will be heard with the arrival of the new fleet of vessels.

West End passengers have banded together to gauge opinion on the current programme and their views are set to be heard at a meeting of transport officials.

Top of the wish list will be a later summer ferry and an extra service at 5.20 p.m. to lessen the overcrowding when the tourist season is in full swing.

Tonight, commuters will meet to discuss their views and organiser Karen Skiffington-Simpson will take the consensus to the next meeting of the Somerset Replacement Ferries committee.

The group also has an eye on the scheduled introduction of the $8 million new fleet.

Four $2 million catamarans are due to come into service in 2001 and Transport Minister Ewart Brown has made it clear that input from the public will be sought.

He has stated that the whole system will be revamped to run when passengers want to travel, not for the convenience of the department or the staff.

Docks, new stops, as well as direct and local services also form part of the plans, which will interact with other forms of transportation.

"We want to give everybody the chance to have a say,'' said Ms Skiffington-Simpson.

"If the initiative is to get people off the roads, then you have to offer an alternative.'' She said a later than the usual 6 p.m. service is needed during the summer and with more stops.

And an extra tender is also required to take many of the cruise ship passengers off the normal 5.20 p.m. service.

And with regard to the anticipated new catamarans, she said there was a need to re-time ferries, bring in later services and extra routes from the West End.

She said many executives would travel on the water if they knew there were services that returned later than 5.20 p.m., which she said was incompatible with the modern working day.

And the buses were not convenient for many people who lived close to ferry stops that were not served by the route. In addition some services were overcrowded during the summer period.

The meeting takes place on the 5.20 p.m. Hamilton to Dockyard service tonight.