PPV Operators Will Have a Place in Rural School Bus Service
By: , April 10, 2025
Photo: Yhomo Hutchinson
Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness (second left), listens as Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport Minister, Hon. Daryl Vaz (right), gives a detailed overview of the components of a bus to be utilised in the dedicated rural school bus system, at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) on Monday (April 7). Others (from left) are Industry, Investment and Commerce Minister, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill (right); and Education, Skills, Youth and Information Minister, Senator Dr. the Hon. Dana Morris Dixon.
Photo: Yhomo Hutchinson
Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness (left, foreground), listens as Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport Minister, Hon. Daryl Vaz (right), highlights the mechanics of one of the units to be utilised in the new rural school bus system. Joining them are Industry, Investment and Commerce Minister, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill (second left); and Education, Skills, Youth and Information Minister, Senator Dr. the Hon. Dana Morris Dixon (partially hidden).The Full Story
Public passenger vehicle (PPV) operators will have a role to play in the dedicated school bus system being put in place by the Government.
A total of 100 school buses are being procured this year, which will be retrofitted to better manage the Jamaican terrain.
The first units will arrive in time for the start of the new academic year in September 2025.
Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, Hon. Daryl Vaz, said the Government will be seeking to work with PPV operators to address any gaps while the service is being built out.
He was speaking to JIS News at Jamaica House on Monday (April 7), where one of the retrofitted buses was on display.
He noted that initially, the units will ply routes on the main thoroughfares, and children will need to be transported from their districts to the main bus routes.
As such, he said, the PPV drivers who operate in these districts will have the opportunity to transport the students for a shorter distance.
“I will meet with the stakeholders in the public transport sector to explain to them, and we will come up with a plan,” he told JIS News.
Minister Vaz explained that initially, the Ministry had looked at the option of using the existing public transport operators in the school bus system and “pay them the price being charged for adults by subsidisng the fares, but it is just not affordable”.
He noted, however, that “we will find a way to integrate a proper rural bus system using the stakeholders and the Government partnering in the best interest of our children”.