Taxi Driver Hadley Edwards has been transporting locals and tourist alike for 30 plus years and says congestion on the roads is his biggest transport issue.

The Royal Gazette took a ride in Mr. Edwards' taxi and discussed with him what the party who wins the upcoming election needs to do to improve transport.

When asked about the state of the roads, Mr. Edwards said: "They are terrible right now. There is too much traffic on the roads. The roads are fine but it's cars, trucks, bikes, you name it.

"It's not going to get any better because these insurance people want money. They need to stop putting all this traffic on the road."

He believes residents who own more than one car, despite assessment regulation, heavily contribute to the traffic on the roads.

However, he said the PLP has done a good job so far with transportation, with the addition of the fast ferries and more buses in St. David's.

The cabbie doesn't think the UBP will improve transport if elected because "they were in power for 30 odd years and they never did it in their time".

He said the PLP has done a lot in the nine years they have been in power even though he claims they had a lot to straighten out because of what was done by UBP.

Another concern for Mr. Edwards is the ineffectiveness of the GPS system. He claims it doesn't work as well as the old two-way radio system and is a waste of money.

"I told them before they put it in, there's going to be no difference between this and the two-way radio and voicemail. Only one company uses GPS, BTA, and it's not fair.

"Co-op and Radio Cabs use the voicemail system. My idea is they should have one company with a Somerset zone, a Hamilton central zone and a St. George's zone."

Mr. Edwards denied having GPS improved response times but actually slowed it down because a driver in St. George's for instance could pick up a job in Somerset, taking over an hour to pick up the client.

When asked about the recent 10.5 percent fare increase, Mr. Edwards said it was long overdue because it was promised two years ago and nothing was done. He said many taxi drivers are saying the rise is not enough because the price of gas, cars and mechanics have gone up.

Road Safety Officer Roxanne Christopher says the biggest transportation issue for her is the amount of inexperienced riders and drivers on the roads and the lack of money to educate them.

"Education is very difficult because we don't have the budget to support public education in road safety like many other jurisdictions where there are billions of dollars dedicated to educating the public about road safety.

"Before we start to see decreasing trends in road safety behaviour, drinking and driving, inexperienced riders and habitual offenders, we need to have millions of dollars dedicated to education."

Ms Christopher explained since the money isn't there, the only solution would be to change the legislation. She also said people need to know that the number one cause of death in Bermuda for young people are road fatalities.

"It's not HIV and AIDS, not cancer, not those terrible illnesses, its road fatalities. We have more children dying of fatalities than drug overdoses. The only way for us to combat is to spend the money toward educating the public or legislation."

Ms Christopher spoke of how the community gets rocked when someone dies in an accident, but two weeks later they forget about it and go back to their own lives.

She said riders and drivers might slow down the day of the funeral, but the speed picks back up two days later.

If she had to choose one thing to address all of her concerns, she said she would pick graduated licensing.

Graduated licensing is when a rider turns 16, he or she will have to complete an enhanced version of Project Ride with on and off road testing.

Currently, the Project Ride programme only includes off road testing.

The teens would have to be off the road before midnight and not allowed to tow a passenger because in an accident, passengers are more likely to get injured.

The riders would also have to remain conviction free with no speeding tickets or impaired driving tickets.

While Ms Christopher has many concerns with transport, there are many things about the Ministry that are up to standard for her.

"TCD has become a phenomenal department and have enhanced their services tremendously in the last five to seven years.

"The public has a better experience there. It's a pleasure as oppose to a painstaking experience. I think PTB does a great job.

"What we need to do is extend hours and have more accessible bus routes."

As far as the state of the roads, Ms Christopher said: "I think the state of our roads are excellent. I think Works and Engineering does a great job.

"I think people complain, but compared to many other countries, we have wonderful roads. There's often trenching and construction going on but for the most part our roads are absolutely wonderful."

Ms Christopher said the fast ferries were "fabulous", but agreed additional parking is necessary.

She also said the L.F. Wade International Airport is wonderful and applauded General Manager, Aaron Adderley for a job well done.

As far as her organisation, She said: "I think that the Road Safety Council has led many great initiatives and have enhanced road safety on the Island.

"We've helped to save people's lives. You may not have always agreed with us but we're getting you to discuss the issues."