THE WHEELS of public transportation started to turn once again yesterday as the public disorder which had ripped the country ends.

Though not all transport operators were back on the streets, those who were provided fairly adequate service. Most of the buses owned by the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) were on their routes early in the morning.

"I was very surprised. We thought of going with a Sunday service. But, the demand was so great that we had to change that," said JUTC managing director Dennis Wheatley.

Mr. Wheatley told The Gleaner that 78 of the company's 86 buses were on the streets and that the full fleet would be out today.

President of the National Transport Corporative (NTC), Ezroy Millwood, said most of the operators affiliated to his Portmore and Northern franchises had turned out to work yesterday. He said a few drivers and conductors were unable to turn out because the areas in which they live were still blocked.

There were a number of buses running between downtown Kingston and Half-Way Tree, Half-Way Tree to Portmore and in the eastern part of the city. Commuters on these routes had little difficulty in securing transportation. However, the routes controlled by the Arthur Chin-owned Conurban Transit Ltd. were not properly serviced and passengers encountered serious problems in reaching their destinations. Persons travelling from Half-Way Tree to Papine were particularly affected. There were signs of frustration on the faces of many persons who waited on Nos. 70 and 75 buses.

Robot taxi operators who returned to the streets in full force did a fair job.