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The National Bus Company today showcased newly installed telematics technology as part of its ongoing push to modernize public transportation in Belize. The demonstration, held at the Belize City Bus Terminal, comes just months after the company’s official launch and highlights continued upgrades to its fleet management and operations systems. Minister of Transportation Dr Louis Zabaneh says the company is already expanding its fleet, noting that two new buses have been added so far, with plans to introduce up to twenty buses in total to gradually replace older units currently in service. He added that the technology is part of a broader effort to improve efficiency and strengthen service delivery within Belize’s public transport system. Love News was present at today’s demonstration where the minister further spoke on the initiative.
Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport: “We want to show the camera system that we’re putting inside the buses that will help us in a number of ways. We’ll be able to monitor the bus from a control room and know where it is on the highway system across the country and be able to tell things like the speed of the bus. Also to see if there are any standees in the bus, what’s happening inside the bus, monitor the performance of the driver and conductor. That is a very, very important innovation for us, as it helps us with managing the operations of the company and also with, of course, providing better service to our commuters that are our customers. When you’re talking highway speeds, 55 miles an hour, in some countries 65 or more, people are to be seated and have on their seat belts and this is where we’re going at National Bus Company to be able to bring these things on gradually so that we can provide that kind of service to our commuters. So these are some of the nicer buses. The two buses you’re seeing here were refurbished in 2016 so you’ll see them for yourselves and we have a new category called premium right so we’ve had the the express buses and of course the regular runs. The premium now will be for buses that are seven years or younger, meaning that we want the highest quality buses. They’ll have Wi-Fi and all of that. These buses are still not in that category yet, but these will be for express runs. And again, it’s just a information to the public that NBC is doing what it said it would do, and hopefully by August / September we could get in most of those 20 buses that we are planning to bring in.”
National Bus Company Board Chair, Anna Loague also addressed the rollout, explaining the decision to introduce telematics technology as part of improving oversight and operational management.
Ann League, Chairperson, NBC Board: “We decided on implementing this initiative. It came because of the amount of complaints we were receiving. Of course, there are standees as the minister had said, the driving patterns, commuter safety had to be the first step forward. And so we invested in having the telematics installed. So at our control center we’ll be able to see driver patterns, whether or not there are standees on the buses. And of course it goes in tandem with our system that we have at the office where commuters can call in and say that these are the several issues that they’re experiencing on the road and we’re able to track it based on the bus route that they have. So it’s in order to ensure that we have a better commuter experience and also the safety of our commuters on the road. We know that there is a shortage of buses and that is the reason why we are trying to invest in bringing additional buses until the electric buses are coming in the latter part of this year.”
Chester Williams, CEO, Ministry of Transport: “Indeed standees is an enforcement issue and through the Department of Transport we are working on that. I have said to the CTO that we need to conduct more strategic operations geared at targeting these buses that continue carrying standees. The law is clear that if it is that you have standees then the driver can be issued a ticket. The ticket is going to cost you more than what the standee is going to pay. So we’re hoping that by enforcement and issuing of tickets that it will deter the companies from allowing standees on their buses.”
Chief Executive Officer Chester Williams also responded to concerns regarding standees, saying the company is actively working to manage passenger loads and improve compliance to ensure safer and more comfortable travel conditions for commuters. The National Bus Company says further upgrades are planned as it continues efforts to modernize and improve public transportation services nationwide.
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