Rides across New Kingston, Half Way Tree, Downtown and the corporate area. Drift is live across Jamaica today.
Kingston is the hardest place in Jamaica to move around without a car, and the easiest place to overpay for the privilege. Between the corporate belt in New Kingston, the crush at Half Way Tree, the government and banking offices Downtown, and the university corridor up at Papine, the city generates more short, awkward trips than anywhere else on the island.
Today that mostly means route taxis running fixed corridors, charter taxis negotiated at the window, or a JUTC bus that may or may not suit where you are actually going. None of them tell you the price in advance, and the ones that do rarely tell you the same price twice.
Drift prices the trip before you book — distance and time, in Jamaican dollars, shown in the app — and matches you with a verified local driver you can watch approach on the map.
Areas covered
The business and hotel district — Knutsford Boulevard, Trafalgar Road, Emancipation Park.
The transport heart of the city and its busiest interchange, plus the shopping around the clock tower.
Government offices, the waterfront, Parade and the Kingston Craft Market.
Plazas, restaurants and the residential uptown corridor along Hope Road.
The UWI campus, student housing and the run up toward the Blue Mountains.
The northern residential belt and the Constant Spring Road commute.
The routes people actually ask for
The airport sits out on the Palisadoes strip, roughly 30–40 minutes from uptown depending on traffic through Harbour View.
Short, constant, and exactly the kind of trip where a metered or negotiated fare stings most.
The daily office run down Hope Road and Old Hope Road.
The student and staff corridor from UWI into the corporate area.
Across the Causeway to Greater Portmore — one of the busiest commuter flows in the country.
Route taxis are cheap and frequent but only run set corridors, so an off-route destination means chaining two or three of them together. Charter taxis will take you door to door, but the fare is a negotiation, and it moves with the weather, the hour and how much of a hurry you look like you are in.
Traffic is the other tax. Constant Spring Road, Hope Road and the Half Way Tree approaches all seize up twice a day, and a trip that takes twelve minutes at 10am can take forty at 5pm. Drift prices on distance and time, so the quote you accept reflects the trip you are actually taking.
Same app, same account, live now
Rides along the Hip Strip, Rose Hall, Ironshore and Sangster Airport
Rides for the cruise pier, Dunn's River, Turtle Beach and the north coast resorts
Rides along Seven Mile Beach, the West End cliffs and the Norman Manley Boulevard strip
Rides across Greater Portmore, Braeton and the Causeway commute into Kingston
Rides across St Catherine, the historic centre and the Kingston corridor
What people ask about getting around Kingston
Yes. Kingston is one of only two Jamaican cities Uber covers, the other being Montego Bay. Availability still varies by area and time of day, and route taxis and charter taxis carry most trips. Drift is now live in Kingston too, with upfront fares in Jamaican dollars, verified local drivers and short trips from JMD 600.
Charter taxi fares from Norman Manley International vary widely and are usually agreed at the kerb rather than metered. Drift quotes the fare in Jamaican dollars in the app before you book. Off-peak, Norman Manley to New Kingston typically comes to about JMD 2,400–2,900 including the airport fee, and you see the exact figure before you confirm.
Route taxis and JUTC buses cover the main corridors cheaply but not door to door. Drift gives you an app-booked ride anywhere in the Corporate Area, with the price shown upfront and the driver tracked live. A short hop such as New Kingston to Half Way Tree is the JMD 600 minimum fare.
Yes. Schedule your pickup in the Drift app from 1 hour to 30 days ahead. A driver accepts and is confirmed in advance, you get a reminder 2 hours before pickup, and your card is charged only when a driver accepts.
Yes. Kingston, Portmore and Spanish Town are all covered, including the Causeway commute between them. Kingston to Portmore typically costs about JMD 1,200 off-peak.
Download Drift and book your first ride in minutes. The same app works across every country Drift operates in.