Private bus operators granted right to challenge JUTC's exclusive bus lane

Transport groups have been given the green light to challenge the legality of  the exclusive bus lane allocted to the state-owned Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) on the Mandela Highway.

The matter was heard in court on Monday.

The bus lane was implemented last November; however, private transport operators said they would be placed at a disadvantaged, in relation to the JUTC. They called for a "level playing field" for all transport operators who travel on the highway.

"The court ruled that there is merit in our challenge to the legality of the exclusive bus lane," attorney at law Hugh Wildman, who is representing the transport operators, told RJR News.

"We felt that the demarcation of the Mandela Highway, in the way that it was done, is a breach of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms (now enshrined in Chapter Three of the Jamaican Constitution) which, in effect, guarantess equal protection to persons in the society," he explained.

He said that it was the contention of the private bus operators that the "unwarranted special treatment" given to the JUTC in respect of the bus lane was a breach of this constutional provision.

Lawyers for the private operators have 14 days to file their challenge.