A Bermudian now resident in Canada has called for a course in public relations for bus operators, charging that “every year I come home, I find the bus service getting worse”.

Ilona Smith told

The Royal Gazette that a woman driver shouted at her daughter to get off the bus, refused to provide a transfer, and cursed at her when she tried to intervene.

The incident took place on the afternoon of August 30, she said, as the two boarded a bus for St George's at the Hamilton bus terminal.

“I travelled on the buses quite a bit when I was in Bermuda and I found some of the operators miserable and rude,” Ms Smith said.

“I pray that their superiors have some sort of course for the operators because they are dealing with the public on a regular basis and they as operators should know how to deal with the public. They do not own the buses; they are only operators.”

Ms Smith said her daughter, a cousin of the driver, “had words” with the driver the weekend before, and said “Whatever” as she boarded the bus and deposited her tickets.

After the driver “shouted at the top of her lungs” to order them off, Ms Smith said, she told the driver she was “out of order, and she told me 'F**k you'.”

According to Ms Smith, they asked a supervisor for help, and were told they could get a transfer from another driver.

She said the supervisor attempted to speak with the bus operator, who drove away.

Ms Smith, who lives in Toronto, said she made a complaint to the Public Transportation the next day, but has not heard back.

“I think that this matter has to be addressed,” she said.

“The bus operators in Bermuda get away with too much. They are going downhill very fast and something needs to be done.”

The Ministry of Transport said it could not comment on matters involving employees.