A passenger boards a JUTC bus.
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The current state of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) is an example of the Government’s failure to invest in the essential services that directly impact people’s lives, according to Julian Robinson, the Opposition Spokesman on Finance.
Robinson made the claim on Thursday during his contribution to the 2025/26 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives.
He argued that public transportation is a necessity for thousands of Jamaicans.
“It determines whether children get to school on time, whether workers arrive at their jobs without stress, whether families have a few extra dollars in their pockets at the end of the day.
“Yet, the JUTC has been systematically run down under this administration,” said Robinson.
He told the Parliament that when the PNP left office in 2016, the JUTC was carrying approximately 62 million passengers per year. “Today, nine years later, the company is projected to have carried just 19 million in fiscal year 2024/25 – a massive decline that reflects the lack of investment and planning in our public transportation system,” he remarked.
Robinson noted that it was not until after being in office for eight years that the Jamaica Labour Party administration moved to procure 100 new buses.
“Now in their 9th year, they have told us that they will procure another 100 buses. They allowed the fleet of buses to run down and now that they have just procured replacements, they are victory dancing and cartwheeling. This is completely unacceptable,” Robinson said, adding that the current allocation in the budget for the JUTC is not enough to revive the bus company. “Our (PNP) commitment is to restore JUTC back to its 2016 levels,” he said.
He argued that underinvestment in public transportation hurts real people every single day. He noted that: “Commuters wait for hours at bus stops, uncertain whether a bus will come, forcing them to be late for work and school; many are forced to pay more for alternatives, stretching their already limited budgets; the country loses productivity because they start their days stressed and exhausted from unreliable transit; and families suffer because long waiting times reduce quality time at home, and parents worry about their children stranded at bus stops”.
Said Robinson,“This isn’t just about inconvenience—it’s about the cost of living, the economy, and the daily struggles of ordinary Jamaicans. And yet, this government boasts about macroeconomic success while the quality of life continues to decline”.
