Computerised dispatching for taxis is on its way - but not as soon as hoped, said Gladwyn Bean, president of the Bermuda Central Dispatching Corporation (BCDC).

In June, shortly after the Senate vetoed a bill which would have forced the taxi industry to adopt the technology, Mr. Bean announced that the company would be up and running within three months.

Yesterday he said plans were going well but it would take a little while longer before take-off. "There are certain things that are still not in place," he said. "We are quietly going along and trying to get investors in place."

He added that the Senate decision slowed things down considerably but "the need was still there and we are going ahead to build a better mousetrap".

BCDC, poised to be first to market with computerised dispatching, scaled back its planned operation by half to three full time operators, a supervisor and a manager as a result of the Senate veto. Taxi drivers are free to subscribe to any dispatcher of their choice but they must have two-way radios installed.

The company is holding 10,000 of its 12,000 shares for taxi drivers, while another 2,000 are being reserved for dispatchers and private investors. But it remains to be seen whether large numbers of taxi drivers will voluntarily flock to computerisation as well as having to carry two way radios.

BCDC will be purchasing its system from Advanced Tech Solutions, a local company headed by George Scott. The system will not include the satellite-based tracking software, known as GPS, which allows the dispatcher to know the exact location of each car and is strongly resisted by taxi industry representatives.

BCDC's system will assign jobs to the first taxi in the zone required. The company is hoping to share premises with the taxi Coop in Hamilton and will have at least 150 taxis at start up.

Their initial focus will be serving local residents and the corporate community and not the high volume tourist market.