Bermuda's public bus system will offer the "most service ever'', beginning this September.

Public Transportation Board director Herman Basden this week revealed to The Royal Gazette that a minimum of five new air conditioned public buses were expected to roll onto the Island's roads in August.

And Mr. Basden said Government has worked out a plan to provide at least five new buses, priced at roughly $250,000 each, every year until most of PTB's ageing fleet of 106 buses has been replaced.

The new buses and a new bus schedule, which will be implemented in September, will allow PTB to keep up with demand.

Mr. Basden last month admitted that the bus system was being stretched to the limit and creating a problem, particularly for those coming out of the East and West Ends.

He attributed the problem to the cruise ship season, an increase in taxi fares, a limited ferry service and popular bus passes for visitors.

"The demand by tourists who use our service is prolific,'' Mr. Basden said.

"And the demand for our passes has gone up some 400 percent since 1993. That does not mean that there is a 400 percent demand in passengers. It means that they demand more passes because of the convenience.

"People are finding the bus services far more convenient and this is generating other demands.'' But he added: "Now that school is out there has been a movement toward using those bus drivers that we now have available to us who would otherwise be at the schools to increase the services coming from the West End area and East End area.'' PTB has also completed the new bus schedule.

"By the time the September schedule comes into being, we will have taken delivery of five new buses,'' Mr. Basden said. "That means we can continue this small expansion that I believe will have great effect out there with the public.

"And we would have put in place a system that would hopefully, if not the first time around, very shortly thereafter, take care of demands for the new CedarBridge school.'' The new schedule makes provision for the new school at Prospect and the demand for buses from both ends of the Island, particularly during the cruise ship season.

"We have got the frequency that is coming out better balanced,'' Mr. Basden said. "Sometimes you have the same amount of buses, but not everybody moves at the same time.

"For example, we've taken into consideration the loads that are coming out of the East and West Ends. We've better balanced out the load. So there will be an overall improvement.

"And we have increased the number of vehicles we need for taking care of the newer schools (St. George's Secondary and CedarBridge).'' Mr. Basden said the Island's public bus system would never find itself in the crisis situation it did last year.

PTB to buy buses With many of PTB's buses dating back to the mid-1970s, more than 46 buses were taken off the road in March last year for repairs, leaving passengers stranded throughout the Island.

Twenty new air conditioned buses arrived from Germany later that summer. "I believe that where we are now, everybody understands that we can't go around running with 18 or 20-year-old buses,'' Mr. Basden said yesterday. "We were trying to stretch it too much.

"Now we are in a position that at least we will get five new buses a year.

And we believe that will keep us moving along in a progressive way and dealing with these demands.'' Mr. Basden added that he believed the changes would provide "a steady, but positive improvement in the service over time''.

"We have never had so much service on the roads of Bermuda from public transportation buses,'' he added.

Herman Basden