden Dragon diesel buses, which the JUTC, through the Government, purchased in 2016.

“We are currently refurbishing eight of them, which should be in the system in July,” Minister Vaz informed.

The buses are to be refurbished at a cost of US$70,000 with a two-year warranty and a life span of 10 more years.

“Another 16 are going through the public procurement process… and, hopefully, we will have those by the end of this calendar year. Those 24 buses are specific buses to deal with the hill routes,” Mr. Vaz pointed out, adding that 30 articulated buses are also to be refurbished.

With the impending arrival of the new CNG buses, Minister Vaz said this influx into the system will enable the JUTC to deploy existing buses to other routes.

The entity will also be partnering with public passenger vehicle (PPV) operators to provide transportation services to underserved routes.

“Those areas where we do not have enough buses that the JUTC now has franchises for, we will bring in public passenger vehicles to make up [the shortfall],” Mr. Vaz said.

He further advised that the JUTC will be looking to expand its operations islandwide.

“With the road infrastructure that we have built in St. Thomas, East-West to May Pen, and now to Mandeville, the JUTC needs to look at how to expand our operations to serve not only Spanish Town but other areas of St. Catherine going into Clarendon, and also Kingston going into St. Thomas. With the influx of these buses, we will be in a very good position to do that,” the Minister said.

Mr. Vaz also indicated that the Montego Bay Metro Company Limited will be restructured to provide ample service to the western section of the island.

“The intention is to find some way of restructuring the Montego Bay Metro to be able to benefit from the improvement to the public transport system [with these additional buses being deployed into the system],” he said.