Improvements to the Project Ride youth motorcycle training scheme will involve students being given on-road instruction for the first time.

The Reverend Emily Gail Dill, Government senator and Junior Minister of National Security and Transport, highlighted the move in response to questions by Dwayne Robinson, Opposition senator, during Thursday evening’s Budget debate on the Ministry of Transport in the Senate.

Previously, the programme enabling teenagers to acquire their Bermuda Youth Licence was restricted to the confines of the parking lot at the Transport Control Department.

Mr Robinson asked for details about planned improvements, emphasising how important it was that safe driving habits were instilled from a young age.

Dr Dill said: “They test in the yard and they are looking to implement a programme where the students get experience riding on the road.

“Their future instruction and exams will be on the roads and they will be allowed a certain number of faults before failing.”

A budget allocation was not shared on the implementation of the programme.

The now defunct B-Moto provided an on-road training component for a short period a few years ago and road safety advocates said it better prepared students for safe riding.

About 50 questions were asked by the One Bermuda Alliance of the ministry, with enough time given for the vast majority of responses to be provided.

In response to questions from Robin Tucker, the Opposition Leader in the Senate, Dr Dill revealed that overtime paid out to the Department of Public Transportation amounted to $3.5 million.

She said the funds were spread across the entire department, covering not only bus operators but also repair and maintenance personnel.

Dr Dill said the Government was considering making insurance mandatory before the issuance of private boat licences, which could help to fund the salvage of abandoned vessels.

She highlighted the investment in two new ferries, with Strategic Marine Singapore signing a $19.5 million contract to provide the new vessels.

In response to questions, she clarified that the funds would be spread across two Budget cycles, adding that the vessels were scheduled to arrive in Bermuda in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Ms Tucker asked where the funding was coming from for the transition to the Digital Fare Media System, which aims to increase the efficiency of public transportation.

“I looked in the capital pages and didn’t see anything. Where is the funding for that? That is a big deal?”

Douglas De Couto, the shadow finance minister, asked whether the Digital Fare Media System was gazetted as per public access to information regulations.

Ms Tucker asked for a breakdown of the $604,000 for this fiscal period for the digital system designed to bring “frictionless, cashless payments” to public transport.

Dr Dill said the contract was signed near the end of 2023 and that the $604,000 was mostly for the start of the contract and the spend for the initiative would total $2 million.

Ms Tucker posed multiple questions about safety training provisions within the Department of Marine and Ports Services. She questioned how the Government intended to reach its 80 per cent certification target outcome for 2024-2025 when in the previous period it fell short by approximately 10 per cent.

She was told that 65 per cent of staff had received basic training, to which she responded: “What does the department plan to do to increase that number? Sixty-five per cent of the staff having basic safety training seems pretty low to me.”

Dr Dill explained there were “unfortunate” limitations on when the training could take place owing to ferry drivers being deployed on vessels for much of the summer season.

She said there has been an anticipated increase in revenue at TCD owing to an increase in permit and licence fees.

“There has been a consistent increase over the last few years,” she said.

The debate on the Ministry of Transport concluded the Budget debate in its entirety, with the Appropriation Act 2024 being passed with no objections.