Commuters Voice Frustration Over New Bus Standees Regulation

The Ministry of Transportation is now experiencing an influx of complaints from several commuters.  With the ministry now enforcing regulations regarding standees on a bus, commuters are complaining of being inconvenienced.  Chief Executive Officer Chester Williams says there will be some inconveniences in the months ahead as the government looks to enforce highway regulations especially when it comes to public transportation.

Chester Williams, CEO, Ministry of Transport: “We are getting complaints now from commuters that they are unable to catch the bus for the simple fact that the bus companies have come to understand that we are hell bent that they are not to carry standees. So they are complying and we’re happy for that but at the same time too we are in dialogue with them to make sure that whenever there is a crowd of people that could constitute them injecting another bus to facilitate those people then they must do so. So our terminal managers or terminal supervisors are the ones who normally coordinate that looking at the number of persons at the terminal who are unable to get on the bus and if it meets at least 30 people,  we contact the company, they get on the bus  to ferry the people to their respective destination. So we’re happy to see the progress that we have made. But while that progress was made they have other issues that we need to deal with. So we’re going to deal with those.”

Love News understands that the Ministry has been conducting test runs with bus companies to determine the exact number of buses needed on specific routes to eliminate the need for standees. The ongoing dialogue with bus operators is a key component of this plan, with officials emphasizing that collaboration is essential to ensure a safer and more efficient system for all Belizeans.