BELIZE CITY, Tues. Nov. 3, 2020–  As previously reported, the Department of Transport (DOT) decided to implement a bus ticket system, provided for in the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Regulations and in SI 136 of 2020, of the Quarantine Regulations.

The ticketing system was activated on November 2 as scheduled, and terminals across the country started to put in place a process for pre-selling boarding tickets to commuters traveling to various locations.

While no major mishap was reported, the obvious logistical challenges and kinks in the process are being highlighted by players in the transportation industry.

In Orange Walk, it was reported that some buses were allowed in the terminal without having a ticket book to carry out sales.

Others are reporting that the ticket booths provided by the Department of Transport only allow two conductors to sell tickets simultaneously. This becomes a problem when three or four bus companies are scheduled for runs, but have no booths from which to sell tickets to passengers.

The President of the Belize Bus Association (BBA) has suggested that companies get together to hire individuals whose sole task would be to sell tickets for the various bus owners and companies. These persons would have access to the tickets from the various bus companies and would sell these to commuters from designated booths. This would relieve conductors of the additional stress of ticket sales that they are currently shouldering and would contain the extra activity and movement associated with ticket sales within the confined area of the ticket boots.

This ticketing system was implemented to prevent the overcrowding of buses in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus through public transportation.

Bus owners and operators are required to facilitate ticket sales and carry out full sanitization of the buses, as is required by the public transportation protocol that have been put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.