The Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) has admitted that it is facing challenges as it seeks to cope with the increase in passenger load with the reopening of  schools.

Cecil Thoms, JUTC Corporate Communications Manager, said that the company's maintenance team has been working round-the-clock to repair buses for today's start of the new school year.

 

Despite those efforts, he noted that the JUTC is still grappling with an aging fleet.

 

Furthermore, he said with the increased congestion on the roads, the movement of the buses will be significantly retarded, thereby limiting the number of round trips the buses will be able to complete during peak hours.

 

In that regard, he cited the trip from Half-Way-Tree in St. Andrew to Spanish Town, St. Catherine and back to Half-Way-Tree. 

 

He said, whereas normally it is possible to complete that cycle three times during the peak morning commute, "we might only be able to do one, or even two trips, if we push our luck, because of the congestion."