The Transport Authority (TA) was established under the Transport Authority Act on 8 July 1987 to regulate, license, and monitor public passenger transport throughout Jamaica, and to perform such duties as required under the Road Traffic and Public Passenger Transport Act. The Acts were amended in 2005 to strengthen the Authority’s enforcement capacity, eliminate ambiguities relating to the seizure of vehicles, and classify the Stage Carriage B (Route Taxi) licence introduced in 1999.
The Authority’s main functions are to grant licences for stage, express, contract, hackney, and commercial carriers; recommend rates charged by public passenger vehicles; and regulate the public passenger vehicle sector. Operations are conducted from four regional offices located in Kingston (Head Office), Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, and Mandeville, with pounds maintained at various locations islandwide for the storage of seized vehicles.
For the 2026/27 financial year, the Transport Authority will continue to be guided by the National Transport Policy, with a particular focus on strengthening and improving the transportation framework. Key priorities include training approximately 275 employees to improve operational efficiency and service standards and enhancing safety and security within the public passenger transportation sector by increasing compliance through effective monitoring, enforcement activities, and electronic surveillance capabilities available through the national wide area networks. These priorities will be supported by planned capital expenditure of $276.96 million to upgrade the Twickenham Park and Southern Regional Pounds and install renewable energy solutions at its Half-Way Tree and Corporate Offices.
The Authority projects a net deficit of $890.76 million for 2026/27, compared to a surplus of $373.59 million in the prior financial year.
