The Jamaica Urban Transit Company Limited (JUTC) officially launched its Rural Express routes this morning.

Commuters will now have access to express connections from Kingston to Ocho Rios, Montego-bay, Negril, Mandeville, and May Pen.

An express route to Port Antonio is slated to be launched soon.

To celebrate the new premium routes, JUTC has implemented an introductory fare of $2,000 per trip for long-haul routes, while the May Pen service will cost $1,500 each trip.

General Manager for the Half-Way-Tree Transport Centre, Keith Blake told Irie Fm News, that though few passengers travelled on the express buses today, he believes that this will improve as time progresses.

He said the comments from passengers have been good.

He also lauded the efforts of Transport Minister, Daryl Vaz and his team.