Transport in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

consists of

roadway A carriageway (British English) or roadway (North American English) consists of a width of road on which a vehicle is not restricted by any physical barriers or separation to move lateral movement, laterally. A carriageway generally consists of ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

and air transport, with roadways forming the backbone of the island's internal

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

system.

Roadways

The Jamaican road network consists of almost 21,000 kilometres of roads, of which over 15,000 kilometres are

paved Pavement may refer to: * Pavement (architecture), an outdoor floor or superficial surface covering * Road surface, the durable surfacing of roads and walkways ** Asphalt concrete, a common form of road surface * Sidewalk or pavement, a walkway ...

.The CIA World Factbook - Jamaica
Retrieved June 27, 2007 The Jamaican Government has, since the late 1990s and in cooperation with private investors, embarked on a campaign of infrastructural improvement projects, one of which includes the creation of a system of

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

s, the first such access-controlled roadways of their kind on the island, connecting the main population centres of the island. This project has so far seen the completion of 33 kilometres of

. The

Highway 2000 Highway 2000 is a highway system in Jamaica connecting Kingston, with Ocho Rios and a planned connection to Montego Bay, passing through the parishes of St. Catherine, Saint Ann, Clarendon and proposed sections through St. James, Saint Eliza ...

project, which seeks ultimately to link Kingston with Montego Bay and the north coast, is currently undergoing a series of phases/legs. Phase 1 is the highway network between Kingston and Mandeville, which itself has been divided into sub-phases: Phase 1a (Kingston-Bushy Park (in actuality, Kingston-Sandy Bay) highway and the upgrade of the Portmore Causeway), which was completed June 2006, and Phase 1b (Sandy Bay-Williamsfield). Phase 2a is the highway between Old Harbour and

Ocho Rios Ocho Rios (Spanish for "Eight Rivers") is a town in the parish of Saint Ann on the north coast of Jamaica, and is more widely referred to as ''Ochi'' by locals. Beginning as a sleepy fishing village, Ocho Rios has seen explosive growth in the ...

, and Phase 2b is the highway between Mandeville and Montego Bay.Highway 2000: Project Schedule
Retrieved March 25, 2007
''total:'' .
''paved:'' .
''unpaved:'' (1997 est.).

Buses

The

Jamaica Omnibus Service The Jamaica Omnibus Service (JOS), operated a municipal bus service for the Kingston Metropolitan Area, from 1953 until it was wound up in 1983. Pre JOS In June 1898, the existing mule car service in Kingston was phased out and a transition to ...

(JOS) was a municipal bus system that served the Kingston metropolitan area that ran from 1953 to 1983. After being run by

British Electric Traction British Electric Traction Company Limited, renamed BET plc in 1985, was a large British industrial conglomerate. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Rentokil in 1996, and the merged company is now known as Rento ...

, the JOS was nationalised by the Jamaican government in 1974. It was replaced by a hodgepodge of privately operated buses, and a national bus system called the

Jamaica Urban Transit Company The Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) is the government owned public transport service operating within the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR), Spanish Town and Portmore. The company is headquartered in Spanish Town with its prima ...

(JUTC) was established in 1998 after complaints. The JUTC presently oversees more than 70 routes in areas including Kingston and Spanish Town.

Coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

are a notable means of travel in Jamaica; a popular privately operated coach service is the Knutsford Express. The JUTC also provides charter buses. As for

minibuses A minibus, microbus, minicoach, or commuter (in Zimbabwe) is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, t ...

and route taxis, PPV number plates indicate licensed public transport, whereas JUTA plates indicate tourist routes. Having been proposed in 2019, the JUTC began testing floating solar electric buses in 2022, hoping to gradually introduce electric buses into the fleet and eventually phase out diesel buses. Jamaica Urban Transit Company Golden Dragon XML 6897J13 - Flickr - JLaw45.jpg, JUTC bus, 2016 Knutsford Express Kinglong (50818902882).jpg, Knutford Express, 2018 Jamaica-Toyota Coaster (6373832871).jpg, Minibus in

, 2009

Railways

Jamaican railroad with railcar and station 1960

Railways in Jamaica, as in many other countries, no longer enjoy the prominent position they once did, having been largely replaced by roadways as the primary means of transport. Of the 272 kilometres of railway found in Jamaica, only 57 kilometres remain in operation, currently used to transport

bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO ...

