Belize City Mayor Assures City Shuttles Won’t Be Undermined

Those at the helm have assured that the transition does not in any way seek to undermine bus operators who have been using fuel-operated buses for decades to transport commuters to their destinations. C.E.O. in the Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities and Belize City Mayor, Bernard Wagner whose Council will have custody of a couple of the new buses for city runs under the pilot project, assures existing bus operators of city shuttles that the intention is not to displace or undermine but to help them.

Jose Urbina

Jose Urbina, C.E.O., Ministry of Public Utilities & Energy

“What we’re basically trying to achieve is to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that the public transportation emits out to the atmosphere. So this allows us to align with all the international treaties that the government of Belize has signed on. What we can realistically say and what has been captured in different studies internationally is that 30% of greenhouse gases are emitted by the public transportation, and that is what we’re trying to zoom in really, be it by electric buses or intra city vehicular activity to transport people from point A to point B.

We’re using this project to, one, have a roadmap determined as to how we will roll out electric vehicles within our country.”

Bernard Wagner

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City

“We are not here to compete with the bus owners, right? We don’t want to displace nobody, right? We are not about displacement. We are about integration and putting them in a position to win, or a position to become a very profitable type of entity. For years, these bus owners have been losing money due to the same diesel, whether they fight for Holland to really show them a new way. We will really increase their margins and make their margins look better. But the rule that you’ve identified for the city, it will be separate and aside from what they’re running? It will cross along the path, but our pricing mechanism is not to compete with them. Our pricing mechanism will be a bit above them, so as to ensure that we do not undersell them.”