THE island’s primary transportation company, Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), has caused drivers and passengers pain with regular breakdowns mid-transit.

One bus driver, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Jamaica Observer he is tired of the buses constantly breaking down, and he attributes the condition of the vehicles to “poor management”.

“I have a bus weh mi operate for the last five years and the [windshield] wiper never work yet, and mi complain and write it up till mi weak. So, me realise seh it’s not going anywhere. The passengers are relying on us; me have to force and drive the bus in a rain because if me start work before the rain start and me have the passengers, me cyaa leave them a road and me cyaa park them up in a di bus,” the driver lamented.

As it relates to his complaints about the bus he has been operating without a functioning windshield wiper, the bus driver simply said, “Weh management a tell me seh now is that me mus’ bring in the bus when rain start fall.

“So in a case like that when me have the passengers them enroute, what mi going [to] do? So it nuh make no sense. You have to expect rain at any given time; you can just a drive on the road and then rain just start fall,” he said, adding that he had brought his complaints as far as the managing director, but to no avail.

Barely able to hide his frustration during the interview, the driver said, “The management system is down.”

“The bus weh me operate, you know a AC [air condition] bus — them nuh really have no window, [just] some little blinds — and yesterday the AC stop work. Yesterday me a drive and my [blood] pressure nuh too good, because mi up in a age. Mi complain to them till mi weak ‘bout the AC and up to yesterday when the bus break down with me on other mechanical defects, me have to left it because the brake run out, everything run out,” he continued in the recent interview, adding that he had to “force and drive it from Cross Roads go down a Ward Theatre go park it” because he did not want to leave his passengers stranded.

He also noted that on many occasions in the past, after a particular bus stopped working and he had to leave it on the road, it sometimes took days for someone to collect the vehicle and take it in for repairs.

“The passengers deserve better service and better value fi them money because I mean, every country supposed to have a national transport system and it’s like them a do everything to phase out this one,” he said.

Attempting to verify the many complaints about JUTC buses malfunctioning during transit, the Sunday Observer team boarded a number 23 bus heading to Spanish Town, St Catherine, from the Half-Way-Tree Transport Centre, on March 12.

The ride was nothing short of challenging, with the driver needing to stop multiple times because the vehicle was overheating. A 30- to 40-minute drive lasted closer to two hours, and although passengers were observed being sympathetic to the driver, who was apologetic, they aired their displeasure with the company. One man even went as far as to shout “the people dem need to fix the bus!”

Speaking with a passenger, Danielle Wilkie, the following day, she explained that a few months ago while heading to work from Spanish Town, the vehicle overheated and the driver had to stop.

“I live in the Spanish Town area so it broke down when we got to the Hydel Group of Schools. Before the trouble started the atmosphere was normal, but afterwards everyone was a bit confused. We had to take another bus. Thankfully, one was nearby [but] I lost my seat, and the new bus didn’t take me to my final destination. I was heading to Cross Roads but the new bus took me to Half-Way-Tree,” Wilkie said.

Another passenger, Maurice, spoke about the last time he took a JUTC bus.

“The last time I took a bus in January from Papine, a 78. Before reaching my destination (downtown) the bus broke down along Slipe Road, which then caused passengers to exit the bus, stranded until another bus stopped so we could get on. It took me about 10 minutes to get another bus because I couldn’t get a taxi as all of them were coming down full. I was late for work,” Maurice said, noting that he usually takes a taxi but decided on a whim to take the bus. He vows never to take another JUTC bus.

However, despite the bus driver stating that the buses seem to return with the same or more issues after sending them to be serviced, corporate communications manager at JUTC, Cecil Thoms told the Sunday Observer that servicing is done once per month on all operational buses.

But, he said, “unscheduled maintenance takes place daily to include issues such as punctured tyres, broken windscreen etc, and is not predictable”.

With a fleet of 608 buses and 878 drivers, Thoms told the Sunday Observer that ageing buses with an average age of 12 years mostly experience transmission failure, engine oil seal leaks, and suspension repairs.

“Currently, 105 buses are no longer functioning due to various operational issues. We have been advised that new buses, approximately 50, will be procured to boost the fleet and are expected to arrive in the last quarter of this year,” Thoms disclosed.