MANCHESTER, Jamaica — There was a high demand for seats on the Jamaica Urban Transit Company’s (JUTC) bus in Mandeville on Monday as commuters boarded the unit for a new route into Kingston.

Member of Parliament for Manchester Central, Rhoda Crawford, and officials from the JUTC said the demand was so high that some persons, when told the 53 seats were filled, opted to stand for the journey into the Corporate Area from the Nashville bus park in Mandeville.

“It is super demanding. A matter of fact when the bus was about to leave there were persons, even though we told them it was full, they were begging to go on the bus and were willing to stand into Kingston. I am sure if we had three buses on spot this morning all three would have left the location full,” Crawford said on Monday.

“This is a very good initiative. I am very happy about it. JUTC is here in Manchester Central, Mandeville. They have started the route 512 and the route goes from Mandeville to downtown Kingston [vice versa],” she added.

Departures from Mandeville are scheduled for 5:45 am, 10:00 am, and 3:10 pm, while departures from downtown Kingston are scheduled for 7:55 am, 1:00 pm and 5:20 pm.

The cost for a one-way trip for adults using SmartFare cards is $500, while adults paying with cash will pay $600. Concession passengers, including students, senior citizens and persons with disabilities using SmartFare cards, pay $250, while concession passengers paying in cash will be charged $600.

Crawford said the new JUTC route is providing “an alternative transportation” for commuters.

“…I mean it is not cutting into the regular taxi and bus operators, because they too are leaving full [with passengers]. I couldn’t believe how fast the buses were filled. I went and interacted with the persons and some of the taxi operators and even they are welcoming this JUTC service. It is a pilot phase, it is going to run for about three months for us to see how it works and for us to do the necessary reviews,” she said.

She is appealing to citizens to protect the bus amid reports of JUTC buses being stoned in the Corporate Area recently.

“I have seen reports elsewhere… that persons have been damaging JUTC buses and I am asking persons along the route to protect the buses, it is for you. Rubbish the argument about JLP bus, it is a bus for all Jamaicans whether you are JLP, PNP or no p,” she said.

Shantole Thompson, corporate communications manager at JUTC, shared a similar sentiment regarding the stoning of buses.

“We want to appeal to the public to please stop, because it is not just a danger to the JUTC bus, it is a danger to the passengers,” she said.

She reiterated that other routes are expected to be launched.

“This (Mandeville) is the first of many new launches. We have Negril coming up. We have Port Antonio, Montego Bay and we have Ocho Rios, so it is a lot to expect from JUTC. With our new additional 100 buses we will be able to cater to more commuters and put buses on more routes and these new buses are equipped with undercarriage, so if you have any large suitcases or large packages they can go under our buses,” she said.

“Every time a bus goes out it is clean, it is the commuters who are eating on the buses and leaving rubbish. We are urging them to please help us take care of our buses,” she added.

General manager at the JUTC’s Spanish Town depo Casual Pinnock said a review will be done during the pilot phase to better manage the service between Mandeville and Kingston.

“Based on the commuters… we see that it is very welcomed [and] it is really needed and we are happy to be the ones who are providing this service. We have some time schedules that we have given to the public. However, they are not cast in stone. We are here examining the commuter movement patterns and demand, it is a pilot for a period. We will use the information collected to customise the service to suit the needs of the public,” he said.

There was also a demand for JUTC’s SmartFare cards in the Cecil Charlton Park in Mandeville as people signed up for it. Among them were Olando Martin and a woman who identified herself only as “Beauty”.

“Members of the [security forces] and fire personnel should get a pass from Mandeville here to go to Kingston, it will save some money in their pocket. They park their car here and head to town and do their business and come back, so that money that they would use to pay the toll and buy gas would go towards their children and pay bills,” said Martin, who identified himself as a soldier.

“This is a very good idea. I like it… When you go on this bus you wouldn’t be sweating like on the other buses. I am not fighting against them, but you will feel more comfortable, because there is more room in this bus than the [Toyota] Coasters,” said Beauty.

READ: New route from Mandeville to Kingston to launch Monday

— Kasey Williams