JUTC Losses Projected to Triple this Fiscal Year

Losses at the state-owned Jamaica Urban Transit Company, JUTC, continue to climb, with the projections putting it on track to nearly triple in the upcoming fiscal year.

That’s according to the Public Bodies Estimates of Expenditures and Revenues for 2025-2026 tabled in the House of Representatives last Thursday.

Chevon Campbell tells us more.

The Jamaica Urban Transit Company, JUTC, has long been a drain on the public purse. Plagued with issues such as declining ridership, fuel theft, and an ageing fleet, the upcoming financial year for the state-run bus company seems bleak.

The company is projecting operational losses of nearly $7 billion. That’s an increase of almost 300 per cent over the approximately $1.8 billion in losses recorded in current fiscal year.

This is also after the nearly $11 billion in government subvention to the JUTC is taken into consideration.

Total operating expenses for the bus company for 2025-2026 are anticipated to increase to just over $15 billion. That’s $4 billion more than the $11 billion recorded in 2024-2025. That’s a 36 per cent increase in the JUTC’s operating costs.

It’s also clear the bus company’s revenues are not keeping up. The JUTC is projecting to gross $1.6 billion in income in 2025-2026 fiscal year.

This is a 20 per cent improvement on the $1.3 billion the company plans to take in for the current fiscal year.

Staffing costs represent the JUTC’s largest expense. It’s projected to jump to just over $6 billion in 2025-2026, up by nearly $2 billion when compared to the current fiscal year.

The JUTC’s second largest expense is bus maintenance. The government is planning to spend nearly $3 billion on upkeep of the JUTC fleet. Additionally, its projecting to spend $2.3 billion on fuels and lubricants.