Ministry Moves To Resolve West End Bus Issue

June 3, 2016

Since becoming Minister of Tourism, Transport & Municipalities, Senator Michael Fahy said he has taken note of a number of complaints from west end commuters that there are not enough seats heading east on morning bus runs on the Number 8 route out of the Dockyard.

The Minister stated, “Cruise ship passengers have filled the seats on some morning buses leaving residents standing at bus stops, watching crowded buses pass them by.

“We have considered a number of suggestions and have decided to make a change to resolve the issue in the short term, while we contemplate long term solutions.

“The Ministry has taken advice from technical teams, which has included input from the West End Development Corporation, the Bermuda Tourism Authority, the Department of Marine and Ports Services and the Department of Public Transportation.”

As a result starting Monday June 6th, a select number of buses on the Number 8 route that have previously departed from the Maritime Museum will now start their route at the Department of Public Transportation Depot in Dockyard [next to the Prisons Officers Recreation Club] turn right, enroute to Hamilton, leaving the depot Monday to Friday at the following times: 9:35am, 10:35am, 11:35am, 12:35pm and 1:35pm.”

Minister Fahy added, “Only these buses will bypass the Visitors Information Centre to ensure adequate seating capacity for Bermudians. I certainly hope this rectifies the immediate problem for Bermuda’s west end commuters.

”I am advised that this will not impact cruise ship visitors in any appreciable way.”

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Comments (29)

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  1. I heart 441 says:

    Well done Fahy, best decision you have made all year! lol

    • Raymond Ray says:

      Well done yes but I do believe this is an on going problem yet can be permanitly resolved by having School Buses stating they are just that, School Buses. (Food for thought)

      • drunken ursula says:

        you don’t have a clue Ray, what about persons getting off the ferry ,why cant that clown Mayor of Dockyard just admit the idea of using mini buses isn’t working ..passengers are mad as hell many of those passengers are repeat visitors and they know special shuttle buses was always used for direct passage to the beach . I say Charlton don’t want them…

  2. Micro says:

    It’s clear more lift is needed out of Dockyard during the peak morning rush hour. This solution just means instead of locals facing overcrowded buses, visitors will face a lack of transportation…

    • Toleratate says:

      Understand your point but I always thought the best solution would be for buses to leave directly from depot as the Minister has done.
      Yes, less buses FIRST thing in the morning for tourist but really…. the time these buses are leaving in the morning is of little inconvenient to our guest once the bus schedule is properly amended to show new times of departure from Dockyard. Tourist will just adjust their departure time an hour later.
      The problem comes when they believe a bus is coming and are up and ready and no bus arrives.
      Please amend the new schedule so our visitors are not left standing around frustrated.
      This is NOT a hard fix.

  3. Hope says:

    Was it morning commuters who were effected by this? If so then I’m not sure that adding the first bus at 9:15am is going to help them….can you clarify?

  4. Reality Is says:

    How does this help those locals that make 8:30 or 9am??

    • SMH! says:

      The cruise ship guests are still having breakfast and getting ready at that time and are not on the early buses.

      • drunken ursula says:

        you don’t have a clue the 8.20am #7 full every day trust me.

  5. Confused says:

    Hope these are the buses that commuters were referring too, otherwise this is a wasted exercise.

  6. Realist says:

    Thank God! The public Bus transportation is for the Bermudian Public, it is paid for by our taxes! We the public that get on this bus are very happy about this. In the Dockyard there are enough minibuses and taxis to transport visitors and take them right to the spots at $7 each way and extra per parish….this public bus system should not be for tourists, that is what the other minibuses and taxis are for..we the Bermudian public pay taxes for this service and it is very good to know that Minister Fahy thought of us. Very happy indeed!
    Honestly please tell me in what other country do Tourists so gladly use the public transportation?

    • I heart 441 says:

      You my friend need to travel a lot more, and not to the other end of Bermuda, im talking out of the country.

    • Beam me up Sparky says:

      I mean what are these tourists doing using OUR buses ! They should be told to stay on the boat and stop using OUR facilities ! Next thing you know they’ll be wanting to go OUR restaurants and OUR beaches !!

