New Bus Run Launched Along Coastal Plains Highway to Address Commuter Needs

Commuters residing along the Coastal Plains Highway are being accommodated as new bus runs have been introduced. The Ministry of Transport launched the new runs today that will leave for Belize City from Santa Cruz Village at 4:30 in the morning with stops in Mullins River, Gales Point, and La Democracia. The bus returns from Belize City at three in the evening, arriving at 6:15 in Santa Cruz Village. Deputy Chief Transport Officer Peter Williams told Love News that his department had received various complaints from residents over the years and conducted a feasibility study to confirm that the run was needed. Williams says that the issue was getting an operator willing to do the run. 

Peter Williams, Deputy Chief Transport Office, Department of Transport: “The issue at the time was that nobody wanted to do the run because remember Department of Transport we do not force anybody to do any run. If a person is interested in a run they have to apply. And persons were not interested because of various complaints that you know that we had received over the years from other previous operators. So fortunately we had a person form the community, Mr.Myers, who opted to take on the challenge to provide the service for his community and so this run is going to start from Santa Cruz as a regular run and it’s going to make it’s way to Dangriga Town, it’s going to pass through the Coastal Plain Highway and it’s going to service the communities along that highway and it’s going to go up to La Democracia. When it departs from Democracia it’s going to operate as an express service from La Democracia to Belize City so that it does not infringe on any of the other operators in that area.”

Williams assured that the 2005 MCI bus equipped with air conditioning meets all the DOT’s revised safety standards. He also said that customers will pay the same fare as other runs that come from the south to Belize City. The permit was awarded to Alma’s Bus Service, owned by a resident of Santa Cruz, Clifford Martinez.