Transport Minister Ewart Brown has proposed a slew of measures to tackle traffic congestion including running late ferries and allowing limousine buses to do school runs.

But the traditional right for householders with an assessment is under threat with Government looking to crack down on those who bend the rules.

Also proposed are incentives for businesses to get employees on public transport and a pledge to expand all bus routes until late at night.

Bermuda?s problems with increasing traffic were highlighted in a recent series in with Bermuda now struggling to cope with 1,000 cars per square mile.

Dr. Brown told this paper: ?I am truly happy the traffic congestion issue has become the subject of public debate.

?Five years ago when we as a Ministry expressed concern there were people, including some of my colleagues who felt that ?It wasn?t that bad?.?

?But through our national transportation management report we identified that more than 80 percent of the assessment numbers had already been used.

?We thought that was an alarming indicator so we now find ourselves prepared to recommend some steps.?

He said there was a list of possible measures, including reviewing the traditional system of guaranteeing those with an assessment number the right to have a car.

?We think that might have run its course and we may have to go to another format,? Dr. Brown said.

?We don?t know what it is going to be but we are looking at something that will be more restrictive.?

Restrictions on contract workers having cars was a possibility, said Dr. Brown. ?No decision has been reached but it is on the table. We have to consider all of the methods of traffic reduction.?

He denied the approach would put off expatriate workers from coming and he said family circumstance might be looked at.

Some families have two cars by having two assessment numbers and keeping one unit empty, said Dr. Brown.

?It is not cheating, according to the current law, but it is not what the law intended. That is exactly the kind of scenario which drove us to this review which we are going to do in the first quarter.?

A task force will be created to manage the supply of cars and trucks. ?We are looking to expand the late night public bus service to operate on 15-minute schedules.

?That?s always been an objective of the Ministry ? we have said before we would like to throw away the bus schedule and have it such that wherever you are in Bermuda you know you can get a bus at least every 15 minutes.

?That would encourage people to use public transportation and may be a disincentive for the use of private cars.?

He said the cost implications were being worked on now but were not as high as expected. ?We are encouraged.?

Tied in to that is the completion of the bus terminal this summer, said Dr. Brown, with passengers enjoying a more comfortable environment and drivers having easier access.

The latest two new ferries will offer high speed service to Cavello Bay and Watford Bridge in the Spring, said Dr. Brown, while the schedule to the West end is set to run later.

?Some people use cars because, by the time they have finished their business, it is too late.

?Again, we are expanding the service of public transportation and hoping to catch more people.?

He also hopes Cabinet will grant an additional ferry for the east for 2006.

The Ministry is to work closely with large employers to encourage more use of public transport, said Dr. Brown.

?We will be going out the banks and exempt companies, the larger employers and giving them incentive packages they can give to their employees and have them choose public transportation over the car.

?We might give a large employer a major discount on already inexpensive bus and ferry passes, to the point where we are almost giving them away, trying to create the mindset where the bus and ferry are reasonable alternatives for many people.?

Legislation in the Spring will allow limousine buses to be used for school runs.

He said companies had already expressed an interest. ?Their limousines buses have rather restricted use and they sit parked for much of the day.? he said.

?It will be a great use of vehicles already in existence.?

He said the Ministry was seriously looking at cracking down on the second-hand car market which has grown hugely.

?People are buying cars and then, within a year or two, selling them.

?We are looking at going back to the practice of not allowing cars to be replaced for a certain number of years ? seven years.

?It?s a problem because the proliferation of vehicles is made worse when you have the option of getting rid of your car early. So, the second hand car market sort of makes a vehicle available for sale which wouldn?t be available if the owner had to hold on to it.

?It?s not aimed at price, but if that?s a factor then it?s fine with us. It?s really aimed at solving a unique problem in a unique environment.

?If you go back to the history of it, our forefathers had it right when they said one car per household. Even then they didn?t anticipate that would expand into more than 30,000 cars.?

Dr. Brown conceded reasonably new second-hand cars were good for a working family but only in a place with unlimited space and roads.

?Transportation in Bermuda cannot be modelled after too many other places,? he said.

?We have 150 miles of road, not much room for more and we have a relatively affluent population who can afford cars.

?Either we are going to have bumper to bumper every morning,, and the population is willing to live with that, or we are going to consider that unacceptable and we are going to take steps that, although restrictive, result in a better quality of life.?