Daviot Kelly, Staff Reporter
Commuters boarding JUTC buses in Half-Way Tree is a daily occurrence. - IAN ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
I HAVEN'T taken the bus home in years; my last year of high school in '99 to be exact. So I expected a bumpy, crowded ride all the way to Temple Hall in rural St. Andrew.
I left The Gleaner about 4:40 p.m. on Wednesday March 8, and walked to Cross Roads. I didn't go to Parade for two reasons. One, the people I know who travel the Stony Hill, Golden Spring, etc. route all suggested Cross Roads. And two, I had no idea where in Parade to go anyway.
So there I was, in Cross Roads and it wasn't to see a movie at Carib. I know the fare just because I have ears and I work at a newspaper. 'Experts' tell me a bus to Constant Spring (about half my journey) is easier to get. Once there, take one of the Lawrence Tavern ones. Temple Hall is on the way to 'Tavern' and though I still have to walk from the square to get home, it's only about 10 minutes from street to gate.
MAGICAL WORDS
But just as I'm looking for Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) buses marked 52, 53, or 54, I hear a man say the magical words; "Stony Hill, Golden Spring, Tavern, ready bus!" He works on one of the old 'quarter million' buses that General Trees sang about, operated by the National Transport Cooperative Society (NTCS). In my bus-taking days I did not wait for any specific ones and I sure wasn't going to do it now. I'm a firm believer in hogs washing in the first water they see!
The ride home is quicker than I expected. Making our way up Half-Way Tree Road is simple enough. There's traffic on Balmoral and Maxfield Avenues; as usual. I take the time to 'listen' to the conversations going on around me.
Some of these persons know each other, especially the ones going further distances. Feel a little left out as even the conductor knows some by first name. So it is when you live in 'country'; you end up taking the same buses with the same people.
Anyway, up Constant Spring Road the traffic I expected never really materialises and before I know it, I'm heading up Long Lane. From Stony Hill to Golden Spring is a breeze and quite surprisingly for me, I reach Temple Hall about 6:05 p.m. literally an hour after I left Cross Roads!
I got lucky today; I know that. If I had left work at 6:30 p.m., it would be a different matter.
The traffic would have been heavier, more than likely I would have had to take the two-bus route (with far more passengers) and the lack of street sights on the way to my gate would have necessitated a call to mom or dad for pick-up from Temple Hall's gas station.
The bus system isn't bad but I prefer cars any day!
