‘Bus Cuts Due To Poor Financial Management’
[Written by Kim.Swan, Leader of the Opposition] Bus Operators are being made the scapegoats for poor financial management by the Ministry of Transportation.
The latest debacle involving the drastic slashing of scheduled bus service necessitated a review of the budget allocation for 2011/12 Financial Year.
The numbers don’t lie and the findings are startling!!
We found in this current budget year that the Department of Public Transportation Administration/Management is enjoying a 56% INCREASE in their budget allocation representing $700k over what they required to operate the previous year in 2010/11.
To achieve this and show savings on the overall budget, management slashed Bus Operations’ budget allocation by $467K, stores/spare parts by $848k and repair servicing by $521K, thus cutting the maintenance budget by more than $1.6 million.
It is apparent, looking at the budget book that these cuts, which directly affect safe and reliable provision of services, have been made to accommodate the excessive $700k (56%) increase in management’s administration budget allocation which appears to allow for an increase in professional services of $284K, an increase in advertising & promotion of $120K and a new rentals expenditure of $175K.
The output measures in the budget book show that the department has not been able to achieve its goal of a maximum of 15 buses out of service. The actual for the current year was 18. The goal for vehicle road calls of 12 or less per 100,000 miles has been even further out of reach with the actual for the current year 42, up from 21 the previous year.
On reflection, one noticeable difference in the budget process is that in 2004/05 Public Transportation had a specific line item allocation for Charters and Sightseeing with 16 employees. Today, we have an exponential growth in cruise visitors but these numbers are no longer separately accounted. Hence, it is not possible to transparently scrutinise bus charters and sightseeing and differentiate as before.
We in the United Bermuda Party, see the sightseeing and charter services as a separate line item from the daily commuter bus service. Particularly since Government has, by admission, deliberately increased the number of cruise passengers who now account for more than 50% of all visitors to Bermuda.
Government should be aiming “to provide safe, reliable and comfortable public transportation for people of Bermuda and Visitors” as has been the case for decades.
Unfortunately, this latest debacle is yet another example of government wrongly cutting services and then using rhetorical spin to justify poor actions.
It’s the UBP’s fault…..
to be honest, you’re numbers may be right, and it may be part of the issue, but after the last bus/BIU incident im more then willing to believe that bus drivers are abusing sick leave.. to me THAT would be a pretty solid reason for no busses. They can have all the money in the world, or zero dollars… but if drivers dont show up, buses dont go.
Funny…cause the story last week was bus drivers showing up for work and there were no buses to drive since they are all out of service….can we please for once have a straight honest answer….
You can’t handle the truth!!! LOL
The real question here is whether the Premier will support this tough action by her Minister of Transport. Lister has this right and only he can do it. If his predecssor in that Ministry had tried to take this on you all would’ve said “here he goes again….”.
Buses are like bigger versions of cars, and can hold more people, dun, which is why they’re important.
I’m confused is this a not having enough money issue or not?
LOL
The bus drivers abuse sick leave because it is something that has been allowed to get away with for years under the PLP. Once they cut the overtime drivers who were originally on stand-by because of the high sick leave numbers, the system has failed. Who the hell allowed this system to run like this in the first place??? The PLP made bus drivers too comfortable in their jobs, fire these people!! There is no discipline in the work force, no wonder we have such a bad rap when it comes to work ethic as an Island! You cannot allow people to behave this way or they will take advantage of a situation. Hence why we have bus problems. This current government is unable to run the country properly and it gets worse by the day. Put Col Burch in charge of the bus service maybe he can kick some much needed ass. WOW is all I have to say, the Government really show their true colors when situations like this surface. SORT IT OUT!
what ever happened to public service and commitment to your job. People don’t care about people being stranded or delayed and the inconvenience on tourists. These people don’t love their jobs and sometimes rude to passengers. It is time to hire expat bus drivers who are dedicated and respectful.
The Bus Drivers like many government workers abuse the system and the Civil servant management are to lazy to do the right thing and they are asking for money become more productive and then talk Government sort the civil servants out.
lm still wondering when the trash is going to get picked up…our streets have been littered for 3 days!