      Oh and in answer to you last question, pretty much every country in the world ! There is a place at the Eastern end the Island called an Airport. You should try using it to visit other places other than shopping malls.

    • drunken ursula says:

      who is that guy Charlton telling our guest what kind of trans they use…only in Bda!

  7. Point boy says:

    Got to give it to the man! Passionate and a go-getter! Well done keep up the good work. Politics! (A thankless job)

  8. Triangle Drifter says:

    Why is the Minister involved with the day to day management of the buses & the load demands?

    Is this not what we highly pay a Director & his equally highly paid multitude of underlings for?

    • BLIND SHEEP says:

      They probably have, he is making a statement as the minister. DA!!!

  9. somersetgirl says:

    What happened to the special buses from dockyard to the beaches? They seemed to help at least a bit.

  10. Terry says:

    And this happens at what time of year.
    So much misinformation.

    We bitch when jobs are down. We bitch when you can’t get on a bus because they are on strike.
    We bitch when tourists get on before us.
    We bitch because we don’t have enough of them.
    We bitch the Government is not doing enough.

    We bitch when the buses need repair and bitch about…..

    Isles of Devils has become the Isles of Bitches.

    Enjoy.
    Slim pickings come once the AC is turned off.

    • Terrier says:

      Well played, Terry. You’ve outdone yourself this time. What a stupid man you are! GET A LIFE

    • steve says:

      hey terry- We bitch that expats are overpaid
      We bitch that expats are underpaid

      We bitch that the gov doesn’t care about us
      We bitch and protest when gov try to help us

      We bitch that we have been mistreated now and in the past
      We bitch when gov tries to legislate human rights NOW for all.
      We allow the future to control us and do not support forward thinking unless the party in power is one of our favorite sports teams.

      We bitch that we are losing good minds/ BDA talent overseas
      We bitch when a good mind stays and tries to improve his country(fAHEY)…oh i forgot, he was born in a canadian hospital(ignorant comment stated over and over..)

      Its infectious in fact i was once an optimist-I am bitching now. But i am working on it.

  11. Cruiser with Online Access says:

    Cool! Thanks to the information age, I’ll shall take a short walk out of Dockyard, and I can still catch the bus.

  12. Triangle Drifter says:

    Oh good, start them from the PORC, where the cruise passengers will probably be able to see empty buses that they can’t get on.

    That ought to piss them off real good.

  13. mmm says:

    How many buses do we have ? How many buses are needed during peak times ? How many buses are operational ? School will be out in a month, will this free up ten buses that can be used in Dockyard ? Do we need to bring in mec hanics to bring buses back into service quicker ? Do we have an adequate inventory ? I had buses pass by me at Shelly Bay full, several times going into Hamilton, it,s not just the West End. Do management look at passenger loads every day ? Perhaps, there is a short-fall in the budget, and there is a dominoe effect. Limited money, limited services. Dockyard has had this transport difficulty the past few years, how do they propose to meet the ne eds of the East End when cruise ships start up in 2017 ? Further more, it,s okay for tourists to use local buses. Who wants to pay $15 for a cheeseburger cause its at an up-scale restaurant.

  14. bluebird says:

    Terry you have hit the nail on the HEAD.
    And most will not understand the Slim pickings remark.

  15. bluebird says:

    By they way the TAX PAYER is not paying for the BUSSES as the Government is still borrowing over Two Hundred Million Dollars a year
    to keep these Bus drivers paid at $45.00 per hour and at $90.00 per hour over time.
    And we have majority of the Bus’s running around empty going somewhere.
    Don’t forget the Six weeks vacation and the fourteen week sick leave besides the Public holidays.
    And the Slim Pickin’s is not too far away.

    • Raymond Ray says:

      If true then that confirms it, “Bermuda is another world”.The cost of living is going up and the chances of surviving are going down:-(

  16. smith says:

    I travel on the #7 daily going to work, from 9am on its a problem, sometime three pass, they are full to the door, we are all late for work i would like to know how can it be solved, this year its really
    bad, and summer just started. The drivers are not happy that they
    are not able to pick us up.

  17. Triangle Drifter says:

    The lack of bus seats for tourists & locals has gone on for how many years now & the people responsible for running the buses still have their jobs!!!

    Government Civil Service incompetence at its finest.