Did Jamaica’s government willingly “disinvest” in JUTC, the state-run bus company?

So, shots were definitely fired during Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Julian Robinson’s budget presentation.

One of the issues he aimed at was Jamaica’s transportation system. 

I feel like we all know the issues with JUTC- they’re always broken down, there’s no schedule, no AC, you have to wait forever for a bus, and the list goes on. According to Julian, all of this points to the Government’s ‘disinvestment in JUTC’. 

Now, the government has set aside J$8.3 billion for the state-run bus company in the new budget.  That’s about US$53 million.  They say they’re adding another 100 buses to the fleet. 

But the PNP is saying that’s not enough, because the current government has allowed JUTC to fall off badly! Julian said the JUTC is down to 180 buses from the 450 it had when the PNP left office in 2016. 

So even with 100 new buses, it’s still nowhere near what it was.   And it’s not like the people have gone anywhere. 

Anyway, so the PNP says this means more taxis are on the road competing with JUTC for the same passengers. And if the options are to wait two hours for a bus or pay extra for a taxi, a lot of people will choose the taxi.

Which in turn runs up inflation. Remember we talked about that a few videos back. Transportation costs are one of the most heavily weighted factors in inflation. 

And with more competition from taxis, it’s setting the JUTC up for failure.

Now, Julian has proposed a solution.

Light Rail

Light rails are electric trains. So instead of the type of trains that carry bauxite, these are more modern.

Now, like Julian said this isn’t the first time the idea has been mentioned.  There just hasn’t been any action behind it.

But with the growing frustrations with JUTC, now might be the time.  But it would require massive investment!  I wonder how much a train costs?  Plus the whole infrastructure to run it.

And that’s the bottom line.