September 3, 2002

Dear Sir,

Two years after leaving the Island, my wife and I recently returned for a week's vacation, attending an on-Island wedding at the same time. We had the most wonderful time, and greatly enjoyed hooking-up with all our friends again. Bermuda holds a very special place in our hearts, and will for the rest of our lives.

This idyll was spoilt by one factor only - the cost in time and money waiting around for, or even trying to find, available taxis.

We had made a reservation via a taxi operator we knew from living on the Island, and thus were met on our arrival late in the evening from JFK. From that point on, we were largely disappointed with the taxi industry for the rest of our visit.

1. Our reserved taxi did not turn up for our early morning return flight despite two calls to the driver's cell phone.

2. Sandys Taxi was not open at 5 a.m.

3. We then called Radio Cabs, who said a taxi was on it's way immediately (we were running out of time), but 20 minutes later, still no taxi. Luckily,friends of ours were awake (unlike the taxis) and were able to get us to the airport in time for our departure to JFK.

4. On Monday evening, it is impossible to get a taxi from Dockyard, despite the bars and restaurants being open (we did not want to hang about for over an hour for the 12.10 last bus).

5. At 7pm on a Sunday evening, it costs $28 to go by taxi from Dockyard to Landmark and the wait is 30 minutes for a taxi to appear!

When we lived on the Island, we had a car, so were insulated from the non-service of taxis, and only heard second-hand stories of the poor, and expensive, performance of this part of the public transportation service.

Now that we have become tourists, we can see exactly why people complain, and why Rebecca Middleton was placed in jeopardy in the first place.

Dr. Brown - kudos indeed for the terrific new ferries, they are a marvel, and kudos for the bus service, as good as ever. Whilst it is true there are many good taxi operators out there, please continue to ignore the self-serving bleatings of the others, knock them into shape, force them to be responsible and provide a full 24-hour service in keeping with their high charges. They are the only blot on the public transport system.

We will be back to see the improvements in a few years time.

STUART G. GALLOWAY

Long Beach, California