Minister of Information Dana Morris Dixon has outlined that students will be required to present a student card when travelling on the Jamaica Urban Transit Company Limited (JUTC) buses.

Morris Dixon emphasised that the government’s good fiscal management is demonstrated in the rollout of the school bus system, which commenced on September 8.

“When we talk about all this fiscal management and all of that fancy terminology, it has meaning when you see the school bus. School buses are things you saw on TV, you dreamed about, you travelled in abroad, or you watched TV shows and you saw it. And you thought, oh, that’s what a developed country looks like. You never dreamed it would be here in Jamaica. But it’s here because of good fiscal management,” she said, speaking at the post-Cabinet briefing on Wednesday.

Morris Dixon further stated that good fiscal management is not just theoretical, but it has real meaning for people. “And so when I see the joy on our children’s faces when they go on it, I am reminded that the hard work of fiscal discipline actually can make lives truly better,” she added while encouraging parents to work with the JUTC to get their children a student card.

She urged parents to sign up for the card, which will allow them to see when their children travel on the bus through notifications that will be sent to their phones. “It is that card that the students will start using very soon to swipe when they go on the bus. And when they swipe that card, each parent will get an alert that they have entered the bus. They will get an alert also when they have left the bus.

“And so that is very important, and it’s an important feature of our school buses. And so we’re encouraging parents to go and sign up. And of course, as you sign up, you have to give your phone number because we have to send the messages to someone,” Morris Dixon continued while also reminding Jamaican’s that students are riding free up to the end of October.

“Thereafter, there’ll be a flat subsidised fare of $50 for each way, which is a significant improvement on what our parents have to pay,” she said.