National Bus Company Reports on Belize Electric Bus Pilot

The National Bus Company (NBC) is reporting on its electric bus pilot project, as Belize prepares for the introduction of more e-buses into the public transportation system.  The pilot gave the company an opportunity to assess the buses in operation and gain experience that can guide the next stage of the programme.  Minister of Transportation Dr. Louis Zabaneh thanked the European Union for funding the start of the initiative. He acknowledged that support as he spoke about the pilot and the work ahead.

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport: “We have worked with a number of entities. We are very grateful to the pilot that was done, funded by the European Union. We have expressed publicly to the European Union, to the people of the European Union, that we are grateful for their investment in the pilot. That started with two buses in Belize City and now three buses on the Western Corridor and we are grateful to the UNDP who managed that pilot and the results show overwhelming success. The electric buses work perfectly fine in Belize, and the energy costs are only about 22% when you compare to the cost of diesel for the same route. That’s significant savings as when those buses hit the roads here again, that will be a vast improvement on the bottom line for the NBC, not to mention the quality of buses and experience of our commuters.”

The E-Mobility Pilot Project was officially launched on February 3, 2022. The buses arrived later, in 2024.