Ministry: 58 Buses Currently Out Of Service

August 30, 2017

There are 58 buses out of service today [Aug 30], the Ministry of Transport has confirmed.

This is down from the 72 buses — out of a fleet of 105 — that were out of service on August 24th, when the Ministry said, “the Department of Public Transportation remains challenged by the island’s ageing bus fleet.

“The Government is in the process of determining how this longstanding issue can finally be addressed, once and for all. Maintenance staff have been working overtime to get buses back in service. The DPT apologises for any inconvenience caused to the travelling public,” the Ministry said in their prior statement.

In their statement on August 24th, the Ministry said that additional new buses are on order and are expected to be on the road starting near the end of the year.

There are four new buses on order, and the cost is $1.2 million for the four vehicles.

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Comments (51)

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  1. Keepin it Real says:

    Just hand things over to the minibuses already and have govt just do the main roads! Smdh! It’s not rocket science!

    The public buses should not be for tourists either! Make them catch minibuses as well!

    • A Chap called Vanz says:

      Let’s make tourists use different toilets and water fountains too.

      • JUNK YARD DOG says:

        The Bermuda Experience.

        We need to offer our visitors the very best of what is available. Remember some come here for a break others on honeymoon and for others a dream come tue

        They will go home with lasting memories and yearn to return to our shores one day.

        We need to make our visitors to feel so very special.

        Some will have spent their life savings to come here.

        let us show them all a real good time.

    • Coffee says:

      Public busses are for the paying public , including …. Tourist .

      I like your idea . Mini busses need to be main lined .

      Fire poor performing mechanics . Hire able bodied and experienced bus fixers .

      Fire the garage manager . Hire a manager with a proven track record .

      Fire drivers who are accident prone . Hire proper bus conductors like we used to have . Some of those drivers stink of cigarettes .

      Fire the decision makers . Including any consultants or other outside entities , fire them all post haste .

      Fire the Director . Bring back any previous director with experience .

      Fire the permanent secretary . Replace the current one with a person who at least has a mechanical background .

      • Point boy says:

        Too much coffee?

      • Skeptical says:

        I saw an ad for a bus garage manager for Bermuda on LinkedIn I believe.

        • Ra's al Ghul says:

          It’s also on CaribbeanJobs.com. So much for putting Bermudians first.

      • Zevon says:

        You can’t fire amy of them. They all get 70 days sick and 6 weeks vacation and have guaranteed jobs for life. So forget any idea about getting anyone to do their job better.

        • The Original Truth™ says:

          You don’t need to fire all of them, just the one at the top and hire a better manager. When things like this happen it’s not the workers fault who are just doing what they are told it’s the managers. The managers never get dumped in Bermy and things need to change in this regard.

          • nerema says:

            If the managers were allowed to manage perhaps you would have a point, but they aren’t. The workers have guaranteed jobs and there is no way of getting them to improve their job performance.

      • Pooh Bear says:

        Vote for Coffee as the next Premier!

    • Kathy says:

      Remember, the tourists pay more than we do to ride the buses so let’s not forget that!

      • princess says:

        Kathy no they do not there is one fee for the public period

  2. Izzypop says:

    My question is. What are the bus drivers who drive these buses doing
    They hv no bus to drive
    Are they still getting paid.

    • Onion Juice says:

      So if Fire Fighters are not putting out fires or Police Officers are not arresting anyone or Ambulance drivers not driving, do they still get paid ?
      Just asking !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      • fu says:

        no

        • Onion Juice says:

          Buuurrr.
          Wrong answer.

          • fu says:

            “Just asking !!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

            and I answered

            “Buuurrr.
            Wrong answer.”

            how do you know? Weren’t you ‘just asking’?

            OJ, you’re not intelligent enough to debate with adults. you prove this over and over again. We know that you are weak and have a frail ego, why punish yourself like this? It must be hard for you to be pummeled to death every day.

      • Ringmaster says:

        Here’s the issue. There is an incentive to let the buses become unusable so that the mechanics can then work overtime to fix what they should have done to get it back in service. See the problem? Don’t tell me that is not the case because I can guarantee it is because no one is accountable and if anyone tries to stop it the BIU will get involved.

        On another subject it took a couple of days to fix the Oleander. Lucky it didn’t break down in Bermuda or it would have taken weeks or months to fix.

        • really says:

          72-58 = 14….so 14 buses were fixed in 5 days !!!

          I think if the mechanics and whole service can do this as part of their normal course then we are in good hands.

          Keep it up and we will have a well maintained fleet in no time.

          Pride in putting those buses on the road, communication of a job well done and a passion for what you do is important.

          Keep it up team !

          • Double S says:

            Then why is the Government advertising overseas for a fleet manager?

          • BILLYBYE says:

            Amazing!!! surprise what gets done when everyone finds out someone is not doing there ob properly.

        • islandgal says:

          So fault of the guy who took the money for new buses & has never been seen or heard of again?

