Waiting Time at Half-Way Tree Transport Centre Reduced – Vaz
By: , September 11, 2023
Photo: Rudranath Fraser
Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, Hon. Daryl Vaz (right), observes students entering buses operated by the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) at the Half-Way Tree Transport Centre in St. Andrew, today (September 11).
Photo: Rudranath Fraser
Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams (right), interacts with students boarding buses operated by the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), at the Half-Way Tree Transport Centre in St. Andrew, today (September 11).
Photo: Rudranath Fraser
Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, Hon. Daryl Vaz (second right), speaks with students at the Half-Way Tree Transport Centre in St. Andrew, today (September 11). At right is Managing Director of the JUTC, Paul Abrahams.
Photo: Rudranath Fraser
Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, Hon. Daryl Vaz (second left), assists Mona High School student, Oneil Christie (in wheelchair), to board a Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) bus at the Half-Way Tree Transport Centre in St. Andrew, today (September 11). Observing (from left) are Managing Director of the JUTC, Paul Abrahams; Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams, and other officials of the bus company.The Full Story
The waiting time for persons at the Half -Way Tree Transport Centre in St. Andrew has been reduced, says Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, Hon. Daryl Vaz.
Mr. Vaz, along with Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams; Managing Director, Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), Paul Abrahams; Chairman of the Transport Authority, Owen Ellington, and Managing Director, Transport Authority, Ralston Smith), was at the facility, today (September 11), to observe back-to-school operations.
The Minister said that with 253 buses available, it was “impressive” that at 7:30 in the morning, “you have no one waiting in the area who are seeking buses”.
“That shows me that the people are being moved in a timely manner, based on the availability of buses,” Mr. Vaz said.
He also noted that buses were parked waiting on passengers, “which was not the situation a few months ago,” adding that with six more buses to be added to the system by mid-November, another 14 in January, as well as more over the coming months, commuters will reap the benefits.
Mr. Vaz said with the implementation of a cashless system for the JUTC by the middle of next year, along with the additional buses, this will help the bus company to “operate on a higher level of efficiency at less subsidy from the Government and move people in a timely manner.”
Officials of the JUTC gave students and other persons Smarter Card vouchers at the event.
For her part, Minister Williams said she was delighted to see how “quickly our students are getting on buses, and getting to school”, underscoring that it is the result of “all parts of Government working together”.
She said that the addition of 50 new buses to the system was timely for the reopening of school.
The JUTC is an agency of the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunication and Transport, and is the exclusive provider of public transit services in the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR), comprising Kingston and St. Andrew, and Portmore and Spanish Town in St. Catherine.
Its mission is to provide a customer-oriented, safe, reliable, modern, cost-effective transportation service, through teamwork and good conditions of employment.