KINGSTON, Jamaica — Parents are being urged to register their children for the student transportation card ahead of February 1, when the Rural School Bus programme goes fully cashless.

In a release on Tuesday, Minister of Energy, Transport and Telecommunications, Daryl Vaz, said that students without a card will not be allowed to take the rural school buses after the February 1 deadline.

With the card, students will benefit from a subsidised fare of $50 per trip. They have been travelling free since the rollout of the programme at the start of the 2025/26 academic year in September.

Minister Vaz, who was speaking at a recent post-Cabinet press briefing, said that the drivers of the school buses will not be accepting cash for rides.

“If you do not have a student card and you have not topped up your student card to pay the subsidised fare of $50, we will be going back to the old system of paying $300 to $600 a day and competing with the adults for transportation,” he pointed out.

“So, it is both cost-effective for you to get the card, safer for your children to travel that way, and more convenient,” he said.

The minister advised individuals to visit the websites or social media pages of the  Jamaica Urban Transport Company (JUTC) or the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information for the link to complete the registration form.

He appealed to members of parliament, councillors, churches, and government entities to help students in need to get their cards “so that the buses will operate at optimum”.

Meanwhile, the minister said that the Rural School Bus programme continues to be operational, stable and deliver good service.

“As of January 2026, 82 rural school buses are available and fully deployed across dispatched locations islandwide,” he reported.

He noted that the buses have been running on schedule and without disruption.

“In anticipation of increased demand, additional drivers have been recruited to strengthen route coverage and reduce the risk of service gaps,” he informed.