Minister of Transport Eyes Wider Rollout of Electric Buses in Belize

Following what he describes as a successful pilot project, Minister of Transportation Dr. Louis Zabaneh is looking ahead to a wider role for electric buses in Belize’s public transport system.  Zabaneh says the experience gained during the pilot will help guide the next phase. His comments come as the National Bus Company reports on the project and preparations continue for the expansion of electric bus services.  Here is the minister on the future of e-buses in Belize.

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport: “Where we are is that we are grateful to the people of Taiwan, as I said in the house meeting on Friday. We’ve gotten indications that there will be a grant for the buses to the NBC that is being worked out. We’ve sent specifications for them to do a tender following their laws in Taiwan. And we should hear something by the end of this month on the first 24 electric buses and nine charging stations. For those charging stations, we’re looking to power them primarily by solar and then secondarily by the BEL network. The next phase will be 51 additional electric buses with the charging stations and infrastructure that comes in the next phase, that will be funded by the NBC now. The NBC funds that. Okay, so that is the trajectory that by the end, God willing, by the end of next year, 2027, before that hopefully but not later, we’re aiming to have our full 75 electric buses and all of our charging stations in place by the grace of God and the work of our good people.”

Belize’s move into electric bus transportation began with an European Union-funded initiative involving the Belize City Council, government ministries and the United Nations Development Programme.  The first bus arrived in January 2024. That July, the partners launched Belize City’s e-bus service and charging depot, with two buses assigned to serve commuters within the city.  Three more electric buses arrived in September 2024 for inter-district transportation, taking the pilot beyond Belize City. The project was designed to test electric buses on both city and longer-distance routes, providing experience to guide their wider introduction across the country.