February 24, 2014

Dear Sir,

Those who are calling for Bermuda’s ferries to be privatised should be prepared for a few changes if you really want your wish.

* No more “FREE” transportation for seniors/special persons cardholders, this perk will go missing when you introduce a more profit based business model.

* No more “FREE” transportation for school students. Students might enjoy “cheaper” fares but will definitely not be free.

* Slower speeds of ferries. The fast ferries are modern & efficient but as we all know “faster costs more money”.

* Less profitable routes will be axed. With no government control to say what routes they (the BDA government) want run, even if they are more community based (being good for the locals, but bad for profit) are sure to be cut by a private company.

* Much higher fares. The ferry system is heavily subsidised. If you think $4 dollars a passenger is going to pay the associated costs of a fast ferry. Purchase of ferry itself, staffing, maintenance, administration, Parts, and one of the biggest cost that comes with running a service, fuel. This is all before we start to talk about the company’s main objective, profit.

* The public does not have any control or oversight of private companies. Think of Belco on the water. How they can increase fares like how Belco raises your bill with a fuel surcharge and you can’t do anything about it no matter how much you grumble.

* Job losses. Due to the additional financial burden placed on privatised companies to succeed without any government help, unlike the public companies, jobs could be lost to keep more money in the company.

* Privatisation may decrease safety due to greater profit incentives.

For more cases where privatisation of public transportation didn’t work turn to the internet.

C-Xpress