Electric Buses Coming Sept 2026; Old Fleet Out by 2027

While Belize’s transport overhaul is underway, too many old buses still crawl our highways, so much so that passengers have had to hop off to tackle hills on foot. Transport Minister Dr. Louis Zabaneh says relief is coming: the first electric buses roll out by September 2026, with the entire aging fleet replaced by the end of 2027. Here’s a look at what’s breaking down, what’s coming, and how fast riders will feel the change.

 

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport

“We knew that they had a lot of people who felt it could not happen but this is just the beginning. But there is a lot of work ahead where we continue to try to bring everybody under the NBC now. Uniforms will be coming, things that will be uniting everybody together. We are not grateful to the operators now a part of the NBC who worked with their employees to assure them that things would go in the right direction. We always said things will take some time. We have a six months transition period, after that we expect to start to receive some new buses that will replace the old buses, new electric buses.”

 

Reporter

“Has that period been increased?”

 

Dr. Louis Zabaneh

“No we had said March first to end of August all the time. In September, at some point in the month we will try to start to receive some of the new buses. Even so what we have been doing is to make sure the fleet we have to upgrade what is there. We have to move our people everyday. Those we feel we cant work with we might use for parts.”

 

Minister Zabaneh says that the entirety of the current fleet is expected to be replaced by the end of 2027.

 

17 Operators Onboard as NBC Promises a Transport Reset

 

Belize’s new National Bus Company is rolling, with seventeen private operators on board and a promise to reset public transport. But some old habits are still along for the ride, buses carrying standees and run schedules that don’t quite line up. Transport Minister Dr. Louis Zabaneh says those practices are deeply rooted, and his NBC team is pushing to tighten timetables and boost efficiency under the new system.

 

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport

“We always known that is the heart of this problem where we had so many road service permits issued out at times that are very close to each other. Some of that is being culled out. We also have to address the issue of some of the buses that are said to be express buses that don’t operate as express buses. They leave later than another bus and because they are express for a certain distance, they overtake the other regular runs and then after that point become a regular run.”

 

Reporter

“The issue of standees, have that been resolved?”

 

Dr. Louis Zabaneh

“No, it has not been resolved, because of the practices in the past. A lot of them, because of the loss of income along the way, some of them would use the standees income and that will not go to the pockets of the operators. So, we are still seeing that along the way, and we are working hard to change that culture.”

 

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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