Seventeen bus lines, now under one banner. The National Bus Company launched its public-private partnership on Sunday, and by sunrise this morning, the new system was facing its first true test - the cross district morning commute. It wasn't all smooth sailing, but for thousands of workers, the era of consolidated public transport has officially arrived.
Jaleeza Roberts has more:
As early as Saturday afternoon, National Bus Company stickers were seen being placed on Westline and the famous James Buses. The event marked the end of an era and the beginning of a new one under a government owned bus and operated company. Conversation and consultation on this company has been ongoing for over a year and it's finally a reality.
But a new name, a new owner, the same old problems with endless waiting for the bus, and standees still left standing in the aisle this morning - proving that a sticker is just a sticker. But the Minister sounds hopeful in the plan for the NBC
Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport
"We have a timeline that from September of this year, to December of next year, we will be bringing in brand new, electric buses to replace the fleet and as they come in every month, 5-10 buses per month, the oldest buses in the fleet will be removed. Even now, from the fleet we've gotten, we've identified at least 13 of these buses that need to be sold immediately and we will try to get an auctioneer to come in and deal with that and get it off the ground because there's no need to have those any at all and then to do the best with those that are left there, to make sure that we do the proper servicing, that they have good tires, etc so that in the interim between now and when the new buses come, that we can try to do the best with what's there."
And when it comes to addressing the issue of standees, a solution is already being looked at.
Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport
"We are very hopeful that this is an opportunity for people now along with better systems of control where now we do not need to have these buses ram jam with people and in fact it's illegal to have standees that we can then place another bus at those times when we need extra buses."
And when it comes to the ticketing system, Belizeans will soon see a cashless system with the help of digi wallet.
Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport
"In the interim yes, we have three or four ticketing systems. For example the one with James is a really reliable ticketing system. We have the others where they have tickets with the electric buses and it's a matter of how quickly We have the others where you have a physical ticket so within the next three or four months those will continue but we're moving to a cashless system just like what you see here in Belize city with the electric buses and we're working with Digio on that right now and it's a matter of how quickly we can get the equipment on the buses but I would figure within the next three to four months and we'll have enough time now to hopefully share that information with our commuters and so that they can be ready for that."
For now the NBC is on the go and, despite not everyone being on board, there's no stopping now. Jaleeza Roberts, 7 News.