  3. drunken ursula says:

    so, hopefully a #3 bus will show up …

  4. cpm says:

    I see a number of buses in the process of driver training
    Why do we need more drivers for less buses-is the Government creating jobs?
    Just being logical

  5. Point boy says:

    We’re gonna hear about the trash trucks next. Pembroke West: put your trash out on Tuesday morning, then take bets when it’s gonna get collected. I lost, I said 11:30 late Tuesday night. It’s 5:45 on Wednesday evening, nothing!

    New truck’s? Or? Overtime?

    • Point boy says:

      Shall we talk about the Bus stop across from Church Bay? It’s coming on three months now. I went cross today counted 6 guys one huge cement mixer, one bucket of mortar and one man (working) with it

  6. Francis Gross says:

    Change the bus schedule. That is the issue

  7. Zevon says:

    It’s all got out of control the past few weeks. I wonder why.

    • Ringmaster says:

      It was never an issue before July 18. The buses and ferries worked smoothly, thanks to all those who were involved. Yet suddenly since then two thirds of the buses have broken down. Why?

      • princess says:

        Ringmaster People have been complaining about the buses for the past 2-3 years pay attention. Or you are just blissfully ignorant.

        • Zevon says:

          I can rememver them continually breaking down in 2010 and 2011. Huge crowds at the bus terminal waiting for cancelled buses. When they tried to fire the guy who was off sick while working somewhere else the union got him reinstated.

      • islandgal says:

        Let’s stick with the truth here. Buses have been down all year. I know I catch them daily. #3 bus has been missing in action daily around 2:15pm.

    • Coffee says:

      No money … Spent it on the various amazing and spectacular shows up at Cross Island in June / July .

      • Zevon says:

        Has the PLP stopped funding TCD then? They’ve been keeping that quiet.

      • really says:

        We recouped more than that already.

        Also remember much of that money was actually spent in Bermuda so went back into our economy.

        Don’t drink up the political rhetoric.

    • The Original Truth™ says:

      Get real! It’s been out of control for years and neither party has done anything to fix it. Both parties are to blame so don’t make it just a PLP thing. The problem with Bermuda’s government is too many ministers just trying to collect a paycheck and not doing their job. The ministers always use the excuse that it’s not their job it’s the departments. A CEO of a company is expected to keep the managers of the company’s departments in check and let them go if they are not working to their utmost. These ministers are our CEOs and we are the shareholders who should expect the ministers to either get it together or step down regardless of what government party is in and what we think of them. The reason it keeps going this way is that ministers are not held accountable so in the end it’s us the shareholder’s faults.

  8. MB says:

    Ok first
    1.WHY are the buses out of service and WHY can’t they be fixed?
    Either fix them or trash them but don’t say more than half island fleet of buses not running that makes no sense
    Who is working on these buses? One person? Well get more people and parts and just fix them.
    2. What have we done all summer…now school starts and we got not enough buses again
    Someone asleep at the wheel!!!!
    3. 1.2m for 4?
    For the love of God just order some buses…I figure 16 will do for now…5m…don’t even tell me no one can find that…

  9. sandgrownan says:

    Privatise.

    • Onion Juice says:

      Sorry, de Government that advocated that concept got voted out.
      LMAO

    • The Original Truth™ says:

      Do you even know what privatization really means or are you just another parrot repeating what they’ve heard?

      There isn’t a private bus company available that has the founds or enough buses to supply a service.

    • princess says:

      sandgrownan Privatization is equal to vulture capitalism

      • Double S says:

        Without private business/sector you couldn’t afford the big Government you so sorely need for some reason…

  10. dae says:

    spend spend spend just ask china for more

  11. Labour Vote says:

    PLP was supposed to fix stuff like this and that’s why so many people voted for them. Why not buy new buses then they wouldn’t break down.

    Get your n with it please!

  12. Yes sir says:

    Great new government

  13. bee says:

    where’s the $300k that was stolen?

  14. BILLYBYE says:

    This problem has been going on for at least the last 5 years, every year the same issues come up. Is it that HARD to see that someone or a few people at PTB are incompetent and need to be removed asap. All of a sudden within 5 days of the issue becoming public a miracle happens, 10 plus buses are fixed. I smell a Rat!

    The previous government talked about privatization because of s##t like this. I bet not one person on management is disciplined for there under performance and that needs to stop.

    Bermuda has varies private businesses with vehicle fleets and they have no issues keeping them running everyday all day because in the private sector your held to your task, if you cant handle it your got to go. Simple. Not government though, just show up and you get paid, performance doesn’t matter, rain, blow or shine, work or not they still get paid, AND IT’S NOT RIGHT.

    PLP need to change that broken system the government operates on.
    THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN, IT IS NOT SUSTAINABLE.

    Privatization would save the tax payers money and the people will get a better service out of it. WIN, WIN FOR ALL!!!!!