Dear Editor,
It is with a heavy heart that I refer to my own people as hogs and goats. It is impossible to believe that forming a line is such a difficult task for some commuters, especially those who travel the downtown to Spanish Town route.
I stood in line at South Parade “Big Tree” from 5:45 pm to 7:09 pm waiting to board a #22 Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) bus; three buses came within the aforesaid time period. The movement in the line was about four feet per bus and this was due to people who decided to form a bundle at the front of the line. These people included students from the Caribbean Maritime Institute, whose behaviour is a far cry from their beautiful black and white uniforms. Also, other students, who just don’t see the purpose of joining the line, old, sick, babymothers and pregnant women add to the delicately imbalanced crowd. The crowd is completed by vendors and strong able-bodied men and women who think it’s stupid to join the line.
When the bus arrives, the sick, pregnant, old, and children are all caught in the stifling rush for the over 50 seats in the regular buses. The pushing and squeezing sometimes cause missing purses, wallets, shoes, buttons. People will just walk out of ‘nowhere’ and walk straight in the bus, while others are left standing in line.
The JUTC inspectors, at times, try to regulate the crowd and give preference to those in the line, but the unruly commuters are defiant and the order is often short-lived.
While this is not about uptown vs downtown, it leaves me to wonder if the ‘hog and goat’ behaviour is a downtown thing. Downtown could learn from the commuters in the Half-Way-Tree Transport Centre, where there is a line for children and one for adults and they orderly board the buses, sometimes with little to no supervision from JUTC inspectors
I appeal to the management of the JUTC to address the situation before the hooligans cause something tragic to happen, like a child being trampled.
Commendations to the people who stand and wait in line every evening.
Hezekan Bolton
h_e_z_e@hotmail.com
It is with a heavy heart that I refer to my own people as hogs and goats. It is impossible to believe that forming a line is such a difficult task for some commuters, especially those who travel the downtown to Spanish Town route.
I stood in line at South Parade “Big Tree” from 5:45 pm to 7:09 pm waiting to board a #22 Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) bus; three buses came within the aforesaid time period. The movement in the line was about four feet per bus and this was due to people who decided to form a bundle at the front of the line. These people included students from the Caribbean Maritime Institute, whose behaviour is a far cry from their beautiful black and white uniforms. Also, other students, who just don’t see the purpose of joining the line, old, sick, babymothers and pregnant women add to the delicately imbalanced crowd. The crowd is completed by vendors and strong able-bodied men and women who think it’s stupid to join the line.
When the bus arrives, the sick, pregnant, old, and children are all caught in the stifling rush for the over 50 seats in the regular buses. The pushing and squeezing sometimes cause missing purses, wallets, shoes, buttons. People will just walk out of ‘nowhere’ and walk straight in the bus, while others are left standing in line.
The JUTC inspectors, at times, try to regulate the crowd and give preference to those in the line, but the unruly commuters are defiant and the order is often short-lived.
While this is not about uptown vs downtown, it leaves me to wonder if the ‘hog and goat’ behaviour is a downtown thing. Downtown could learn from the commuters in the Half-Way-Tree Transport Centre, where there is a line for children and one for adults and they orderly board the buses, sometimes with little to no supervision from JUTC inspectors
I appeal to the management of the JUTC to address the situation before the hooligans cause something tragic to happen, like a child being trampled.
Commendations to the people who stand and wait in line every evening.
Hezekan Bolton
h_e_z_e@hotmail.com