. In 2008, with increasing traffic congestion, moves are being made to reconstruct old railway lines.
''total:'' 370 km
''standard gauge:'' 370 km gauge. Of these, 207 km belong to the

Jamaica Railway Corporation Kingston railway station, closed since 1992, as seen in 2007 The Railways of Jamaica, constructed from 1845, were the second British Colony after Canada's Champlain and St Lawrence Railroad of 1836 to receive a railway system.terminals, long

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concre ...

s, and the navigational equipment required to accommodate the large jet aircraft used in modern

air travel Air travel is a form of travel in vehicles such as airplanes, jet aircraft, helicopters, hot air balloons, blimps, gliders, hang gliders, parachutes, or anything else that can sustain flight.

Norman Manley International Airport Norman Manley International Airport , formerly Palisadoes Airport, is an international airport serving Kingston, Jamaica and is located south of the island away from the centre of New Kingston. It is the second busiest airport in the country ...

in the capital, Kingston and

Sangster International Airport Sangster International Airport is an international airport located east of Montego Bay, Jamaica. The airport is capable of handling nine million passengers per year. It serves as the most popular airport for tourists visiting the north coast ...

in the

resort city A resort town, often called a resort city or resort destination, is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding ...

of Montego Bay. Both airports were once home to the country's (now defunct) national airline,

Air Jamaica Air Jamaica was the national airline of Jamaica. It was owned and operated by Caribbean Airlines from May 2011 until the cessation of operations in 2015. Caribbean Airlines Limited, headquartered in Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago, had administrati ...

. In addition there are local commuter airports at Tinson Pen (Kingston),

Port Antonio Port Antonio is the capital of the parish of Portland on the northeastern coast of Jamaica, about from Kingston. It had a population of 12,285 in 1982 and 13,246 in 1991. It is the island's third largest port, famous as a shipping point for b ...

, Mandeville, and

Negril Negril is a small (pop. 6,900) but widely dispersed seaside resort, beach resort and town located in Westmoreland Parish, Westmoreland and Hanover Parish, Hanover Parishes of Jamaica, parishes at the far western tip of Jamaica, southwest from ...

that cater to internal flights only. The Ian Fleming International Airport opened in February 2011 to serve the Ocho Rios - Port Antonio area. Many other small, rural centres are served by private fields on sugar estates or bauxite mines.

Ports and Shipping

Owing to its location in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

in the shipping lane to the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

and relative proximity to large markets in North America and

emerging market An emerging market (or an emerging country or an emerging economy) is a market that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future or wer ...

s in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

, Jamaica receives high

container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

traffic. The container terminal at the Port of Kingston has undergone large expansion in capacity in recent years to handle growth both already realised as well as what is projected in coming years. The Jamaica Observer
Retrieved June 27, 2007 There are several other ports positioned around the island, including the alumina ports, Port Esquivel in St. Catherine (

WINDALCO United Company RUSAL, international public joint-stock company (russian: МКПАО «ОК РУСАЛ», MKPAO «ОК RUSAL») is the world's second largest aluminium company by primary production output (as of 2016). It was the largest until ov ...

), Rocky Point in Clarendon and Port Kaiser in St. Elizabeth. Port Rhoades in Discovery Bay is responsible for transporting bauxite dried at the adjacent Kaiser plant. Reynolds Pier in

is responsible for exporting sugar. Montego Freeport in Montego Bay also handles a variety of cargo like (though more limited than) the Port of Kingston, mainly agricultural products. Boundbrook Port in

exports bananas. There are also three cruise ship piers along the island, in

, Montego Bay and

. The Kingston port is situated in the Kingston Harbour, which is the 7th largest natural (i.e. not man made) harbour in the world.

Merchant marine

*''Total:'' 1 ship of over 1,000 GT: /. *''Ships by type:'' petroleum tanker 1 (1999 est.).

Lighthouses

As the island is a large exporter of

, there is considerable freighter traffic. To aid navigation, Jamaica operates nine lighthouses *''Onshore:'' 7. *''Offshore:'' 2.

Pipelines

Petroleum products: .

References

Annual Transport Statistics Report: Jamaica in Figures 2003-2004
Ministry of Transport and Works, July 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Transport In Jamaica