Zabaneh: Join NBC or Find Your Own Electric Buses

The government’s electric bus pilot project has concluded without any Belize Bus Association (BBA) members ever having operated one of the vehicles, and the BBA is now formally demanding inclusion in the “next phase”. A request that may have arrived too late.

In a letter issued shortly before Minister of Transport Dr Louis Zabaneh addressed the media on Wednesday, the BBA called on the government to rotate the pilot buses into BBA-operated routes, arguing that no meaningful transition to electric vehicles is possible without allowing independent operators to test the technology themselves.

“It is not realistic to expect BBA members to consider major investments in EV buses, or to make long-term decisions about the future of their operations and investments, without first being allowed to operate the buses themselves,” the letter states.

Zabaneh, however, told News 5 that the pilot project has concluded, and no further electric buses will be made available through that initiative.

He outlined two paths forward for BBA members: joining the National Bus Company (NBC) or form their own company and purchase electric buses independently. He said the ministry is willing to share what it has learned but was clear that the NBC’s buses are for NBC routes.

“They would have to, as independent operators, organise, form a company and procure e-buses,” Zabaneh said.

The minister noted that more members of the BBA are recognising the advantages of joining NBC, with three additional operators recently making the switch. “I am pleased to share with you that the last operator from the south that did not join has now joined, and two operators from the north have now applied to join the National Bus Company,” Zabaneh stated.

The BBA, for its part, says they are not asking for “special treatment”. “We are asking for equal and meaningful inclusion.”