Some sixty thousand citizens will be impacted directly by the reduction in the fares for the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC).

Transport Minister Daryl Vaz announced the figure at this morning’s Post-Cabinet press briefing, amidst concern over whether or not Jamaicans will truly benefit from the recently announced reduction.

In Parliament on Tuesday, the Government said the reduction will take effect on January 1 next year, with a further reduction in April, as part of measures to dampen the impact of the public passenger vehicle fare increase on the cost of living.

It will also support the Central Bank’s efforts to return and keep inflation within the 4 to 6 per cent range.

The move has had mixed reactions from various members of the society.

In light of this, Mr Vaz maintained that up to 80 thousand Jamaicans will be impacted, especially with the intended roll-out of more JUTC buses, including in St Thomas.

Meantime, the Transport Minister also sought to assure public passenger vehicle operators that the JUTC fare cut will not cause a significant impact on their revenue at this time, due to the limited number of JUTC buses.