A free late-night bus service aimed at reducing the number of people drinking and driving is to be re-launched.

The Centre for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention (CADA), today announced the continuation of its successful ‘Let Us Drive’ initiative.

The service, starting on Friday, is sponsored by Bacardi Limited and will run every Friday night for four months with extra nights added during Christmas and New Year's Eve. It is a free service, aimed at reducing the amount of drinking and driving in Bermuda.

The programme was first introduced in May by CADA with Bacardi's support, and is now being reintroduced with a new feature - a free taxi service.

“We are happy to provide this essential, potentially life-saving service to people who have been out late at night and need an alternative to driving. While the logistics of the service are essentially the same as they were when we introduced it earlier this year, there have been some positive additions.

“We will be working closely with the Bermuda Taxi Association (BTA) and local taxi companies. We are pleased to have their support,” said CADA Chairman Anthony Santucci.

Bermuda Taxi Association 1st Vice-President, Albert James added: “The Bermuda Taxi Association supports this meaningful and worthwhile venture, and look forward to working with CADA and Bacardi on this initiative.”

The service will be available every Friday night and it will operate between 3.15 a.m. and 3.45 a.m. A CADA representative will be stationed at the taxi stand outside Butterfield Bank on Front Street to work with participating taxi drivers providing vouchers making the journey home free to passengers. Taxi drivers will receive one voucher per passenger and may take more than one passenger at a time.

Once the taxi voucher system ends at 3.45 a.m. there will be two free minibuses available from outside Café Cairo on Front Street. These minibuses will take each passenger to their home, or as close as possible, with one travelling east and the other west.

Each minibus will have a security officer on board to provide assistance to the patrons and driver, as needed.