Yesterday's mid-morning meeting of bus operators which left passengers waiting in the rain ended with drivers opting to continue their boycott of the Front Street ferry stop.

The stop was designed to integrate bus and ferry travel but has been ignored by most drivers since its inception early last year because they say it is dangerous.

The issue sparked a two-hour bus strike in January. Government made it bigger and put in extra signs but drivers say the stop puts bike riders in danger as they pull out of number one shed car park.

On Thursday Bermuda Industrial Union leader Derrick Burgess said that Police had agreed with the union.

He said: "It is not going to be an exit. They are going to change it." However drivers voted to reject this solution at a meeting which began at 10 a.m. yesterday. Scheduled to last for one hour it finished around noon.

Assistant Public Transport Board Director (PTB) Stephen Outerbridge said he had not been told why drivers rejected the move. He said: "I have just spoken with (BIU Vice President) Chris Furbert, they have not accepted it. I don't know what the next stage is. He's going back to the labour relations.

"We are waiting to hear from the labour relations officer."

Mr. Outerbridge said he was disappointed for Bermuda but there was a process in place to help solve the dispute.

He said he didn't have details about the proposed change to traffic as it was being handled by Director Dan Simmons who is currently off the Island.

Yesterday one wet and angry passenger rang The Royal Gazette on his mobile at around 11.30 a.m. to complain about the lack of buses as he waited in the rain on Middle Road, Warwick.

He said: "I have been waiting for an hour and a half. There's a guy on the other side who has been waiting just as long on a day like today.

"It's the last time they should be able to play with the public. I am fuming. Why should I have to wait because these guys can't sort out their internal problems and hold a meeting that doesn't inconvenience the public?

"They are public employees, they should do it outside office hours. I have got an umbrella and waterproof trousers yet I am wet, wet, wet."

Mr. Outerbridge said PTB and the Transport were sorry for the inconvenience caused to passengers.