will get a place in the decision making process for Bermuda's future transportation system. That is probably as it should be as long as Dr. Brown remembers that in the past the taxi operators have been part of the problem and it may be difficult for them to become part of the solution.

There is a good deal to be said for inclusion but the previous Government, which was very reluctant to upset taxi drivers, found it difficult to create transportation solutions or to move into the future because at every step along the way the taxi operators objected. We find it difficult to believe that there will be much of a change because taxi operators naturally protect their own interests and they see all other forms of transportation as competition.

Dr. Brown's problem as he builds on the previous Government's traffic initiatives will be to reach solutions which might cut traffic on the roads without causing public outcry. The general public complains about traffic conditions yet individuals do not want anything done which might inconvenience them personally.

Dr. Brown believes in education as part of the solution and he is correct as far as it goes. If he can educate people toward greater compliance with the traffic code, better road manners and less dangerous behaviour on the roads it would go a long way toward a solution. Much of the problem is not the volume of traffic but the bad driving and riding. If the roads were orderly and the rules were more generally respected then the roads would be much more user friendly.

Since the advent of motor cars just after the Second World War Bermuda's transportation system and traffic have expanded in a rather casual way by widening roads, allowing vehicles to increase both in number and size and actual speeds on the roads to increase. That cannot go on forever.

It seems to us that the development of a sensible traffic policy would start from scratch and begin by looking at the needs and then at how those needs can be met, ignoring for the purposes of the study what goes on right now. The study should include a careful examination of electric cars and such things as new bridges. It should also look at just how many days of the year our weather would allow the often proposed increased water transportation to function without disruption.

We think such a study would give consideration to allowing the hotels to cope with transportation around the Island, to and from the Airport, to the beaches and to Hamilton for their guests, remembering that mopeds are not an option these days for a good many visitors. The study should include looking at water transportation to and from the hotels which have water access like those at the West End, any new hotel at Morgan's Point, both Princesses, Castle Harbour etc.

Too often in the past transportation has been looked at solely from the point of view of cost rather than as a means of moving people to where they want to go in a civilised Country. As an example, ferry schedules have been something of a joke in terms of their timing to suit the needs of their passengers.

If we do not provide a system which will allow visitors to move around conveniently and inexpensively then we basically confine them to their hotels.

That does not create a Bermuda vacation and it does not spread their expenditures through the economy.