MPs have passed Premier Ewart Brown's Minibus Bill which brings increased competition into the country's transportation industry — a move that benefits the public according to Dr. Brown.

"We want service for our customers and our customers are Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda," Dr. Brown, who is also Transport Minister, told members in the House of Assembly yesterday.

He said: "We promote competition. That is one difference in the way this Government approaches it and the way the former Government approaches it. We are not afraid of competition."

Dr. Brown drew parallels with the move to bring JetBlue to Bermuda. He said the introduction of that airline competitor ultimately drove down the cost of airfare and increased the number of travellers.

He told House members yesterday: "The winner, Mr. Speaker, is the consumer."

The Premier and several members of his party also pointed out the minibuses will fill gaps in the public transport system when buses and taxis are not available.

"This is about getting ground transport to the hills and dales of Bermuda," said Progressive Labour Party MP Michael Scott.

The new legislation, however, will not only service Bermudians.

It allows minibus drivers to directly compete with taxi drivers for the corner they have in the tourism market. The law permits minibuses to take people to and from the airport, for example.

Opposition Party Whip John Barritt voiced concern that the Bill erodes an important relationship between taxi drivers and tourists.

Mr. Barritt said: "They'll always be ambassadors. We need to treat those ladies and gentlemen who drive taxis with respect."

Opposition MP David Dodwell said taxi drivers saw minibuses as a threat to their livelihood and some had even questioned whether they were part of the future after complaining about the lack of consultation over the minibus law.

He said he had been told taxi drivers had been promised a five percent fare increase which had not materialised and cabbies needed financial concessions via payroll tax relief and fuel relief.

He asked: "How many minibuses do we have now and how many minibuses will be allowed? Is there a maximum?"

Calling for a national review of transport he said buy-in was needed from taxi-drivers who felt shut out.

The Premier replied: "It is normal and customary that the Opposition would be less informed than the Government."

Dr. Brown said his Government's relationship with the Bermuda Taxi Association is a very positive and productive one, but because of a recent change in leadership at the BTA, the two sides would not meet again until Tuesday.

He also pointed out: "It was the taxi industry that called out for regulation of the minibus business. Until now the minibus service has been almost unregulated."

Opposition leader Wayne Furbert said an impact study should have been done to find out the likely fall-out for taxi drivers and their families.

He said there were around 3,000 drivers so the bill could potentially affect a lot of people.

Mr. Furbert called for a broadening of shared ride scheme which operates from the airport to allow taxi drivers to make more people during slow periods by operating in a similar way to minibuses.

Even a relaxation of the shared ride rules between November and March would be a start argued Mr. Furbert.

His fellow party member, Dr. Grant Gibbons, said he worries Dr. Brown's minibus idea would follow the same direction as the global positioning systems for taxi drivers.

"GPS hasn't solved the problem," he said when talking about taxi shortfalls at the airport. When you come to the minibuses, you'll have a lot of frustrated people if this hasn't been thought out."

The law requires a $5,000 fee for minibus permits, renewable on an annual basis. And those permits will not be transferable.

Opposition Finance spokeswoman Patricia Gordon-Pamplin said the legislation does not create a level playing field as taxi drivers paid $100,000 for a permit while the minibus licences were going for $5,000.

PLP MP Walter Lister from Sandys and UBP MP Suzanne Roberts-Holshouser of St. David's both pointed out that the minibus services in their districts are working well.

Although the latter is critical that the west end minibus operators receive Government subsidies, but counterparts in the east do not.

Labour and Immigration Minister Derrick Burgess said the reason why the Premier had brought the Bill was because there was a problem for both tourists and residents in getting the service they needed.

He said in the tourist heyday of the 1960s and 1970s there were far more hotel beds and fewer taxis but the service was better.

And if minibuses helped the system fewer people would want to use cars said Mr. Burgess — something which could help with traffic congestion.

Premier Brown said there are ten minibuses operating now and six applications are under consideration.

The permits already issued will be honoured under the new law, but permit holders will have to pay the new fee.

At the time of the Bill's debate the Transport Minister was unsure how many permits would ultimately be issued, but promised the number would not exceed what's most effective for Bermuda.

The Public Service Licensing Board will meet to set rates for the minibus industry.

Government MP Ashfield DeVent said tough measures were needed on traffic.

"I would have thought single people coming on contract don't necessarily need a car."

On the accusations of a lack of consultation he said this was normally levelled when people didn't agree with the conclusions, even if there had been plenty of meetings.

He taxi drivers had to get used to the idea of competition just as the rest of Bermuda was expected to.

But he said some drivers were hostile to their customers. "Tourists come back from the beach to get a taxi and it's 'You have sand on your shoes, you are not getting into my taxi!'."

That attitude showed the materialistic way some drivers viewed their vehicles rather than seeing it as a working vehicle, said Mr. DeVent, a former cabbie who comes from a family of taxi drivers.