Transport Minister Daryl Vaz on Wednesday sought to reassure residents of deep rural communities that his commitment to providing an additional 100 new school buses to the National Rural School Bus Programme (NRSBP) stands unwavering.

Addressing guests at the official opening of the Rural School Bus Operation Centre at the Jamaican Urban Transit Company (JUTC) Lyndhurst Road Depot, Vaz noted that the new buses which are currently being procured will be better able to navigate and handle hilly terrain.

“As I have indicated publicly, additional buses are being procured to expand the programme and reach even deeper rural communities. The government has not forgotten our citizens in the deep rural remote areas of the country and so the new buses that will be procured will be smaller and better to maneuver and traverse the narrow hilly rural districts where the larger buses cannot access presently. The buses are coming,” he said.

The NRSBP, which was launched in September of last year, saw the first 60 units dispatched across the island, then an additional 50 introduced, bringing the fleet to 110 by the end of the year in its first phase.

“We committed to bringing 60 buses and putting them in operation for September 2025. We committed despite Hurricane Melissa to bring an additional 50 buses to start for the January school term of 2026. We got a little delayed because of Melissa and the shipping logistics but I’m pleased to say that, despite all of the critics and the naysayers, and the badmind people, we delivered on that commitment,” he argued.

It was later announced that an additional 100 buses, valued at over $2 billion, will be procured in the 2026/2027 fiscal year as part of the second phase in the roll out of the programme.

At the opening, Vaz charged that the expansion is necessary, noting that the programme was not designed as a short-term measure or a political announcement, but represents a structured long-term solution to long-standing problems of transporting children to school.

“For too long the issue of transportation for students, especially in rural Jamaica, was known, discussed and acknowledged but never adequately addressed. As minister with responsibility for transport and a rural Member of Parliament, I have said before and I’ll say it again, getting our children to and from school safely is not optional, it is the responsibility of any good government,” he said.

He added that Jamaica continues to face serious road safety challenges and as such child fatalities and injuries remain a major concern.

“In recent years we have seen consistently high levels of road fatalities. Among the road user category, children remain among the most vulnerable. Statistics from the Island Traffic Authority state that as of April 15, 2026, 74 lives were lost in 65 fatal crashes. Data also indicates as of April 14, eight children have died in seven fatal crashes so far this year compared to a total of 18 child fatalities from 15 crashes in 2025 with the most vulnerable age groups being between 10 and 17 years old,” he said, adding that none of the fatalities happened under the watch of the bus system.

Vaz noted that the recorded fatalities, underscores a continued risk facing children and an urgent need for sustained interventions to improve road safety and reduce deaths.

Meanwhile, Managing Director of the JUTC, Owen Ellington, in giving an update on the 110 buses in operation, said over 16,000 students are currently being transported daily.

“That number works out to somewhere in the region of around 320,000 student trips per month. And all of that is being done without much fanfare, but with a higher degree of safety, reliability and assurance to the parents and guardians of these children,” he said.