First Electric Bus Arrives in Belize, Several More to Come
The first of several electric buses to be included in the fleet of commuter buses in the public transportation sector touched down in Belize today and several other BYD buses will arrive in the coming days. The Belize City Council and the Ministry of Transport are finally delivering on their word and the arrival of the buses is timely. Here’s News Five’s Isani Cayetano with that story.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
The prospect of introducing electric buses to Belize’s public transportation industry has been long in the making for several years. In fact, it has remained one of the many promises that were made by the Belize City Council under the present mayor. That undertaking, nonetheless, is slowly becoming a reality, with the first electric bus arriving in country.
Rodwell Ferguson
Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of Transport
“Ever since I became the minister in 2020, I know this was in the making before and it takes actually six years, at least for fruition, and this is the first. Hopefully by Friday there will be the second one and in June there should be three more, so there‘s a total of five in the original beginning. This has been funded by the European Union and the local UNDP is the implementing agency.”
The advent of electric buses onto the existing landscape is part of a regional initiative to eventually move away from ICE, or internal combustion engine, vehicles. These are automobiles that consume fossil fuel. Ian King is the Deputy Resident Representative at the United Nations Development Programme.
Ian King
Ian King, Deputy Resident Rep, UNDP
“It’s about building the ecosystem in Belize to facilitate public transportation, electric transportation. You know around the region different countries in Central America and the Caribbean, there is the expansion of public electric buses. So here we have the arrival of the first of five electric buses under our project. This one and the one similar to it also arriving this week will be operating within Belize City and so it will be what we call an inter-city bus doing a route and the intent there is to provide piloting and demonstration, a proof of concept of transitioning from the typical internal combustion engine buses, which as you know generates pollution and has a larger carbon footprint.”
In Belize City, Mayor Bernard Wagner has been touting these new buses since the start of his second term in office. It’s a few short weeks before the next municipal elections are held.
Bernard Wagner
Bernard Wagner, Belize City Mayor
“It’s been a long process but the mere fact that we are able to contribute to the transformation of the transport industry in the city, in the urban sector of Belize, we feel that this will really change the game in Belize City in terms of commuter reliability, commuter efficiency and at the same time contributing to the lowering of greenhouse gases all across the city.”
The BYD e-bus are a line of battery electric buses manufactured by Chinese automaker BYD featuring a typical operating range of one hundred and sixty miles per charge on road conditions in the city.
Chad Dietrich
Chad Dietrich, General Manager, Caribbean Motors
“This is a BYD low-floor city bus, it has capacity for twenty-two passengers to be seated, plus a driver. So twenty-three and probably a little bit of a deviation from the norm. It’s set up with handrails and everything to safely stand. So it also allows for twenty-seven occupants to stand. So a total occupancy with the driver of fifty passengers. Everything is on air hydraulic or air suspension, so when it pulls up to a stop it will kneel, it will tilt to the side so it’s at curb level. We’ve got a wheelchair accessible ramp to help our mobility challenged folks to also enjoy the bus. It has USB ports for phone charging at each seat. So lots of great features, durable seating but comfortable still. So lots of different features for sure.”
Isani Cayetano for News Five.
