This was sent to Transport Minister Walter Roban and copied to The Royal Gazette:July 3, 2012Dear Mr Roban,You may recall that I worked with you on the construction and introduction of the fast ferries when they were first in the planning stage. And I have been a ferry commuter using the new fast ferries and long before, since 1986. I applauded the introduction of the fast ferries as a means of getting drivers off the roads and indeed it was successful from the very first. It is still successful. However, it seems that the Government doesn’t wish to continue this success. Between mechanical problems on the boats, mechanical problems on the docks, staffing issues and now budget cutbacks, the Government is making a great example of how not to run a public transportation system. This is a complete about-face from how the fast ferries were presented to the Bermuda public (and to our tourists) in 2002.Over the years, a great number of regular commuters have parked their cars at Rockaway in favour of the low-stress ferries. There have been so many commuters that the parking lot had to be enlarged to cope with the demand. Now, ridership is falling off as the service is unreliable, the boats are in poor repair with no air conditioning on some, broken seats and leaking air conditioning on others. The minibus service that brought passengers who didn’t drive has now been cancelled. And worst of all, the ferry service has been cut back even further, without even the consideration of any announcement to the number of commuters left waiting on Monday. How discourteous, especially for the government of a people that pride themselves of their courtesy.So I’m left to suppose that it is intended to let the whole service just peter to a stop. Never mind that the thousands of visitors who have been enticed to the Island on a cruise ship won’t be able to leave Dockyard to see the Island as there aren’t enough buses to handle the numbers. Let’s just focus on the resident public. The resident public will now revert back to cars. This will add to the maintenance issue of Bermuda’s roads. Perhaps you haven’t noticed it, but they are in pretty poor shape lately, full of potholes or criss-crossed with trenching. And that will increase the amount of congestion for commuters, which at least for the summer months isn’t quite as bad. But I don’t suppose it is intended to reinstate the ferries once the schools are in session. So the buses will be even further overcrowded, especially those ridiculous ones with the backward facing seats and the huge doors in the back that aren’t allowed to be used, that hold fewer passengers than the normal ones. And everyone knows that the buses aren’t being repaired either, whether it be tyres, windshield wipers, engine parts, etc. So what exactly are the Ministry’s plans for transportation? It would certainly be nice to hear from you.KAREN SKIFFINGTONSandys