A revamped public transportation system is hoped to help improve the Island’s tourism product, including more frequent ferry trips to St George’s.However, Transportation Minister Derrick Burgess said it remained unlikely that smaller ships could be found to service St George’s and Hamilton.Making a statement to the House of Assembly on Friday, Mr Burgess said: “The few available smaller ships that are not operated by the luxury cruise lines are significantly older than the ships that visit Bermuda regularly and are no longer competitive in the North American market.“The smaller ships that are owned by the luxury cruise lines do stop in Bermuda on world cruises, but it was made clear to us that it would not be profitable having them here on a regular basis.“Although we will continue to pursue smaller ships for Hamilton and St George’s, we have been informed that there is a phasing out of smaller ships. We cannot rely on availability in the future as we develop our long-term cruise strategy.”He said that despite limited financial resources, the Ministry has been working to create an improved ferry schedule that would provide increased service to St George’s, while maintaining adequate trips between Dockyard and Hamilton.“In 2011, we found that St George’s was underserved, so increasing the ferry lift to St George’s is one of our top priorities,” Mr Burgess said.He added that efforts are being made to improve bus maintenance efforts so that more busses will be on Bermuda’s roads to service visitors and residents alike, and the Ministry has been working with the taxi industry and the Mini Bus Association to provide better transportation options.“We will make every effort to avoid the difficulties experienced last season,” Mr Burgess said.The public transportation system became the subject of criticism last year as the Island experienced a record number of cruise ship visitors.Cruise ship passengers were reportedly left stranded in Dockyard and bus routes were cancelled to cover driver shortages.The number of cruise ship visitors to the Island is expected to fall this year, but Mr Burgess said that Government is anticipating it will still be the second highest number in Bermuda’s history and bring $80 million into the economy.“Bermuda’s cruise product remains vibrant, and we continue to have an outstanding reputation in the cruise industry,” he said. “However, in an environment where we have less financial resources to provide transportation services, we must be more creative when meeting the demands generated by the cruise product.”