A SUNDAY Gleaner speed audit has confirmed claims that Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) buses are noted for breaking the speed limit.

Eighty per cent of the State-owned buses clocked in the survey violated the local speed laws.

Sergeant Winston Waugh, sub-officer in charge of the process office at the Traffic Division at Lower Elleston Road, said JUTC buses constantly sped.

"They are (known for speeding) and accidents also. And I am almost certain that there is a govern (limit) to some of these buses, so sometimes you wonder," said Waugh, who led a two-man team from the Traffic Division that provided technical expertise and a speed gun for the audit.

While along this busy two-lane strip, the speed gun clocked a JUTC bus travelling at 72km per hour while overtaking another vehicle in the 50km zone.

Turn a blind eye

Wilson pointed out that some drivers sometimes expected the police to turn a blind eye at their traffic transgression. "They believe that because they are working under one leg of the Government, then you should see and don't see," he said.

Reginald Allen, corporate communications manager at the JUTC, did not agree that most of the bus company's drivers broke the speed limit. However, he conceded that the State-owned bus company was having trouble reforming "a number" of the drivers who exhibit undesirable styles of operation.

"It has been a challenge over time to change them from the ramshackle approach to one of genuine public service," he said.

Allen pointed out that the 100 new yellow buses are governed. The units that do not leave the Corporate Area are given a maximum speed of 50km, while those that travel to Portmore and Spanish Town are given a maximum limit of 70km.

The JUTC generally rolls out 350 buses daily. Allen said approximately 50 of the older buses have a governed limit, which means that some 200 buses, or approximately 60 per cent, of its daily fleet, operates without any speed limitation.

"In other words, the white buses can go fast, fast, but the yellow buses are governed and the drivers are told to adhere to the speed limit," Allen said.

Commuter dissatisfaction

He explained that all the new buses were initially governed to 50km, however, commuter dissatisfaction forced them to revisit the company's anti-speed policy. "There was widespread clamouring among commuters, especially going out of the city to Spanish Town and Portmore, with respect to the 50km limit," he said.

Allen also disagreed that the company's drivers were notorious for accidents. He argued that between 2003 and 2009, the company had managed to remove the accident monkey from its back.

In the 2003-2004 financial year, the company recorded approximately 1,600 accidents. With increased training, the company has reduced the figure every year since then to 850 in the 2008-2009 fiscal year.

The JUTC has a far way to go, Allen admitted. "The target is to reduce the figure by 30 per cent in this operating year."

tyrone.reid@gleanerjm.com