KINGSTON, Jamaica—The Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) will roll out its new Rural Express service to the townships of Ocho Rios, Montego Bay, Negril, and Port Antonio by the end of August.

The service from Mandeville to downtown Kingston was launched on July 28.

Managing director of the JUTC, Owen Ellington, made the disclosure during a recent press conference at the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) Auditorium in New Kingston.

The express service will utilise 15 of the 30 new diesel buses acquired by the JUTC, to offer premium travel between Kingston and selected major rural towns at an introductory fare of $2,000.

Ellington said that student representatives from the University of Technology (UTech) and University of the West Indies (UWI) have indicated that the service would be beneficial for students travelling home for the weekend.

“There are many students who live on campus who… [need] a safe, reliable well-structured and predictable mode of transportation and they have asked us to include them in our planning for the rollout of this service,” he pointed out.

“It is our intention, if needs be, to take a coach on each of the campuses on a Friday evening or a Saturday morning to move these students to the bus centre/transportation centre in Half -Way Tree, so they can connect to those of the buses in the Rural Express routes, travel home, visit family and friends… and then carry them back safely on a Sunday evening or even on a Monday to resume their classes. Here, we are looking at the potential for a new category of weekend travellers made up mainly of our students at the universities,” he pointed out.

—JIS