Maybe the scale of the losses at the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) would have startled most people. After all, a projected net loss of $7 billion in the next fiscal year is extremely difficult to accept.

However, anyone not allergic to the truth will acknowledge, quite easily, that the State-owned and operated bus company, based on how it is being run, will continue to bleed and cost taxpayers’ a hefty sum each year.

Two weeks ago we reported that plans to increase its fleet of buses by 50 in the new fiscal year which begins on April 1, 2023. According to the company, that development should help it increase passenger numbers in the next fiscal year by 72 per cent to 31 million, at an average of 85,000 passengers per day. To achieve that the company intends to have an average of 288 buses in service each day.

As it now stands, the JUTC says it transports approximately 50,000 passengers per day using 176 buses on average. Its mandate, it said, is to provide between 25,000 and 31,000 seats daily.

But even while the JUTC has projected a 72 per cent growth in passenger numbers, the company says it expects revenue to grow at a slower rate of 63 per cent to $2.87 billion.

Our report pointed out that the company makes 95 per cent of its revenues from fares. At the same time, the bus company says it is expecting to spend $14.3 billion, 80 per cent of which will go into staff costs, fuel and lubricants, and repairs and maintenance.

The company also told us that toll charges, mostly for buses using the Portmore toll road, are expected to increase 80 per cent to $338 million.

Of great concern is the fact that company is yet to say how it will finance the $7-billion deficit. While we await that explanation, we reiterate our acceptance that a State-run public transportation system is costly. The quid pro quo, though, is that such a service must be properly run, as the benefit is in providing the populace with reliable transportation that helps to enhance production, commerce, leisure travel, and other activities that positively impact people’s lives.

We are not confident that the JUTC can be efficiently run using the formula utilised by successive governments over the years. In fact, what each Government has done is operate the company as a political pork barrel to feed loyal supporters.

We have consistently argued that the Government needs to seek assistance from individuals who are skilled at running businesses to oversee the operations of the JUTC. Following on that the Administration needs to take the hard decision to rid the company of political hacks who are there collecting public money without exchange for skilled labour.

We reiterate that in a country such as ours, with limited financial resources and heavy demand for social services, we cannot ignore the importance of having a service, such as that provided by the JUTC, cover its costs. What obtains now is just too heavy a burden on the public purse.

It needs to be changed.