Christmas come early - Bus, taxi operators capitalise on JUTC strike

Some public passenger vehicle operators made good cash on Tuesday, due to the strike by Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) drivers following the murder of one of their drivers.

A Coaster driver, who plies the Spanish Town to Kingston route, said it was as if Christmas came early for him.

“Yesterday (Tuesday), a $45,000 me mek from 6 o’ clock to 9 o’ clock, enuh. Di buss ram! From Spanish Town to downtown, ram! From town back up a Spanish Town, ram! Pon a regular day, me a look pon $15 or $20,000. Bus ram and ram and di people dem a fight fi come in,” the driver said.

The situation forced commuters to dig deeper into their pockets as fear of violence spread throughout the sections of the Corporate Area and Spanish Town.

Cynthia Wayne, 32, told THE STAR that she had to make sure of the fare before getting into a taxi, because she had already spent too much.

“Dis morning me deh a one gas station a Spanish Town a wait pon a coaster fi come a town. All a di ‘ductor dem a seh ‘$300 town! $300 town’! A $300 me did affi pay sah. $300 me pay and me not even reach weh me a go yet, so me did wah know a how much dah driver yah a charge before me jump in cause me nuh have it. Me jus don’t have it,” she said.

On a regular day, Wayne says she pays only $100 on a Coaster from Spanish Town to Kingston.

“Mi nuh undastand some a dem. Dem caah lose cause no (JUTC) bus nah run. No bus neva deh pon di road. So dem haffi load. So why dem still a triple di fare? Dem too greedy!” she said.

The JUTC, which carries some 170,000 passengers daily, lost in the region of $12 million because of Tuesday’s strike.