The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) is seeking policy clarification regarding the JUTC’s move onto existing rural stage carriage routes.

This comes after the JUTC announced that it has converted its Rural Express route 610 from Kingston to Ocho Rios to a regular route.

The offering of the regular service began on Wednesday December 17.

JUTC said the decision was taken in response to feedback from commuters.

In a statement today, Opposition Spokesman on Transport, Mikael Phillips said the clarification from Transport Minister Daryl Vaz is necessary.

He pointed to Transport Authority regulations which require origin and destination surveys as well as seat assessments before a rural stage carriage licence can be issued to an operator for rural routes.

Mr. Phillips also called on Mr. Vaz to make public the performance reports of the JUTC’s rural express services, which began operations earlier this year.

He said the abandonment of the Ocho Rios route confirms his reports that these services are poorly supported and represent a financial drain on the company.