City Shuttle Opposes Belize City Council’s EV Bus Project

The owners of City Shuttle continue to oppose the Belize City Council’s EV bus project. The company, which operates a few city buses, says the project will create an unfair playing field and should not have been facilitated through a government entity.  Last month, its owner wrote to the Belize Chamber and Commerce and Industry (BCCI) to express his concerns. The owner says the ability of the stakeholders to continue operating is being directly threatened by the proposed EV bus pilot project. City Shuttle says that while it welcomes actions to mitigate the level of CO2 emissions and the need for achieving higher bus standards, the project will impact long-time operators. The company claims that the UNDP/EU-funded project will harm its daily gross revenues and financially destroy the company within a few months of the launch. According to City Shuttle, the project may not be as sustainable as the council believes. The company called on the BCCI to address the issue and questioned whether the UNDP’s donor funds be used in this manner to facilitate the “forcing out” of vested private sector stakeholders in Belize in transportation by the Public Sector. The transportation provider then ends by stating that the move is contrary to the UNDP’s stated mission of “inclusion” of stakeholders and “equity”.