The Form a Line Project, launched recently at Mandela Park in Half-Way-Tree, is expected to foster discipline among public transport users, by encouraging them to form queues when boarding buses.

The project, which is being implemented by the Kiwanis Foundation of Jamaica, is a continuation of the ‘Discipline and Courtesy Campaign’ launched in April 2004, and will see the Jamaica Urban Transit Company Limited (JUTC), the National Transport Co-operative Society (NTCS),

the Transport Authority, Jamaica Constabulary Force and other stakeholders working with the Kiwanis Foundation in using a combination of persuasive strategies to encourage people to queue when boarding buses at major transportation hubs.

Minister of State for Housing, Transport, Water and Works Dr Fenton Ferguson, who delivered the main address at the launch, noted that the project “complements the thrust of the ministry to improve the level of service afforded to those who use public transportation”.

Highlighting the need for discipline among all categories of commuters, Dr Ferguson remarked that indiscipline on the roads had resulted in a 56 per cent increase in child pedestrian fatalities for the period January to May 2006 over the corresponding period last year.

He added that in 2002, “injuries due to road traffic accidents required over 25,000 days of care for those admitted to hospitals and cost the government over $518 million”.

He noted that the government, through the Transport Authority, the National Road Safety Unit and the JUTC, was working to address the situation.

Meanwhile, the junior minister for transport said that the government had invested heavily into improving the comfort and safety of people riding JUTC buses,

pointing out that all drivers employed to the company have been trained in customer service and many of them have received certification from the Tourism Product Development Company.