The Public Transportation Board (PTB) is planning to install a new computer system in a drive to make the current bus schedule more flexible.

PTB Director Dan Simmons said it took more than a year to produce the last schedule and, due to the rules of the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU), it cannot meet changes and demands quickly.

"PTB is what we call demand responsive," Mr. Simmons said. "But it can't be terribly demand responsive if it takes six to eight to 12 months by hand to change a schedule. It is a year late."

Mr. Simmons said the current schedule was written out by hand and took about one year to finish.

The current bus schedule consists of more than 4,000 trips per week and was last updated in 1998.

Under a PTB agreement with the BIU, the 137 bus drivers must work a minimum of 37.5 hours per week following109 bus rosters.

"The union agreement specifies that the order of the rosters are picked by seniority," Mr. Simmons said.

Drivers with the greatest time served always get the first pick of the rosters and new staff get the last pick and might have to work more weekends and evenings, he said.

Now PTB is planning to implement the Master Scheduler computer program which will end the practice of writing out rosters by hand.

The program will also enable the PTB to adjust schedules according to demand.

"Once we have the basic schedule in the computer, we can do 'what if' scenarios," Mr. Simmons said.

"For example, I happen to know that a large cruise ship is going to be docking in Dockyard next summer for at least six months. The service we have now is for a small ship ? we can change our schedule in a couple of days. It will be more efficient."

The PTB is looking to hire a "run cutter" to run the software program.

The "run cutter" will balance the amount of overtime the bus drivers earn with the minimum amount of hours and will meet changes in demand for buses as well.

The new software will also be able add and subtract the amount of time it takes to get through traffic at certain times of the day.

"The old system said it took one hour and 50 minutes to get from Dockyard to Hamilton. The new system knows that it may take two hours at 8 a.m. but only one hour and 20 minutes at 11 a.m.," Mr. Simmons said.

"The run cutter will be the expert who will look at all of the bits of the processes: the rosters, the union, the schedule and say how to do it more efficiently and effectively. It's a tough job but it's doable."