35% Bus and Taxi Fare Increase for Jamaicans – Watch Video

Kemar TomlinsonOctober 11, 2023

The Minister of Transport, Daryl Vaz, has announced a 19% increase in fares for bus and taxi services, which is expected to take effect on October 15 of this year. In his speech in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Minister Vaz said that transport operators will be able to take advantage of another 16% increase in fares in April 2024.

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So in total, the increase will be a staggering 35%, which will impact commuters across the island. However, there was an outlandish proposal made by transport operators to the regime that the government should grant them a 150% increase in fares in order to counterbalance the expenses associated with providing services to commuters in the country.

As it turned out, Minister Vaz’s announcement fell tremendously short of what they had hoped for. The government rejected the transport operators’ proposal and opted to increase fares by 35%, with the first 19% taking effect this coming Sunday.

Although some may say that this announcement may be a controversial move from the minister, he also announced that the fare for commuters who use the state-run Jamaica Urban Transit Company, JUTC, and Montego Bay Metro will be unaffected by the raise.

According to the Transport Minister, the verity that there has not been an increase in fares granted to public transport operators since 2021 played a role in the decision.

See the video below:

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Kemar TomlinsonOctober 11, 2023