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TRANSPORT AUTHORITY’S 2024/2025 LICENSING PERIOD HAS STARTED
Transport Authority says the 2024/2025 licencing period has started for all categories of public passenger vehicles and commercial carriers; and as part of the Authority’s digital transformation programme, will be emailing the Road Licences to its customers. The Authority says the February 1, 2024 start of the Licensing Period is to facilitate the timely submission and processing of road licences and commercial carriers applications, which expire on March 31, 2024. To complement this process, the Authority has been facilitating motor vehicle Inspection for public transportation since January 8, 2024. The Authority is advising that application can be made at our Online Application portal at www.ta.org.jm for the following categories of Public Passenger Vehicle Licences and Commercial Carriers: · New and Renewal Contract Carriage, Express Carriage and Route Taxi licences; · Renewal Hackney Carriages; and · New and Renewal Commercial Carriers · Walk-in customers will be processed by our Customer Care Team The Transport Authority is reminding customers who conduct transactions at its offices, that the Authority no longer accepts cash payments at its locations. Customers may use any of the several payment facilities including paymaster, bill express, apply online or use debit and credit cards at the offices. PPV operators and Commercial Carriers are urged to renew their road licences before March 31 and avoid the late payment penalty. -30-
FIFTEEN PERCENT FARE ADJUSTMENT COME AUGUST SIXTEEN
Effective August 16, 2021, commuters can expect a 15% fare adjustment in bus and taxi fares, says the Transport Authority.Following several and varying requests for an increase, Cabinet noted the situation, reviewed the requests, along with the economic impact of the pandemic on the general public and the resultant effect of the rate of inflation, and sought to find a solution. It is believed that this adjustment, after eight years, created the right balance for all parties.Consultations with the Ministry of Finance and Public Service indicate that this increase will affect national inflation by approximately 1%.The Transport Ministry outlines that a number of initiatives have been undertaken to improve the sector in order to improve service delivery.The Transport Authority and the Ministry, along with National Council of Taxi Associations (NCOTA), have engaged the Taxi Associations to help rid the sector of “bad eggs”, by providing extensive customer service training for operators. Additionally, the recent staging of the Transport Stakeholders Conference, the establishment of a hotline to report deviant behaviour which may result in the cancelation and suspension of road licenses and badges; the introduction of technologies to assist with ride sharing; along with the Ministry and the Authority’s part sponsorship of the Blue Ribbon First Responders Training Programme, an initiative spearheaded by the Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services (TODSS), have all been used as means to transform the sector.While these improvements may be considered small steps, they are steps in the right direction and the Ministry remains dedicated to putting in the work to make a transformation.The Ministry further outlines that amendments to the Transport Authority Act are far advanced, as well as the regulations to the Road Traffic Act, 2018.Meanwhile, the rate for the elderly, the disabled and children will remain at 50% of the adult fare. There will be no change to the fare for the JUTC and Montego Bay Metro. The Transport Ministry further warns operators that no additional fares should be charged, stressing that the Transport Authority will be working steadfast in ensuring this is monitored and maintained. Members of the public are encouraged to report overcharging to the Transport Authority at 888-991-5687 or Whatsapp 876-551-8196.
TRANSPORT AUTHORITY WARNS PUBLIC PASSENGER VEHICLE OPERATORS TO DISCONTINUE THE PRACTICE OF OVERCHARGING FARES
The Transport Authority is warning public passenger vehicle operators that they should immediately desist from the practice of overcharging commuters’ fares for use of public transportation in the corporate area.The Authority has again received complaints that unscrupulous persons are insisting commuters pay more than the approved fares in the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR), particularly on the route Spanish Town to Linstead. This is illegal and a violation of the rights of the commuters. Accordingly, the Transport Authority operations teams are monitoring this situation closely and operators found to be “unlawfully deceiving passengers as to the fare for a journey” will be prosecuted under regulation 129 (d) of the Road Traffic Regulations.In the meantime, the commuting public is reminded that one of the dangers of using unlicenced public passenger vehicles is that these operators often charge exorbitant fares. The Authority is therefore urging the commuting public to use licenced public transport vehicles which display red public passenger vehicle plates and the light blue Transport Authority sticker on the windshield with expiration dates of 2020 and onwards.Commuters may report incidents of overcharging through the Authority’s toll- free line at 1-888-991-5687; WhatsApp images or videos to 1-876-551-8196, providing the licences plate numbers and the routes for the vehicles; or download the Drive Safe Jamaica app in the Google Playstore and submit your images or videos.Contact:Petra-kene Williams, Corporate Communication ManagerTel: (876) 936-0601/ (876) 579-6097
TRANSPORT AUTHORITY URGES TRANSPORTATION SERVICE PROVIDERS TO ABIDE BY THE DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT ACT
The Transport Authority is urging operators of licenced public transportation vehicles to ensure they abide by the provisions of the Disaster Risk Management Act by only transporting passengers during the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. daily.The Authority says that under Section 10 (5) of the Disaster Risk Management Act the hours of operations for public transportation is now 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and is consistent with the national curfew. Under the Act, public transportation operators are allotted an additional hour between 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. to transport themselves ONLY to and from work. Operators are therefore being reminded that it is a breach of the Act to transport passengers outside of the prescribed timeframes. Contact:Petra-kene Williams, Manager, Corporate CommunicationsCell: 876-579-6097 / Tel: 876-936-0610
