The state of Bermuda’s public transport system has been scrutinised in a behind closed doors meeting between two Government Ministers.Tourism Minister Patrice Minors and Transport Minister Terry Lister got together this week to discuss how to address growing concerns about timetable cuts.Both Ministers were yesterday keeping tight-lipped about the outcome of the meeting but it is understood that new solutions will soon be put forward.Shadow Transport Minister Kim Swan said he hoped the meeting would pave the way for an improved public transport system which “meets the needs of the whole Island.”The two Ministers put their heads together after the Island’s public transport was one of the “most talked about topics” at the weekend’s two-day tourism retreat.Many of the 30 key industry leaders who got together at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel are said to have expressed their disgust at “the transport challenges we are facing.”One source, who was at the weekend retreat, told us: “It’s absolutely crazy what is happening, so many people expressed their disgust at the weekend.“The public transport issue is embarrassing the country on a daily basis. It’s making us all cringe that we can’t even provide adequate transport for our existing visitors.“The only tourists we have left are cruise ship passengers and look at the way we are treating them.”The tourism retreat also saw leaders “echoing the ridiculous insanity that tourism and transport were now separate Ministries.” The former Premier Ewart Brown previously headed up Tourism and Transport together.Those in tourism would like the two Ministries linked again to help stress the importance of cruise ships, airlines and public transport on visitor numbers.Mr Lister announced two weeks ago that a dispatcher would be “controlling tourist numbers” at Dockyard to save seats for locals on buses.USA Today and the Cruise Critic website then picked up on our story and threw it into the international limelight. This prompted an angry backlash from tourists threatening to stop visiting the Island and take their money elsewhere.Ms Minors jumped onboard the bus debate about a week ago requesting a meeting with the Transport Ministry as “more than any other time in our history” she believes they must work together to ensure the success of the tourism industry.Ms Minors said she was aware of the “ongoing challenges and concerns” over bus schedules and she wanted to avoid any further inconvenience to residents and tourists.Mr Swan, who is the United Bermuda Party leader, said: “The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. These two Ministries used to be under the same umbrella, but now there seems to be some sort of disconnect with Transport and how much it interplays with Tourism.“Hopefully the meeting proved fruitful and has put the Transport and Tourism Ministers on the same page.“We need to get an efficient transport system which can serve the whole Island. It needs to get commuters to and from work and also provide a service for visitors.”The Royal Gazette received several e-mails and phone calls from members of the public yesterday thanking us “for saying it like it is”. In yesterday’s paper we provided on-the-scene coverage from Dockyard as passengers departed the Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas cruise ship.We reported on the angry scenes among tourists and the supervisors at the bus and ferry stops. Tourists said it was “a complete joke” and “one of the worst ports” they’d been to.The controversial topic has also been the focus of many radio talk shows and scores of new comments continue to be added to this newspaper’s website and Facebook page.These comments include; ‘Shame on you Bermuda’, ‘The bus fiasco has just proven to the visitors that we are not worth coming to’ and ‘Bermuda, we need a tourism department that knows tourism and cares about it.’Mr Lister would not talk about his meeting with Ms Minors, but he did release a statement responding to yesterday’s Royal Gazette stories.It stated that four sightseeing buses were on hand, as well as two Horseshoe Bay shuttles and the regular Dockyard to Hamilton services leaving every 15 minutes. It explained that there were also minibuses and taxis available.The statement read: “Reports from the Ministry officials showed that, despite the ship arriving an hour and a half late, all passengers who wanted to visit other parts of the Island were transported out of Dockyard within 90 minutes.“Ferries transported hundreds of visitors to Hamilton. The late arrival of the ship meant that passengers were not able to catch the St George’s ferry and time constraints prevented the Bermudian from making the trip. The low speed of the Bermudian precluded it from making the St George’s round trip and delivering the passengers back in time for their dinner.“The 2011 ferry schedule was designed around the cruise ship schedule. However, once the ship runs late it is very difficult to alter the ferry schedule without impacting services for the remainder of the day.“The Minister is keen to reassure the public that every effort will be made to ensure that the transportation needs of our cruise visitors are fully met while they are in Bermuda. “Ms Minors did not respond to requests for comment.