A fleet of hi-tech electric buses is expected to be up and running by next March. the transport minister said yesterday.

Lawrence Scott, the Minister of Transport, said that the first of 30 buses are scheduled to arrive in January next year.

He said: ““Once the buses are shipped here, we still need to be get them prepped and ready to go into service. That takes around six weeks.”

He confirmed that a request for proposal to install charging stations for the buses had been posted.

Government said earlier that the buses could be in operation before the end of the year.

Mr Scott defended the delay yesterday.

He said: “What we don’t want to do is have 30 new electric buses here and nowhere to charge them.

“We need to time the arrival of the new buses with the completion of the electrification infrastructure.

“We’re putting it through an RFP process right now.”

Mr Scott added: “I’m more comfortable taking a delay in implementation and having it done right, rather than trying to meet the original timeline, which was put out there prior to Covid, and all the variables which are outside of our control.

The Government has submitted a second RFP for a digital fare media system, which Mr Scott predicted would revolutionise public transport.

He said: “It’s what I see as the great equaliser in that it allows for us to add technology to the mix.

“The new buses will come in with what’s called passenger readers. As soon as somebody gets on the bus and somebody gets off the bus, it’ll count how many people are on the bus at any given time.

“That will allow us to have real time ridership data. Then we can then start saying ‘this route needs this number of buses’ so we can reduce or increase the number of buses on that route and we can have a more efficient bus service.”

Mr Scott added that passengers would also benefit from the new technology.

He said: “It also allows for people to look at their phone and see exactly where the buses are.

“If your bus is running late or early, you should be able to tell when it’s coming. That way there’s less likelihood of you missing your bus.

Buses and ferries will also be wi-fi capable.

Mr Scott said that Government wanted to provide “a safer, more consistent, more reliable and efficient public transportation system” with improved customer service.

He added: “Over the course of the next 12 to 18 months you will see a drastic transformation and modernisation of our transportation industry.”