Shadow Transport Minister Lawrence Scott has called for immediate action to remedy issues with bus service, alleging that Transport Minister Shawn Crockwell had been “shirking responsibility.”

In a statement issued yesterday, Mr Scott said: “Minister Shawn Crockwell must make the time to ensure that locals and visitors are moved efficiently and in comfort. Yet in this regard, he is failing miserably.

“Mr Crockwell should simply stop deflecting responsibility and address the concerns of Bermudians and visitors regarding our public transportation system.

“This approach of shirking responsibility will not get the buses on the road, the air conditioning working and most importantly it will not provide our visitors with a positive experience on our island.”

He stated that the public were “looking for the truth” about several issues concerning the bus service, such as extended waits at Dockyard, the number of vehicles undergoing maintenance and the number of vehicles with faulty air conditioning or no air conditioning at all.

“We suggest that there be an immediate re-evaluation of the maintenance schedule and that issues surrounding the air conditioners be rectified,” Mr Scott added.

The bus service has come under repeated fire in recent weeks due to complaints of long waits in Dockyard, sparked after a new minibus system was implemented.

However both Government and the West End Development Corporation (Wedco) have since said the issues have been ironed out.

A Ministry of Transport spokeswoman said earlier this week that vehicles had been added to the regular West End route to help improve service.

“Ideally, we want to only have four buses available to assist with transportation from Dockyard,” she said. “As a result of the recent challenges we have put on standby five buses, and once things are running smoothly on a consistent basis we will reduce that number to four. We will continue to monitor this situation with a view to improving the transportation for our tourist and residents.”