And Public Transportation Board director Herman Basden said the rust-proof, air-conditioned vehicles could not have come at a better time.

The buses have been used to transport delegates from some 50 countries and their spouses, who are in Bermuda for the annual Commonwealth Finance Ministers Conference at Southampton Princess, to social gatherings throughout the Island.

So far, Mr. Basden said, the buses have been running smoothly.

"We're heading in the right direction,'' Mr. Basden added. "We're slowly getting back to where we should be.'' However, he said it was too early to gauge the impact the new buses have had on the public transportation service.

Many of PTB's buses date back to the mid-1970s.

When Government did not set aside funds for the purchase of new buses in the 1995 budget, PTB and the community began to feel the effects of the aging 106-strong bus fleet.

Parents often complained about children left stranded or forced to walk to the Hamilton bus terminal in the rain when buses broke down and failed to show up at schools.

The situation reached a crisis point in March this year when more than 46 buses were taken off the road for repairs, leaving passengers stranded throughout the Island and PTB left to juggle the dwindling number of working buses during peak hours.

The first six of 20 new buses, which cost about $250,000 each and have stainless steel rust-proof bodies, arrived in Bermuda in July.