THE GOVERNMENT has spent $200 million to put in place a cashless fare collection system that will be launched in mid-December on all 620 buses in the fleet of the Jamaica Urban Transit Co. (JUTC).
Nimal Amitirigala, JUTC information technology manager, said the estimated US$4 million spent to put the Smart Card system in place covered the procuring of equipment, sale terminals, software, a central computer system and training.
"All JUTC buses are Smart Card-ready," Amitirigala said, adding that the ticketing ma-chines, which have been on all JUTC buses since the company's inception in 1999, are now "Smart Card-enabled".
Mr. Amitirigala said that initially there would be five to 10 prime points-of-sale locations in high capacity areas for the Smart Cards. The long-term intent is to have the cards available at all 75 terminals, he said.
"We want to be satisfied that the system will stand up," he said. "Therefore, it is prudent to start small, the way other countries do."
The electronic fare collection system is expected to minimise cash transactions on buses, speed the entry of passengers into buses, improve accountability and revenue collection and guard against theft.
JUTC has spent about a year perfecting the system, which was introduced as a pilot on the Papine route in November last year with the help of students and staff from the University of Technology and disabled persons from the Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre.
"It did very well. They loved it," Errol Lee, JUTC's public relations manager, said of the pilot run.
He said the cards would initially be provided in denominations of $250 inclusive of a $50 deposit, and would be phased in throughout the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR). Also, there is a 10 per cent discount on all initial purchases.
Mr. Lee explained that the $50 deposit would cover
putting unique "personalised" features on the cards and replacing them in the event of loss.
On purchase, persons may personalise their cards by providing the vendors with special information of their choice, which, in the event of theft or loss, would be used to trace the cards through the JUTC system. Once the card has been found, the JUTC would be able to stop the card being used and render it void. The card would then be replaced without charge to the owner.
He said that while the cards were being introduced, cash would still be accepted.
The JUTC has a distribution contract with Advanced Integrated Systems (AIS). "We are operating on the premise that AIS has distributor status in the most popular areas," Mr. Lee said.
On the safety on the buses, Mr. Lee said, "There has been an increased level of police interaction with JUTC buses, with constant spot checks and an increase number of police personnel assigned to monitor troubled spots."
Plain-clothes police personnel also board the buses randomly, and a private security company has been contracted, he said. He also noted that there has been "a decrease in the number of violent acts against bus crews and cases where people have been assaulted." In recent months, incidents of vandalism have also declined significantly, he said.
