A worker cleans one of the new Jamaican Urban Transit Company luxury buses parked at an open lot on Lady Musgrave Road in St. Andrew in this March 2007 Gleaner photo - File

Susan Gordon, Business Reporter

The Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) has possession of 35 of the 50 new buses acquired for Cricket World Cup, but yesterday the state-run agency said its fleet still remains more than 100 buses short of the number needed to service the city.

"We are waiting on clearance for the other 15 but the paper work is not yet complete," Desmond Creary, JUTC's senior vice-president for operations, told Wednesday Business, referring to their clearance from customs.

Five of the buses are to be cleared and put into service by next week. The 15 buses include 10 articulated buses and five Man buses.

Their acquisition was financed by a €3.74 million loan issued through Germany's Commerzbank, according to information contained in the Finance Ministry's schedule of outstanding debt. Converted, the debt amounts to J$338.3 million, putting the cost per bus atjust under $6.8 million.

The new buses will boost the full JUTC fleet to 295, but the agency said it needs about 400 units to service the Kingston Metropolitan Area.

Creary projects that it could take the organisation the better part of the financial year to achieve its target. Government, following a commit-ment to assist the loss-making bus company, has been helping to refleet the transport company, allowing JUTC to concentrate on building up its revenues and rationalising costs.

Still in the red

Still, the company remains deeply in the red, and while it expects to increase revenues by 15 per cent, it is projecting losses of just $1.17 billion this year, largely linked to the $3.8 billion it will spend on its operations.

Revenues are projected at $3.2 billion, of which $149.08 million is anticipated from charters and other services.

Its projected losses are an actual improvement on last year's performance when the entity lost an estimated $1.27 billion.

Part of its strategy to boost rvenues includes entry into the value end of the transport market of which, to date, the Ezroy Millwood-led National Transport Cooperative Society has remained the sole service provider.

Ten of the new buses and 18 of the old fleet are being used as premium coaches for express routes to destinations such as Spanish Town, Green Acres, White Waters Meadows, Angels, Harbour View and Kingston.

The air-conditioned premium rides cost $100 per trip to Portmore, and beyond that $190-$200.

Another 22 buses have been designated for express service, which costs $60 to $80 per ride, compared to the $50 passengers pay for a regular ride.

"We are still not up to the number of buses required," said Creary, explaining that while the premium service offered another income stream, the JUTC's regular routes were still more profitable.

Three of the 35 new buses have bathroom facilities, JUTC said, explaining that they have been equipped for long charter journeys.

Creary said the JUTC had considered a shuttleservice for Kingston but had parked those plans, saying it was unlikely to generate enough business as a substantial number of the city's population drove its own vehicles.

JUTC is looking at introducing the 'park and ride' system in Portmore, "but this is not yet on stream," said Creary.

First, he said, the service has to be brought to a certain level of reliability.

susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com