In another council update...
A week ago the electric buses made their debut on the city streets and since then they've received what looks like mixed reactions from commuters, who are iffy on the routes, suspect on the pricing, and not sure how the subsidized competition will affect their regular runs.
But despite the doubters and their doubts, today the mayor said that the E buses are here to stay.
Bernard Wagner, Mayor Belize City
"Again, the pricing mechanism that we implemented was to not drive anybody out of business. We couldn't have the same pricing structure as the existing bus owners because their charge is $2. And if we, which have an AC bus, would be charging $2, obviously people would gravitate to our buses."
"So we wanted to be a tier above them and be competitive at the same time. We have seen quickly that people have taken a liking to it. Last week alone, we were able to garner riders of 1,584 riders throughout the course of the week."
"And we saw that it gradually climbed from day one, the Monday, and it continually increased day two, day three, day four with, I believe, the larger group that is riding the buses is adults, workers accessing."
"We have a small percentage of senior citizens as well, as well as students. So overall, we can see that it has taken off and there is no turning back for e-buses in the city."
