The Ministry of Transport last night reported that it was pleased with the initial custom on the Island's new fast ferry - reporting that 31 percent of the seats had been taken on a daily average.

Transport programme coordinator Larry Jacobs said between April 2, when Serenity came on line, and April 26 this year, 4,600 commuters travelled from the new Rockaway dock to Hamilton during the peak times.

And although that only averages out at a total of 255 passengers a day on the four Rockaway trips, he said, considering the service was new, the figure was healthy.

Mr. Jacobs said: "I think the number of people travelling on the Rockaway ferry is increasing all the time.

"There are a number of things you have to take into consideration when looking at the statistics. The 5.30 p.m. ferry from Hamilton maybe had 40-45 people on it during the first week of operation, but we are now up to 80, 90 and 100. It varies from day to day.

"When considering these statistics, you also have to take into consideration that some of the trips will be more popular than others. For example, the 6.30 p.m. ferry to Rockaway is not nearly as crowded as the 5.30 p.m.

"We are really pleased with the results. We think the number of passengers will keep on increasing."

The ferry can carry 205 passengers at any one time, giving a maximum 820 seats for the four trips every day. If every seat had been taken throughout the 18 days of commuter operation to April 26, some 14,760 passengers would have used the service.

But Mr. Jacobs said he expected the number of passengers to increase even more when the second fast ferry Resolute arrives at the end of this month, increasing the number of daily trips from and to Rockaway from four to eight.

He said: "We are doing a customer satisfaction survey this week, but I don't have the results in for that yet, however, the preliminary results show a very high level of satisfaction.

"Equally as important as the number of passengers is the degree of satisfaction, so overall we are very happy."

But last night, Shadow Transport Minister Erwin Adderley said he believed a 31 percent use of the ferry's capacity was not nearly as high as it should be.

He said: "The objective of the fast ferry system was to try to take a number of cars coming into Hamilton off the road. I don't think that has happened. If you go to the bottom of Crow Lane in the morning, the number of cars has not reduced there.

"There is no diminishing of the number of cars coming into Hamilton. While we may say that 31 percent of the capacity is being used, it is not having an impact on traffic."

And Mr. Adderley also criticised Government's spending of $15 million on alterations to the ferry docks to make them suitable for the new ferries, which are front-end loading, as opposed to the old ones which are side loading.

He added: "We have spent $15 million on improving these things for front-end loading because it's supposed to make it faster and more convenient, but we are still loading from the side (with the old ferries). We (United Bermuda Party) have never been opposed to fast ferries, but we did not think that adding the bells and whistles, such as front-loading ferries, was going to produce any additional results.

"If we were to spend an additional $15 million it would have been on housing or things for seniors. Bells and whistles is not where it's at."

Serenity provides two trips from Rockaway on weekdays at 7.25 a.m. and 8.25 a.m., with return commuter trips leaving Hamilton at 5.30 p.m. and 6.30 p.m.

However, when Resolute arrives on the Island, fast ferries will also be available at Rockaway at 7.55 a.m. and 8.55 a.m., with additional return journeys at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.

At other times of the day, Serenity has added additional trips from Hamilton to Dockyard, and when Resolute arrives, it will provide a Hamilton, Dockyard, St. George's route.

And once the ferries have been in use for six months, they will be assessed to see if a further two fast ferries should be ordered and brought to the Island.

The statistics produced by the Transport Ministry also showed that 1,300 people had used the new Rockaway minibus service since it was introduced, amount to about 28 percent of the passengers on the ferry.

It said an average of 70 percent of capacity was used up on the 6 p.m. minibus trip each day.