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Pink Ferry Route fare increase scaled back to 25%

The rise in prices for pink route ferries is to be scaled back.

The pink ferry route 100 percent fare hike is to be scaled back to a more modest 25 percent increase.Amendments to the Marine Board (Ferry Services Fares) Amendment (No 2) Regulations 2011 proposing the change were tabled in the House of Assembly on Friday, and are scheduled to be discussed in parliament today the last day of parliament before the holidays.If approved by legislators, a ride on the Warwick/Paget ferry would cost $3.25 instead of $5. The fare was originally increased, effective November 1, from $2.50. But that move angered commuters and sparked a petition and a boycott.Late last month, new Transport Minister Derrick Burgess hinted that a reversal was on its way.“We’re going back to where it was prior to the 100 percent and increasing it by 25 percent,” Mr Burgess told The Royal Gazette last night.But he added: “We haven’t had a fare increase since 2002. I don’t know what they would come up with when they do the budget for 2012/13.”The proposals come into effect on January 2 and would lower the price of a monthly pass from $110 to $70 and a quarterly pass from $270 to $170.The One Bermuda Alliance’s Pat Gordon-Pamplin who has been critical of Government’s handling of the ferry system said that the measures don’t go far enough as a wholesale review of the system is required.“I’m tremendously disappointed on how everything gets done on a knee jerk basis,” she told this newspaper last night.“It’s a good thing they are being sensitive enough to roll it back but it’s not going far enough.”While the OBA will support the move, Ms Gordon-Pamplin said she will argue that the fare structure of the entire system needs to be addressed “as opposed to just picking on one piece of the system”.Legislators are also set to debate Government’s proposal for the electronic monitoring of people on bail or probationIf approved, The Electronic Monitoring Act 2011 will amend the Bail Act 2005 to allow electronic monitoring to be a condition of bail or police bail, and modify the Criminal Code Act 1907 to allow monitoring for those released on probation.And Environment Minister Marc Bean will steer through legislation which would create a register of all land on the Island. The Land Title Registration Act 2011 will give the Land Register the authority to register privately held land.Parliamentarians are also set to debate motions on government’s energy policy, a parliamentary report on the causes of gun crime and violence and strategies toward a “greener” Bermuda.