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And one of the rumours has been that city buses may stop running - but that one is within the realm of possibility.  

And what would happen if city buses stopped running? That’s a question that many commuters have been asking because like most unimaginable scenarios it’s quickly becoming a likelihood. This morning we headed to the headquarters of City Shuttle to speak to Owner Phillip Jones. Jones says that while business is bad in the era of COVID-19 commuters were there for him in the good times and he wants to be there for them now. Â 

Phillip Jones - Owner
"We are running like skeleton schedules right now in terms of like passengers are not what they were so our buses they are like 30 seaters to 40 seater, so what we are informing the customers of whenever they come in is that they are to occupy one seat. So there are no two persons to be sitting in a seat. I’ve tried to monitor it as best as possible but to be honest the buses, we’re moving 10 to 15 passengers on a good rush hour for the time being. So we encourage the passengers to please just use one seat at the moment so we are not taking any crowds. We had to downsize because city buses really rely on the students and the school has been closed down now. This is the second week and to be honest. It’s not about the money at this time we’re operating at a loss since school has been closed because that’s like 50% of our earnings so we’ve lost that part and now businesses are closing so that’s the next 50% so you can do the math and see how we’re operating at a loss but the way I look at it it’s an essential service, of course, we keep the safety of our employees first and the customer.bMy staff are equipped, we have a daily routine that we sanitize as frequently as possible and they wear the gloves they wear their mask and we sanitize very often.We sterilize the bus in the morning and in the evening gloves and masks daily."

Cherisse Halsall
"What would you foresee would be the nail in the coffin that would make you have to shut down for now?"

Phillip Jones
"The Prime Minister has said not to Panic. We heard there was a case so I’m monitoring that closely. I believe if we find a case in Belize City and we have more than one cases then I believe then I will have to look at the employee's first then I would make that decision and probably close because then to further affect commuters and personnel, I wouldn’t want that."

And in the event that Jones’s service is forced to shut down he has considered chartering special buses to businesses or government entities for the movement of essential personal on a smaller scale. Jones can be reached at 615-0282. Â Ã‚ Ã‚