Bermuda?s taxi drivers have now shifted their attention to the Senate, where they have their last best chance to block Government?s plans to install the GPS system in their vehicles.

How much luck they will have in the upper house is not clear. The checks and balances built into Bermuda?s Parliament mean that if the three Independent Senators join forces with the three Opposition members, they can outvote the Government?s five Senators.

This is what occurred two years ago, when the Government?s previous attempt to introduce GPS failed.

At that time, the Independent Senators were not satisfied that enough effort had been made to improve taxi service without resorting to forcing drivers to take on the additional expense of GPS.

In effect, they gave the drivers and dispatching companies time to put their houses in order before they agreed to the legislation.

Now the Senators will be asking if that has been done. It is true that there continue to be complaints about lack of service, especially in certain parts of the Island, and the Senate will have to decide who is responsible for that.

They will then have to ask if the GPS system will improve the service or not. And they will have to weigh if the concessions that Government offered, assuming they are still on the table, are sufficient to reduce the financial burden on the owners and drivers.

The Senators will also have to decide whether the recent strike was the drivers? honest effort to demonstrate their deep concern about the issue or if they will see it as an irresponsible attempt to blackmail the community.

It cannot be denied that it did inconvenience people and may have done some damage to the tourism industry, in addition to causing additional expense to hotels and the public purse.

But the Government?s indignation over this strike rang a little hollow given that other strikes by teachers, prison officers and the like have been brushed off as being little more than ?people feeling free to express themselves?.

It is likely that the drivers ? who won?t get paid for days of business lost, unlike the prison officers ? took their action rather more seriously than that.

It is worth remembering that the Government forced this issue now, when it must have been well aware that it could result in a strike. It could have brought the legislation in the winter or after Parliament resumed in November to reduce the effects of a strike.

So the Senate will have to weigh the fact that there is plenty of blame to go around in the current controversy. On the one hand, the drivers have not fully demonstrated their willingness to improve service and some base their opposition purely on technophobia. On the other hand, they clearly do not trust the Government, and that is not entirely surprising.

The Senate could pass the bill, but with an amendment. If GPS does not improve service and if drivers do not increase their own earnings as a result of GPS (and not of the long overdue fare increase) within two years of its implementation, then Government should make it voluntary and not mandatory.