Passengers are said to be reaping the benefits of “a much-needed transformation” of Bermuda’s public transport system.The Ministry of Transport is being praised for “turning things around” for passengers who had previously expressed frustration with bus and ferry timetable cuts.Locals and tourists are now said to be happy with the frequency of the Island’s public transport, even when cruise ships are docked in the West End.The good news comes after The Royal Gazette published numerous stories about timetable cuts and cancellation lists, a staff overtime ban and lengthy waits encountered by cruise ship passengers when they arrived at Dockyard.Cruise ship bosses say they have not had any complaints over the last few weeks. Government’s website also reports there have not been any cancellations of buses for about a week.Businessman Henry Hayward, who is Bermuda’s representative for cruise ship companies, said: “What we are seeing now is a completely different story.“We monitor things on a daily basis and the last few weeks have been a completely different experience for passengers.“There are still lines but the buses and ferries are there and waiting so we aren’t getting the complaints we were a month ago.“Things are running so much better as everything’s improved very quickly. We now don’t get any complaints.”The widespread public transport problems began on April 1 when the bus service had its budget reduced by $1.3 million and the ferry service suffered a $2.3 million cut.The biggest problems were in Dockyard when two large cruise ships arrived at about the same time as there weren’t enough buses and ferries available to transport passengers to Hamilton and Horseshoe Bay. It also meant full buses were driving straight past locals waiting on bus stops on South Shore and Middle Roads.Transport Minister Terry Lister announced that a dispatcher would be “controlling tourist numbers” at Dockyard to save seats for locals on buses.USA Today and the Cruise Critic website then picked up on our story and threw it into the international limelight. This prompted an angry backlash from tourists threatening to stop visiting the Island and take their money elsewhere.Tourists and locals also suffered the inconvenience of transport problems when they were waiting for up to two hours to get out of Dockyard after the annual End-to-End fundraiser.Mr Hayward, who is a former mayor of St George and former UBP MP, is pleased the situation has changed for the better.He said: “People really weren’t happy before, there were lots of complaints coming in.“There were a couple of hundred people waiting in line and confrontations were actually taking place between passengers.“As a destination we just couldn’t have that as the bad publicity was spreading.“But people’s concerns have been met as there are now buses and ferries waiting for passengers. Changes have been made and it’s a much-needed transformation.”Mr Hayward added: “This couldn’t have come at a better time as we are trying to promote Bermuda as a tourist destination and attract more cruise ships next season.”Cynthia Martinez, manager of global corporate communications at Royal Caribbean Cruises, also reported a much more positive picture than last month.She said: “We have been in constant communication with all of our ships that call into Bermuda.No ship has reported guests unhappy or concerned with the transportation in Bermuda.“Onboard the ship, an informational blurb is placed in the ship’s daily cruise compass advising guests where they can purchase bus and ferry tickets once they reach Bermuda.”More bus drivers are understood to have been hired and timetable adjustments have also been made to try to accommodate the additional cruise ship passengers.Mr Lister did not respond to our request for comment by press time.