It's hard to find fault with the majority of Bda's bus drivers

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2: Our bus was pulling into one of the main stops on Front Street. “Is this Horseshoe Bay?” a tourist asked the driver. Some of us looked at each other thinking “He must be kidding right?”

Replying “No Sir” without a trace of irritation or bemusement, the driver told the man to stay on the bus and he’d explain how to get to the famous Horseshoe Bay. One happy customer and just another example of good ambassador Bermuda bus drivers.

Okay, we’ve had the recent bus strike. People were left stranded, angry and for a while it seemed bus drivers were public enemy number one. The dispute, which took Bermuda’s buses off the road for the best part of a week, has gone to arbitration leaving many people asking why this couldn’t have happened in the first place.

Whatever the outcome, we shouldn’t forget that for the most part the men and women who drive the trademark pink buses do a great job.

It may be luck on my part but so far it has been hard to find much fault with the vast majority of drivers. So there might be the odd bad apple — they are there in every job — and if you happen to get one of those you’re going to leave with a nasty taste in your mouth. 

What does need radical improvement is the supply and demand of bus services especially during those visitor cruise ship spikes. Commuters and visitors are packed in like tinned sardines as drivers, no doubt trying to be helpful, sometimes allow more standing passengers than they should do.

It’s a test of agility and speed to get off the rear seats of a bus when you have a load of upright passengers. Getting up close and personal with complete strangers isn’t recommended especially if they have a back pack or are trailing sandy beach towels. 

Understandably, both visitors and locals get irritated when they have to endure hot and squashed conditions — that’s assuming they can even get on the bus in the first place. There has to be a solution as we know when the cruise ships come and go. Hello — surely a cue to creative thinking and planning ahead?

Additional ‘maxis’, (mini bus style taxis), which run alongside buses might be one answer. Whatever, there needs to be a distinct improvement as there have been some hacked off looking visitors who really don’t see the up side of hanging on to Bermuda bus rails for dear life let alone locals who need to get from A to B preferably in a sitting position.

So, back to our rocking bus drivers. They are doing their best and often go beyond the call of duty. They need and deserve both good representation and management. The recent strike action hasn’t done any favours with the paying customers but as a quote attributed to Mahatma Gandhi says: “Honest disagreement is often a sign of progress”. So let’s hope all sides learn something and move on towards providing an even better service.

Oh, and one more thing. Some of those bus stop poles are getting a bit raggedy or are virtually hidden by overgrowing foliage. How about a bit of much needed pink and blue pole maintenance so that the stops stand out a bit more and look more presentable? One on Middle Road stands 7 inches from the ground.

After all we’re not talking mega bucks even in these cash strapped times and neat says upbeat.

Maggie Fogarty is a Royal Television Society award winning TV producer and journalist currently living in Bermuda.