Bus Operators Have until December 2024 to Upgrade 100% of Fleet

On Monday, the Ministry of Transport met with bus operators in Belmopan to discuss the upgrading of bus standards for the transport industry. One of the major points of discussion has been the use of outdated and unsafe buses to transport commuters on highways across the country. Initially, bus operators were informed that the deadline for upgrading their fleets would be the end of December 2023. But, during Monday’s meeting, the ministry clarified that operators are only required to upgrade fifty percent of their fleets by the end of the year. They are, however, required to meet that hundred percent target by the end of 2024. Earlier today, we spoke with Adele Catzim-Sanchez, the Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Transport, about the meeting.

Adele Catzim-Sanchez, Chief Executive Officer, Ministry of Transport

Adele Catzim-Sanchez

“We had an excellent meeting with the President of the Bus Owners Association, Mr. Shaw as well as other big operates. So we had the BBOC, as well as James Bus Company and Westline as well as the two members of the Belmopan Busito Association in the meeting yesterday afternoon. In that meeting we all agreed it is important for us to upgrade the bus standards. There was no pushback from them on that end. We realize that is a key aspect of road safety and we will continue to enforce the news bus standards coming about. It must be noted though that the bus standards we are requiring are already imbedded in other legislation. So we are not doing anything outside the existing legal framework for bus standards. What we are doing is just reminding the bus operators that we will work with them to have a timeline of when we will transition to having one hundred percent compliance. For clarification purposes we decided that at least fifty percent of the bus fleets, and this is for bus operators who run the major highways, that by the end of December of this year, fifty percent compliance is what we are working towards and by the end of 2024 we are targeting a hundred percent compliance and we all agreed to that. The major thing that was discussed and fine tuned a bit was financing. The financing aspect for the investment that bus owners are making, that is where there making. That is where there needs to be more dialogue. But the Ministry has agreed we will do what we can on our end to support their application when they go to whichever banking institution they prefer to approach to be able to get the financing to transition.”