Who Will Pay More Under New Bus Fares? 

If you take the bus daily, whether your fare goes up may depend on where you live.

The National Bus Company (NBC) says it will keep its fares unchanged for now. “Fares will remain unchanged at this time. Any future adjustments will be phased and carefully managed to reduce the burden on the travelling public,” NBC said in a statement today.

Following Cabinet discussions on Tuesday over the Belize Bus Association’s (BBA) proposal to “level the playing field” across operators and standardise the rates with those from NBC, the government approved new maximum highway fares.

The BBA had been pushing for increases for weeks, citing rising fuel costs and financial strain.

Under the new structure, regular service is set at $0.18 per mile, express at $0.20, and a new premium tier at $0.22. The changes take effect Monday, April 27, with operators allowed to charge less, but not more.

According to NBC, it serves “approximately 65% of national highway commuters, including 95% in the southern corridor, 85% in the western corridor, and 20% in the northern corridor.”

With NBC concentrated in the south and west, the impact of any fare increases is likely to fall hardest on northern commuters.

Tune in tonight on News 5 Live at 6 o’clock for the full story.