The Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport is to reintroduce an aged-vehicle policy, to assist public passenger vehicle (PPV) operators to retool and upgrade their fleet.
The policy will allow for existing PPV operators to import motor cars up to 10 years old and buses up to 20 years for use in the PPV sector.
Portfolio Minister, Daryl Vaz, made the disclosure during his contribution to the 2024/25 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (June 4).
“In order to ensure that the vehicles are used for their intended purpose, a lien will be placed on the vehicles by the Trade Board. We will be working through that and provide an update on the finer details,” Vaz said.
Meanwhile, in collaboration with the Jamaica Urban Transport Company (JUTC), a total of 16 new routes will be offered to the PPV sector.
Five of those will be stage-carriage routes, which will operate under a sub-franchise from the JUTC and will be for the use of coaster and minibuses only.
“Operating through Half-Way Tree and terminating in downtown Kingston, these routes will originate from Shortwood, Barbican, Duhaney Park, Whitehall and Havendale and Harbour View,” Vaz shared.
He noted that the remaining 11 routes will be offered to taxi operators, who have also been requesting additional routes to provide improved service to the public.
These routes, Vaz said, will be distributed throughout the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region.
The Transport Authority has also commenced work that will allow for individuals applying for Road Licences and Commercial Carriage Licences to obtain their red plates directly, rather than to first purchase a white plate and then upgrade.
“This move will help to improve the overall efficiency of the system,” Vaz reported.
In addition, in response to numerous calls, supported by an emerging niche in the PPV sector, the Transport Authority has embarked on a review of the licence categories, with the intention to introduce a new VIP licence category for the contract carriage sector.
“To usher in this new licence type, amendments will have to be made to Section 61(5) of the Road Traffic (Amendment) Regulations, 2000,” Vaz said.
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