CABINET member Daryl Vaz, who recently had transport added to his ministerial portfolio, is planning a retreat with major players in the sector next week as part of his drive to devise a 100-day plan to tackle the many flaws in the system.

According to Vaz, his vision is for a clean, safe, reliable, dependable, and convenient public transport system which is almost the opposite of what obtains now.

He said his fix will include a proper transportation system for students struggling to get to and from schools in rural Jamaica.

Addressing a post-Cabinet media briefing at Jamaica House on Wednesday, Vaz said even before his 100-day plan is presented to Parliament, he has embarked on a programme to breathe new life into the ailing Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC).

Vaz, who also has portfolio responsibility for science, energy, and telecommunications, told the media briefing that the JUTC is now rolling out 164 buses daily instead of the between 350 and 400 which it should be operating each day.

“So we are woefully behind and, of course, that is causing great inconvenience to [members of the] public who use that mode of transport because of the wait time, which I understand can be extensive and can be as much as two hours,” said Vaz as he admitted that the majority of the buses now being used by the JUTC are old, not running at optimum, and will be inadequate come September when the new school year begins.

“We have made some plans for rehabilitation with a big spend on spare parts totalling a little under US$400,000…to try and get our fleet up to 310 buses for back-to-school in September. This will include the 50 [five electric and 45 diesel] new buses that we have been talking about for some time,” added Vaz.

He said his checks revealed that the ship carrying the 50 news buses was entering the Panama Canal on Wednesday morning and they should be in the island between Friday and next Monday.

According to Vaz, another 20 buses, which use compressed natural gas (CNG), should arrive in the island by the end of this year while approval has already been given for the JUTC to acquire 100 buses each year over the next two fiscal years.

“What does that mean? It means that there is a possibility, depending on how the discussion go, that we could get …another 125 CNG buses between now and the end of the year and we could order another 100 buses by early next year. So that would put you at 225 new buses within the next six to 18 months, depending on funding availability,” Vaz told the media briefing.

The transport minister also reported that the JUTC is now doing a pilot for a cashless fare system which should be completed in the next six months.

“The use of cash for JUTC is definitively not a prudent way because the fact of the matter is that you only collect a small percentage of what is passing through and that’s a reality,” declared Vaz, as he added that measures are now being considered to prevent the pilferage of fuel which has hurt the State-owned bus company for years.

Turning to the public transportation challenges facing students in rural Jamaica, Vaz, the Member of Parliament for Portland Western, declared that fixing this is one of his major priorities.

“You are talking about kids who are leaving their homes 2 o’clock in the mornings to walk for miles to get to the nearest point to where they can get public transport, then they have to go through the public transport being disrespected and abused.

“They then leave schools 3-4 o’clock in the afternoons and don’t get home until 10 o’clock at nights. So what kind of learning environment is that for these youngsters,” questioned Vaz.

He argued that the implementation of a safe, secure, efficient transport system for rural students can be operated by publicly owned buses or as a franchise system with highly trained drivers and conductors.

The transport minister said these school buses would be outfitted with cameras and tracking devices while the students would use transport cards with all their information on them. He said these cards could be topped up at schools or online.

“The rural school bus system will reduce absenteeism and lateness and contribute reduce truancy,” declared Vaz.

He said consultation will be held with the National Secondary Students’ Council and other stakeholders to ensure that this critical service becomes a reality.

“And it is doable. It has been done in other jurisdictions, including Caribbean countries and it is just for us to come up with the will to implement. That I have and I and I know that my Government has [the will] so the support is there,” Vaz told the media briefing.