March 20, 2002

Dear Sir,

As a director of a Bermuda-based insurance company, I have been visiting Bermuda two, three or four times a year for the past 22 years. With modest exceptions, I have found your taxi service commendable and taxi drivers polite and interesting. I enjoyed the vigorous debate over whether vans should be allowed several years ago, and commend the authorities for their decision to allow them. It also seems to me that rates have more than doubled, perhaps tripled, in my experience.

Imagine my surprise when, last week, on a four-day visit, I found all of a dozen drivers completely united in their opposition to the idea that global positioning devices should be required, at their expense, in their cabs. I agreed with them entirely. After all, Bermuda's territory covers no more than 22 square miles, I think; and no Bermuda taxi driver needs the help of one of these gadgets to help him find an address.

If cab drivers must spend $2,000 of their money for GPS devices and pay licensing fees as well, then surely riders will be the ultimate payers of these fees.

Additionally, if government bureaucrats expect to exercise discipline through this measure, they are doomed to failure - human nature and taxi driver ingenuity being what they are. If government really is interested in improving cab service during those infrequent times when improvement is needed, I daresay enough regulations are already on the books to cause that to happen if they are enforced properly.

STEWART BRYAN

Richmond, Virginia