Thomas Shaw, president of Belize Bus Association
Bus operators not on board yet with proposed national bus company
BELMOPAN, Mon. June 16, 2025
The Ministry of Transportation, headed by Minister Dr. Louis Zabaneh, has organized several consultations with bus operators to discuss the new proposal of a national bus company (NBC). While for the operators this seems to be reminiscent of the private Novelo’s Bus Company monopoly failure of decades past, this time around the government is proposing a public private partnership (PPP). However, at the latest membership meeting of the Belize Bus Association (BBA) on the weekend of June 8, the bus operators expressed to their leadership that they still have more questions than answers, and they want concrete responses. They are therefore not sold on the plan, and the BBA says its 31 licensed private-sector bus operators have not endorsed the concept.
The BBA submitted a 3-page position paper to the Minister on June 12 in which they instead called for a “constructive path forward” that would feature structured and respectful dialogue with existing operators who “have established and developed the industry.” They favour the co-development of “a hybrid model that combines public oversight with private-sector experience and resilience.” The BBA made the request after exploring “case studies” that left key lessons it says cannot be ignored. Additionally, it provided insight into the “myth of economies of scale in Belize’s context.” The Association concludes that in Belize’s transportation reality, for the majority of commuters who represent 80% of ridership (students and low-income commuters), “comfort is secondary to affordability.” According to the association, introducing over 100 new buses – which they say is the Minister’s plan under the NBC – will require an increase in bus fares. They used one example of the commute between Belize City and Belmopan potentially going from the current $8.00 to $16.00. The Association makes the case that both Floralia Ltd. (with a fleet of modern coach buses) and the electric buses introduced in Belize City had low ridership due to higher fares and therefore had to reduce their rates to match those of the “incumbent operators with the ‘old school buses.’” (Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner has since told Amandala that their prices were always $3.00 for regular clients, $2.00 for students and $1.00 for senior citizens). The Council reported on March 21 that their ridership since the launch of the electric buses in July 2024 has ascended over 100,000 riders.
The BBA asserts that the old buses that make up Belize’s current fleet in public transportation are not the result of “… the neglect or incompetence of Operators, but rather a direct reflection of the suppressed fare structure, currently averaging BZE $0.16 per mile.” They argue that at this rate, “it is simply not financially feasible for operators to upgrade their fleets.” They assert that international benchmarks do not align with the Minister’s belief that economies of scale “will ensure the sustainability of the NBC.” They say that according to the limited information provided by the Ministry, the goal seems to be to “achieve the lowest of the three levels of service provided by ADO,Mexico’s largest private-sector owned Bus operator.” However, the BBA counters that the ADO fleet is 8,000 plus and is supported by decades of operational experience, corporate governance and deep-scale efficiencies. Despite thin margins, they say ADO charges an average fare of BZ$0.25 per mile for the lowest level of service. They also highlight the higher fuel prices in Belize.
Importantly, the BBA is after a financial plan which they say has not been provided. They want to know how the NBC would be funded, sustained and managed. The BBA affirms, “At this juncture, it is therefore unreasonable to expect operators to endorse a mere ‘concept’ without access to key information that any interested investor (operators included) would reasonably request – such as: the financial Model; identified private investor in the PPP; a 5-year projection of dividends; the return on investment for shareholders; the assumptions to achieve financial sustainability including – the adjustment (if any) to commuter fares that will be necessary to make the Concept financially viable and sustainable.” In an interview, Thomas Shaw, the president of the BBA, told Amandala that the operators want to know how dividends will be shared. According to Shaw, government officials are speaking about Social Security and the Government being the major shareholders – “and the operators, what is left, the dividend would be very small. So they [operators] were looking at how the dividend would be worked out quarterly, monthly or yearly.” Shaw explained that most operators are accustomed to collecting money daily and managing their expenses for their buses from that. He said, though, that because they will no longer own any buses (these would be owned by the new national company), the operators will only get back dividends based on their shares. Shaw says the operators view the proposal as surrendering their birthright – as if they are “giving up everything.” Shaw shared that while some bus operators do not have a problem in exiting the industry, they want to be properly compensated. He says they also assess their age and the fact that they would not be hired to work under the new company.
Shaw revealed that the expected start date for the company is the end of January 2026 and he believes everything is happening too fast. He shared that some operators think the goalposts are constantly being changed, while asserting that all operators upgraded their buses according to the requirements imposed by the former Minister of Transport, Rodwell Ferguson.
The BBA emphasizes that it is not objecting merely for the sake of resistance, and they support uplifting our national transport standards; however, they require key information so they can buy into the concept. According to Shaw, the concept as explained by the Ministry includes the construction of a new bus terminal in Belize City, nationwide infrastructure upgrades, and the implementation of a modern cashless system. Shaw was set to meet the Minister today, and the Ministry has scheduled a press briefing on the proposed transport sector modernization and PPP initiative for Tuesday, June 17 in Belize City.
British Caribbean News
