Some horse-and-carriage drivers are figuratively taking visitors for a ride, according to sources in the industry.

And Transport Minister Wayne Furbert has vowed to pull the reins on such alleged practices.

Despite specific Transport Control Department guidelines that carriage drivers display their rate cards and inform visitors that they are entitled to a half-hour ride for $20, The Royal Gazette has received complaints that some drivers have been cutting the ride short by as much as 15 minutes.

A source told The Royal Gazette some of the drivers would take visitors for a 15 or 20 minute ride -- making twice as much money as their honest counterparts.

The source added that the dishonest drivers did not have the rate cards posted in their carriages, as required by law.

One of the honest drivers, who asked to remain nameless, said he has complained to the TCD for more than a year about "rip-off'' drivers to no avail.

But Mr. Furbert yesterday told The Royal Gazette that he had already asked traffic officers to investigate and conduct some "nighttime surveillance work''.

He said such dishonest practices were "unacceptable''. And he stressed that any carriage drivers caught cutting carriage rides short will have their licences pulled immediately.

Acting TCD director David Johnson added that although they had received reports of dishonest drivers, "nothing has been proven thus far''.

And two reporters from The Royal Gazette , who posed as American visitors during the past four weeks, discovered little horsing around in the carriage driver industry after four separate carriage rides.

In fact, they noted that the main things visitors were being deprived of were scenic routes and informative conversation.

All of the drivers followed basically the same route: From Front Street following Richmond Road onto Serpentine Road, then to Par-la-Ville Road and back to Front Street.

On the first ride, when asked how much the ride cost, the carriage rider responded "$20 for a ride'' without indicating the length of the ride.

The carriage driver cut the ride short by about five or six minutes, and offered no commentary about the sights.

Two questions -- "where are you guys from?'' and "is this your first time to Bermuda?'' -- was the extent of her conversation.

On the second ride, which was also cut short by about five minutes, the female driver remained silent throughout the entire ride, forcing the reporters to concentrate on the monotonous office blocks on Par-la-Ville Road and industrial pathways of Serpentine Road.

During a third ride, the driver was friendlier than the other two, but gave no information about Bermuda or the sights passed on the route.

But the fourth and final driver asked plenty of questions and pointed out different sights, including offices of some of the biggest international companies based in Bermuda and the various types of vegetation.

Rather than cutting the ride short, he actually extended the ride by about five minutes.

PROBE -- Transport Minister Wayne Furbert TRANSPORTATION TRA