It has taken about ten years of talking but transport and union bosses still can’t reach an agreement on the new bus timetable.Transport Minister Terry Lister has announced that the decade-long dispute will now have to be settled by independent arbitration. The main “stumbling block” is said to be the loss of weekends off for bus drivers on West End routes.The Department of Public Transportation (DPT) and the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) will now have to accept the decision of independent judges.It is being called “an issue of good human relations” after bosses failed to thrash out changes to the bus timetable.The timetable, which should be changed every two to three years, has not been revamped since 1998. A consultant who “has worked on bus timetables in different parts of the world” has been called upon for assistance since 2002.But bus drivers say the proposed changes would leave them with only two to four weekends off a year instead of the 12-16 weekends they currently have.Mr Lister said they were aiming for “fairness and equality for all drivers”.He said: “Despite much progress being made there are a few points on which, after some time, the Ministry and the BIU have agreed to disagree.“Despite numerous meetings, we have been unable to reach a mutually agreeable solution to finally get this new schedule in place.“Arbitration is the best way forward as both sides are compelled to accept the ruling of the arbitration panel and we will finally be able to move forward with a modernised, more efficient and cost effective bus schedule.”BIU President Mr Furbert said there were “a few points” they could agree on but the increase in weekends worked would be “major shift” for bus drivers.He agreed a timetable rethink was needed because the current schedule did not take into account school runs.Mr Furbert said: “We are trying to make sure (the new bus timetable) is acceptable to all workers. We have agreed to send it to arbitration to get a result.”Mr Furbert added that bus drivers were also concerned about cuts to overtime. He stressed that overtime was “an extra benefit and not guaranteed” but he said it should be distributed fairly.Mr Lister added: “It’s an issue of good human relations. Workers can butt heads and have an unpleasant work environment, but we don’t want that to continue.“We are sending it to arbitration so that both sides get along and do their job and work in a cordial manner.”At the start of last month Mr Lister told The Royal Gazette about a major overhaul of the bus timetable, warning that not everyone would like it. He said they were looking at changing the frequency of services depending on how many people used them, as the DPT budget had been slashed by $1.3 million.New services have been added since 1998 and modifications made, but the entire timetable has not been revamped.Changes being proposed include more buses going to the Cedar Hill area of Warwick. Buses which stop at Barnes Corner will go on to Dockyard and those currently stopping at Grotto Bay will go on to St. George’s.Mr Lister stressed that they hadn’t lost sight of the needs of bus passengers, who he called “Mr and Mrs Bermuda”.However, he said the public had to take into consideration that buses were busy at rush-hour but “relatively light” between 10am and 3pm.Transport and union bosses will both put their sides across at the arbitration with Mr Lister saying he hopes for the outcome to be “better bussing in Bermuda”.It is not yet known if the arbitration will take the form of a panel or an individual arbitrator. However, it is expected to be resolved this summer, possibly as quickly as two or three weeks.Mr Lister said: “We’re hoping things will happen fairly soon. The intent is to get it done.”The struggles of Bermuda’s bus service have hit the international headlines in recent weeks, with both tourists and locals voicing their concerns about the lack of buses, especially from Dockyard.But Mr Lister told yesterday’s press conference that there was “no pressure on Dockyard” as cruise ship passengers easily boarded buses and “enjoyed six magic hours of Bermuda”. Mr Lister said cruise ship companies would then send him messages about “a wonderful day they’ve had”.Raising his voice, Mr Lister angrily said: “I’m very, very annoyed … All of the stories in the newspapers and in the press is the worst thing ever. I’m sick of it.“I’d invite all members of the media to go up there and see what is taking place.”Mr Lister said he was also fed up of “people running their mouths” about transport issues in the press, but not saying anything to him directly.