KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) has noted the widespread public concerns about commuting challenges within areas of the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR), for which the company has come in for much criticism.

JUTC said the challenges largely relate to commuter irritation with bus availability along some routes and corridors, which, to a great extent, are being significantly impacted on by a number of major roadwork projects or dislocations across the KMTR.

The projects and dislocations in question are the Marcus Garvey Drive improvement works, the Mandela Highway improvement works, the Constant Spring Road breakaway, and the breakaway on the road to Gordon Town, JUTC said.

According to a news release from the company, all of the projects or dislocations have resulted in significantly increased turnaround times for various JUTC routes, with Marcus Garvey Drive at times dealing almost a killer blow to some of the Portmore and Spanish Town routes.

Similarly, JUTC said the Constant Spring Road breakaway has forced the diversion of numerous routes, adding more buses to the usually heavy traffic flow along corridors like Red Hills Road and Dunrobin Avenue, with virtual gridlock circumstances in many instances during peak hour traffic.

The news release stated that Mandela Highway has seen the general slowing up of traffic along the corridor, leading to broad challenges for routes into and out of Spanish Town, and some into Portmore, while the Gordon Town dislocation has forced the company into a revised operational focus in the Papine area.

“Overall, the combined challenges posed by the various road projects have severely hampered the efficient delivery of the JUTC services, for which some of the blame has been coming our way,” the transport company pointed out.

It said the JUTC itself has been somewhat challenged with bus run-out numbers over recent times, which has also contributed to the commuting challenges.

The company was quick to note, however, that there are ongoing efforts by Transport Minister Mike Henry to ease and systematically resolve the bus run-out challenges, which are expected to be significantly addressed going into next year.

JUTC said in the circumstances, it is to be noted that outside of its fleet challenges, it has no control over the impact of the major works projects and dislocations across the KMTR.

Therefore, the company is imploring the commuting public’s understanding of the logistical challenges being faced, and the strenuous efforts it says is being made by staff to provide the best possible service within the present circumstances.

In the case of the Mandela Highway and Marcus Garvey Drive projects, JUTC said the dislocations are scheduled to last for quite some time, while there is no clear indication so far of the likely timeline to resolve the Gordon Town situation.

The company said it is asking for commuter cooperation during this very trying time when delays are being experienced all-round, despite every effort being made to provide the service that is expected.