Cruise ship passengers have once again been left hanging around waiting for ferries and buses.The public transport holiday timetable on National Heroes Day did little to welcome the thousands of passengers on two mega cruise ships arriving at Dockyard.The reduced number of ferries and buses available meant hundreds of angry passengers were left waiting on the sidewalk.Tempers flared as passengers were forced to wait in the heat for 30 minutes to an hour for transport to get them out of Dockyard.The “diabolical” scenes are the latest in a series of problems to hit the public transport system in Bermuda.One bus driver, who did not want to be named, said no extra services were put on as the Ministry of Transport did not want to pay drivers overtime on a public holiday.About 8-10 shuttle buses are needed to take tourists directly to Horseshoe Bay or Hamilton, but on Monday there were just two or three.The bus driver said: “It was a complete mess at Dockyard on Monday. It was a busy day, but there was a Sunday/holiday schedule on the buses and ferries. There were all these cruise ship passengers, but nowhere for them to go.“They were waiting around for buses and ferries. People were saying it was the worst they’d ever seen it. Tourists were angry and fights nearly broke out.“They knew the mega ships were coming in, so where were the extra services?”The bus driver said they should only take 38 seated passengers and 12 standing passengers but to try to reduce the waiting crowds, they are “cramming people in right to the door.” This had lead to reports of buses being overcrowded.The bus driver added: “The problems continue, the locals and tourists are competing for the same buses as there aren’t enough to go around.“We are getting so much abuse as drivers, people are extremely rude to us when we can only do what we can.“It really is crazy, everything has been so constrained because of Government cutbacks.”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 was a $2.3 million cut.Transport Minister Terry Lister announced that a dispatcher would be “controlling tourist numbers” at Dockyard to save seats for locals on buses. This prompted an angry backlash from tourists threatening to stop visiting the Island and take their money elsewhere.Shadow Minister for Transport Patricia Gordon Pamplin said Mr Lister’s comments, which he made in the House of Assembly on Friday, suggested his concerns stopped at the point at which the ships berth in Bermuda.She said: “He seems to believe that the reviews that he reads on the internet are indicative of total satisfaction with the Bermuda experience.“When invited to consult Trip Advisor, which has posted many negative comments from cruise visitors, he continued to refer to his source of Cruise Critic who seemingly print satisfactory reviews.“However, being responsible for transport, it is unacceptable that visitors could be stranded once again without the benefit of sufficient forethought being placed in the moving of passengers from the docks to their respective desired destinations.“Bermuda must do better and the Minister must take his head out of the sand.”Mr Lister admitted there were problems at Dockyard on Monday morning, but said the issues were quickly addressed.He said: “There are times when we don’t get the lift we need. The lift at the start of the day was inadequate but it was adjusted as the day went on.“Those who wanted to travel by bus got to where they wanted to go.”