A Costly Ride: Will Electric Buses Save NBC’s Bottom Line?

It’s not profit, at least not yet, for Belize’s National Bus Company. When the public-private partnership first launched, operator Sergio Chuc brought Westline Bus Company into the fold, knowing the road ahead wouldn’t be easy. Now, months in, he says the numbers are exactly where they expected, deep in the red. But for Chuc, that’s part of the plan. He explains that early losses were always expected, with the goal of eventually stabilizing and turning a profit down the line. The real game changer, he says, will be the shift to electric buses, cutting fuel costs and boosting margins. Until then, the company is staying the course, betting on long-term gains over short-term returns. Here’s how Chuc puts it.

 

Sergio Chuc, Shareholder, National Bus Company

“It has been going, just as the plan showed it would be going. In the first six months, it is going to be rough. The company will continue losing money initially, however as the phase of introducing the electrical buses starts coming in, we will be leveling in. Our projections show that by the end of the year we should be afloat. Actually, we were prepared for this. We knew it was going to start bumpy and all in all it was no surprise. We know what we are doing. I think the board of directors has some very good people that are extremely knowledge in the industry and so they are steering the company in the right direction. I am ok with it. I think my investment is fairly safe. It is a long-term investment. I definitely did not think I was going to make money immediately, but when all the chips fall in place, I think it is going to be very welcoming for myself and extremely welcoming for the commuters. The service is getting better. The equipment will be world class but for that we need a few months for those buses to start rolling in.”

 

According to Minister of Transport, Doctor Louis Zabaneh, those electric buses are expected to begin rolling in by the end of the year.

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

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