Cedric Stephens | The risk management side of the RSBS debate

Government sent a clear message to the Jamaica Public Service Company’s majority shareholders about the reasoning for its decision to explore alternative options before the July 28, 2027 expiry of the existing licence.

Jamaica’s average cost of energy, it said, is ‘significantly higher’ than in other parts of the world. That message meets the transparency definition in my June 1 article.

The information provided about the proposed rural school bus system, or RSBS, by the transport minister and the Opposition’s education spokesperson policy alternative did not meet those criteria.

Details were provided in a media briefing, full-page newspaper advertisements, and reports. The education spokesperson called RSBS inadequate, untargeted, and limited. He offered no facts to support that conclusion, according to one report.

Phase One of RSBS, the transport minister said, is designed to benefit 258 schools. It is being planned to reduce injuries and deaths to children as a result of motor vehicle crashes. The Opposition’s response was the provision of a weekly transportation subsidy of $2,500 per student for 20,000 students.

The mediocre quality of the debate, pro and con, led one newspaper to call the verbal confrontation between the two politicians a ‘Bus bust-up’. The free AI app on my smartphone, called Gemini, could have discussed these issues more sensibly, effectively, efficiently, and also met the transparency standard.

A general election is imminent. Because of this, more than half of the full-page advertisement about the RSBS was devoted to photographs of the transport minister. The planned parish allocation of the 110 buses that will constitute Phase One of the system also occupied a prominent place. No information was offered to explain what factors guided the allocation.

The project’s mission was stated as to provide ‘safe, reliable, and affordable transportation for our children’. No details were provided about how these ideals would be realised. To say that the text in the newspaper ad reflected an attempt to practise transparency about RSBS would be an understatement.

Limited information

Given the lack of information that exists about the RSBS, it is planned to make some assumptions about the project, provide a few thoughts about what it could look like, and discuss some of the challenges it is likely to face in realising the safety part of its mission.

The comments that follow will focus on the risk management element of the RSBS’ mission. The goal is to improve the quality of the debate.

Main assumptions:

• The school buses will be bought and modified in the United States, imported into Jamaica, and deployed for the use of the RSBS.

• The RSBS’ operating model will be built around the centuries-old US school bus system.

• The Jamaica Urban Transit Company, JUTC, has developed institutional knowledge about operating a bus transportation system in Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine. That knowledge will be deployed in the management and operations of the RSBS.

Questions and comments:

• It is unclear from the information in the public space about JUTC the extent to which a culture of safety is embedded in that company’s operating processes. Crash data, injury and fatality rates are not published among its performance metrics. The focus is solely on financial performance and the size of the government subsidy. Embedding a culture of safety in the DNA of the RSBS will be a major challenge.

• The US school bus system has a fatality rate of less than one per cent. Will this be a reasonable goal for the RSBS?

• No information was provided about how prospective drivers will be selected, trained, and monitored.

• No information was provided about bus maintenance infrastructure.

• Motor insurance companies have over the years collected significant amounts of data about motor vehicle crashes across the island. It is not clear the extent to which the sector participates in the planning process.

• Will the minimum limits for personal injury and property damage under The Motor Vehicles Insurance Third-Party Risks Act be increased to accommodate the RSBS?

The US system

Summarised below are the results of my research findings about the US school bus system:

Driver recruitment training and management:

• Recruitment criteria: Age 21+, valid commercial driver’s licence with school endorsement, clear driving record, clean criminal background, annual medicals (vision, hearing), drug and alcohol testing.

• Selection standards: Interviews, written/oral exams (covering laws, student management, emergency protocols), physical capability for evacuation, first-aid knowledge.

• Training: Entry-level commercial driver’s licence training updated in 2022 with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s entry-level driver’s training regulations and Training Provider Registry; ongoing in-service via the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s curriculum: route safety, adverse weather, special needs, evacuation, etc; online/mobile format, with learning checks and tracking; and regular physical and mental wellness, performance reviews, audits of routes and safety stops, professional development, driver retention incentives.

Risk management and passenger protection

A multi-layered safety design:

• Compartmentalisation: Padded high seats shield children without seat belts.

• Active warning systems: Flashing reds, ambers, deployable stop arms with lights, cross view mirrors, and stop arm cameras help prevent illegal passings

• Crashworthiness: Standards ensure structure resists rollover, secure joints, durable fuel tanks, and fire resistance (roof strength, window retention, interior surfaces).

• Modern tech: Many buses now include collision avoidance, stability control, rear cameras, GPS tracking, and communication tools.

• Policy & oversight: Post-crash investigations led to updated exit requirements and maintenance standards. States also audit routes and penalise violations.

Executing RSBS

The transport minister has shared his vision of the RSBS. Converting that vision into reality requires proper execution.

It is an important part of the management process because it turns plans into reality, aligns people and resources; drives accountability; manages changes and risks; and measures and improves performance.

Will the RSBS be implemented at the start of the next school year as a ‘transformative initiative’ to provide safe, dependable, and affordable transportation for rural students or will it remain a vision that will be realised sometime in the future?

This column has argued in the past about the absence of risk and insurance issues from the national conversations during general elections. This year marks a departure from that norm.

Cedric E. Stephens provides independent information and advice about the management of risks and insurance. For free information or counsel, write to: aegis@flowja.com or business@gleanerjm.com