do we do now with the ferry service? We constantly cut the schedules and put the price of ferry tickets up. That makes no sense to those people who now use the ferries and it makes no sense if we want to attract greater usage of the ferries. We should be working to make ferry travel more convenient.

As an example, right now the last ferry of the day leaves Hamilton for Somerset at 5.15 p.m. If you work in Hamilton until 5 p.m. you have to run to get home. But the real truth is that fewer and fewer people stop work these days at 5 p.m. The retail shops are staying open later and later and many international businesses match their time to the time on the United States East Coast where they do business and that means they have to be operating until at least 6 p.m. The last ferry leaves for Somerset at 5.15.

We have to wonder what the thinking is behind this departure time. Certainly it is not designed for workers and would hardly seem to be very convenient for visitors staying at the West End. Surely 5.15, 5.45 and 6.30 would make better sense if we wish to encourage heavy usage.

The very nature of public transportation is that it should serve the public.

Right now the poor ferry service virtually forces people to take to the roads.

Remember that the roads to the West End are the most difficult and the most crowded.

It might be suggested that Government does not really want to run a ferry service and is making it so inconvenient that the service will fail. For reasons which we do not understand there is a kind of benign neglect of the ferries. Yes, we have ferry service but it is not really important and we are not going to put much effort into it. Perhaps the cost of running the ferries is a factor but then it costs a great deal to keep the road systems going.

If the ferries were convenient and sensibly priced they might well attract a good many more users. In any case, we think that part of the ferry usage problem is a lack of promotion.

More ferry stops may be required to make the system pay. We will surely need a ferry stop at Morgan's Point once that scheme progresses. Perhaps express ferries to Dockyard and to Watford Bridge during rush hours would attract users.

Maybe the ferries themselves are not the best we could have and if we are serious about water transportation we should look at the kind of ferry we really need.

We see no reason why the ferries could not be used during the day for visitor sightseeing around the harbour and the Great Sound. Stock the bars and let the visitors have a drink ... let yourself go. Bermuda is at its very best from the water.