‘Zero tolerance’

One driver has been taken off duty, and three others are facing internal disciplinary action as Daryl Vaz, minister of transportation, telecommunication and energy, promises a zero-tolerance approach against infractions carried out by operators of the controversial rural school buses, now in their second month officially serving students.

The measures come in response to 21 incidents, mostly minor crashes involving the buses’ commute on narrow roads leading to and from their destinations. There were no reports of any injuries stemming from any of the accidents, but there were reports of students falling ill on the buses, stated the authorities during an update on the programme yesterday.

“Driver behaviour is monitored in real time through onboard technology enabling swift action on unsafe conduct and vehicle irregularities. Several minor infractions have already been flagged by the technology and the JUTC’s (Jamaica Urban Transit Company) internal disciplinary measures have been used to mitigate these infractions,” noted Vaz during the press conference.

MATTERS OF URGENCY

“My direction is zero tolerance. You are carrying students. It is a complete difference from if you are travelling with cargo or whatever else. You may not get a second chance, and if there is actually an infraction it has to be treated as a matter of urgency to avoid the possibility of that same driver having another infraction that may not end as the first one did. It may end much worse,” said Vaz as he sought to reassure parents.

Launched at the start of the school year last month, phase one of the rural school bus programme saw the rollout of 60 buses, covering 250 schools from 12 dispatch points, including in Rockfort in St Andrew; Yallahs, St Thomas; Montego Bay, St James; Manchester; Spanish Town in St Catherine; and St Elizabeth, among others. As at October 7, approximately16,600 students have been transported daily, with buses travelling an average of 65 miles per day.

According to Vaz, installation of automatic vehicle locators (AVL) has been completed on 57 buses, and the rest are to come in phases. This was also complemented in September with training in AVL analytics for the JUTC team responsible for monitoring the location of the buses. They will operate from a bus operations centre using the management system.

FARE COLLECTION SYSTEM

In the interim, Vaz said installation has already started for the Electronic Fare System, and that testing will commence next Monday as the government remains committed to rolling out the fare collection system as well as the operations centre on November 1, 2025.

As of Monday, parents and students will be able to top up student transportation cards at any popular retail outlet across Jamaica, similar to those used to top up mobile phones, he explained, adding that at full implementation, parents will be able to track their children’s routes home, ensuring their safety, and, ultimately, peace of mind.

Meanwhile, Owen Ellington, board director of the JUTC, said safety is of utmost importance with regard to the programme and that extends into the recruitment, training, and comprehensive background checks of bus operators.

“We ensure that the driving history of every applicant is thoroughly examined before they are shortlisted and that they undergo very comprehensive training. In addition to that, they have been exposed to specialised training in dealing with student commuters. We’ve also ensured that the management of these individuals is done through layers,” he said.

According to Ellington, the driver-monitoring system captures operators’ alertness, fatigue, and cellular phone usage while driving. Sudden acceleration, braking, sharp cornering and speeding are also monitored, he said.

“I am happy to say that, despite our very diligent system of collecting and reporting incidents in the operation of the rural school bus system, so far, with one full month, we have logged 21 incidents, and of that 21 just over a half are accidents involving a third party vehicle. In all instances there are minor scratches,” he said, explaining that most had to do with the vehicles navigating others on narrow, windy roads.

In the meantime, Richard Troupe, acting director for safety and security in schools at the Ministry of Education, Youth, Skills and Information, explained that exploration into assigning school resource officers to ensure appropriate student behaviour on the vehicles will be made.

“The rules at school must be consistent with what obtains on our buses and so where there are cases that will require the intervention of our school resource officers that will be done. We had cases in this phase where the students’ behaviour is a cause for concern, those matters would have been brought to our attention and communicated to the school,” he said.

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com