The first fleet of electric buses is hitting the streets of Belize City in June of this year, according to Mayor Bernard Wagner. Neal Hall, the Coordinator of the E-Transit Pilot Project, and Mayor Wagner appeared on Open Your Eyes this morning to give us an update on the project. Their teams have been working closely with various partners to construct the bus depot, establish charging stations, finalize the route, as well as the cost to riding one of these buses. This morning, they gave us a peek into the bus depot and its proposed route.

Neal Hall, Coordinator, E-Transit Pilot Project

"That is going to be located at the Belize Airport Authority here in there parking lot in Belize City, just behind Marion Jones. What you are looking at right now is the overhead shot showing where the vehicles will be parked. We have our electric buses and we are also trying to get some electric taxis to show that it doesn't have to be a thirty foot mass transit vehicle. It can be regular vehicles that will help people get around as well. The one on the screen now gives you a more front facing view of the building itself and the parking location."
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City

"We maintain that we are not chasing anyone out of business; we don't want to chase any of the current bus owners out of business. We are precisely doing a pilot project. You will not see one of our buses racing and trying to chase one of the other busses to pickup. We have a route that we will service. We will not chase anyone out of town. All the bus owners have the ability to earn business in the city. So, that is one of our main goals here is not to chase anybody out of town. At the end of the day when this project is completed we will have the necessary data to say if it is a feasible project for expansion."

Channel 5