3 weeks in a row now,,,,trash to be picked up on Tuesday gets picked up by wednesday afternoon……not sure when the trash day is now…(Devonshire)
Warwick and the same thing… supposed to be Thursday and last week didnt come until Friday evening…. SMH
true govt does need to sort it out as a unified front..who gives a crap what goes on behind the scenes – just do your jobs so the people who elected you can be pleased and not p!ssed. But dag, govt workers for eons have been said to be some of the laziest & most unpleasant – and not only with this govt. Of course, it is evident that the abuse is increasing because of lack of respect and concern overall. Looks like they could care less about all those inconvenienced who have already paid for monthly passes (that don’t get pro-rated). So it’s like ok sick out one week, but next week or month same thing – naah… this is recurring with these guys – not cool – kids in school, folk trying to get to work, the tourists needing to get around…a lot of people inconvenience because you feel you deserve higher pay (yet again right???). I mean, we understand you hold people’s lives in your hands that you transport, but y’all be driving kinda outta hand as it is with all these people on your buses anyway.
IMHO, the biggest mistake that the PLP made in regards to PTB was making the bus free for children. Instead of going home after school, many are riding around the island visiting their friends and taking up the seats that should be available for paying customers. If you have ever been to the bus depot around 4pm you will see hoards of schoolchildren just standing around making huge nuisances of themselves. You can’t even walk through the depot itself as they stand around in large groups and will not let anyone get through.
I have seen them (usually in Cedarbridge uniforms) getting into physical altercations where the police have had to be called on a few occasions, pushing in front of paying passengers who are waiting in line to get on the bus, being disrespectful to drivers and other passengers while on the bus and they won’t even give up their seats to the elderly or women with small children. Sadly the drivers rarely even say anything and its up to the other passengers to tell the children to surrender their seats. And you should see the looks on the tourists faces as they experience the ‘real’ Bermuda. (Big up to Ms Landy, the only driver I have seen who makes the children wait until all the paying passengers have had a chance to get on the bus first before she lets them on)
Now with the drivers sick outs, large lines are forming at the depot where not everyone waiting will get on the bus and these children push and shove their way past the lines and some drivers will actually let them get on before paying customers. They are allowed to make an already tough situation worse for the people who are actually paying to ride the bus. The drivers themselves say that it was never like this when the children had to pay to ride. They are taking complete advantage of their “free” ride and I guarantee as they turn into adults they will be looking to the government to give them more “free rides”.
Bus passes should be given out to those in financial need but the rest should have to pay. If they had been all this time, i’m sure PTB’s financial situation would not be in the position that it is now.
Ohh !! Boy I could not have said it any better, it’s not just the buses but in EVERY walk of life these days, too many rude irresponsible children who have become accustomed to taking and NOT giving.
Whatever happened to being BERMUDIAN ???
Are we in real danger of losing our identity ??
Fate is a bitch and Irony is the bi-product of such. I mean…jingus…..
Since the late 50′s early 60′s when certain people did things and Unions were formed. Must admit, there was racial discrimination then as it is now.
The BIU was formed et al to address the plight of the black person. The UBP did a good job of ecconomic governance but thats about all.
After years of sitting on a “wall” the PLP take over the reigns but now have to put up with the “Union”.
(Hang on a second….dropped my needle)……..
Ok…feeling better……
Do the stats. Gov. Employees…race gender.
Do the stats. Union membership………
Do the stats. Violence………Crime et al.
Do the stats. Black on Black.
And please don’t get me started on ‘dem lutt got dis jas beekawz day hup horn dee heal ann dey tink dah batta…ver dee vuns struglin’.
Irony, it’s for real. You see it everyday. The dead bodies, the carnage, the ‘no ride zones’. Shit…can even talk to someone from another parish or street.
Call me what you want but this black on black murders et al is a result of what certain …………….
Do the math, be realistic. Trickle down has many meanings……………………..
When you find your Son or Daughter with that “Trickle” of blood and they are gone…..
Sorry to have gone from a bus topic to reality.
Were on the same bus………………………………………….heading downhill.
Well put Terry. Yes you digressed, but saying we are all on the same bus heading downhill is absolutely whats happening. But what can we as a community and a society do about it?
jump out of the boat while you still can…..SHE’S GO’IN DOWN!
its the UFC’s fault
Call me at 1-800-sink-bda……..Of course you know the call is free….(not in BDA)…anyway…..what the hell were we talking about………
OH!!!!YEAH……BUS……..
Is that like “Bus” my ass…….just askin….
Pour management at PTB, the latest batch of buses can’t even do sightseeing, they don’t even have any parts in sock. A bus could be out for months waiting for a part from Half way round the world. Overtime was used as a tool for management to cover up their short comings, now with out overtime they are all lost and can’t do their jobs. So don’t blame the worker blame management!!!