MONTEGO BAY, St James — Private bus operators who transport passengers between Montego Bay and Kingston are keeping a close eye on Government’s plans to have the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) service the route. They have pointed to what they say has been a fall-off in the ability of their colleagues to attract passengers on the Montego Bay to Savanna-la-Mar route since State-operated buses have become an option.

“It’s a Government thing so what can we do?” one operator resignedly told the
Jamaica Observer Monday morning as he waited for his bus to be filled with passengers in the Montego Bay Transport Centre.

“We nuh know what going to happen yet so we a watch and see,” added the man who, like others who spoke on the issue, did not wish to be identified by name.

Last month Transport Minister Daryl Vaz announced that 15 new diesel buses will be used to launch a JUTC rural express service offering travel on long-haul routes from Half-Way-Tree Transport Centre to various stops. Among the locations mentioned were Negril, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Port Antonio and Mandeville.

The plan is for one or two stops per trip and the service is to have an introductory fare of $2,000. There was no word on when the service would be launched, how long the introductory fare period would last, or what the fare would be after that.

On Monday, bus drivers in Montego Bay pointed out that Toyota coasters have been used to transport passengers between the two cities for years. They charge $1,400 one way, $600 less than the JUTC’s introductory rate and they are concerned about what a JUTC rural express service would mean for their livelihood.

There is worry that the long-haul MoBay to Kingston route facilitates only one round trip a day and the route is already inundated with private buses.

“Remember we can’t go on another route if this one slow down because our road licence say MoBay to town, so I don’t know what will happen,” said one bus driver.

Another driver, who said he had been unaware of the planned rural express service, was just as worried.

“So hold on, so when them do this, what them expect? How we supposed to manage this?” he queried.

He argued that this would create an uneven playing field because private operators have costs the JUTC does not, such as insurance premiums.

“We have to pay all of this and then have to compete with Government. This can’t go so,” he declared.

Some have pointed to a recent move by JUTC-operated Montego Bay Metro, which now offers the MoBay to Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland route, as a prelude of what is to come.

“We see the Sav bus them, from the big bus them come on. Them no full when the big bus dem deh here,” one driver said in explaining why they are worried.

Another driver, who operates between Montego Bay and Ocho Rios, said he also has concerns even though there is no indication that will be a JUTC-serviced route.

“How them give we road licence and then want to bring bus on the route, how that fair?” he asked.

He warned that this may impact the amount of tax the State collects from the transportation sector, especially if some of them go out of business.

“A we them collect a lot of money from, so what go happen?” he questioned.

However, he is hopeful that the difference in fares will be enough for private bus operators to hold onto their passengers.

A Montego Bay Metro bus inside the Montego Bay Transportation Centre, Monday.

Minister of Transpot Daryl Vaz around the steering wheel of one of the new CNG buses to be used by the JUTC on its new rural routes.