Cars for hire

In Saturday’s Royal Gazette, Tourism and Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown rejected the idea that Smart cars should be available for rent by Bermuda’s visitors. But not for the reason I was expecting.

Instead of citing the amount of traffic as the main obstacle to such a scheme, Dr. Brown said the problem was actually a lack of parking spaces.

Increasing the number of parking spots is theoretically simple. Although cost and aesthetics may be an issue, it essentially boils down to building parking lots. In some locations it may be possible to address the environmental issues by building these underground (as has been mooted for City Hall car park).

Regardless, it’s surely easier to provide more parking than it is to reduce traffic levels. Dr. Brown’s response suggests that the idea of allowing tourists to rent cars might not be as far-fetched as is often thought.

Comments

[Fraz on 01.05.06 at 08:45]

Furthermore, providing Smart car parking only takes half the space of regular spot because of the vehicle's small size. Seems like the perfect excuse to make more parking available for locals by renting Smarts to visitors.

[ace on 01.05.06 at 09:02]

I dunno....

Tourists seem to forget how to do the simplest basic things when on vacation. I cannot count the number of times I have almost hit tourists at the traffic light at Number 1 shed who somehow forgot that the little red coloured walking man means...DON'T walk. I've watched tourists claim that they have a 1,000 CC Harley at home and refuse any help with their moped, only to see them rev up lose control and crash.

Puttting these smart cars in the hands of some of these tourists is a BAD idea. It scares me as I ride a bike to work every day.

[loki on 01.05.06 at 09:38]

I'm not sure about your interpretation there, Phil. The amount of traffic is an issue relating to desirability, not feasibility, whereas the reason cited by Dr. Brown, the lack of available parking, does relate to feasibility. He's right: it just isn't feasible at the moment to rent SmartCars out to tourists, as there simply isn't available parking.

[justamysticman on 01.05.06 at 09:38]

Baaaad idea... driving a car on the left and our roundabouts will stymie most Americans, no matter how small the car is. Will they need a driver's licence? Shoot, many can't even control a 50 cc scooter for heaven's sake! Gov't never does tell us how many of our visitors actually end up in our hospital every day because I think the numbers would shock us....

[sandgrownan on 01.05.06 at 10:18]

Presumably, he's just stalling until he can figure out how to make a fast buck of this?

In itself, renting Smart cars isn't a bad idea. However, it would need to be part of a wider transportation policy that includes removal of the larger SUV's, enforcement of existing laws, crack down on those who buy a truck as a commercial vehicle when in fact it's just the family second car, ensure all those assessment numbers actually have someone who lives there and owns the car. On top of that expand the bus service to run later and to more locations, and once and for all ensure that taxis are on the road the required time. Oh..but none of that would win votes....

[Bill Cook on 01.05.06 at 10:37]

Of all the reasons the 100s of people who have visited me over the years transportation was at the top of their concern.
John Leseur who is the prime supplier of rented cycles long since put forward the idea of small cars inc I think the 3 wheelers all smaller than the smart car but did not get approval.
Most of the people riding livery cycles are not competent to do so and the injury rate is staggering, I used to carry spare towels in my car when I was on the road a lot for the use of injured tourists almost on a daily basis, during our peak tourist season.

Solving this problem is very difficult but I noticed when in both Mexico City and Hong Kong they had these little mini buses that had a fixed fare and just ran back and forth in busy areas that seemed to be effective in assisting with the very heavy demand for transportation of non car owners in those places.

How the taxi owners would view that here may prevent it being used.

[sandgrownan on 01.05.06 at 10:42]

Bill, Screw the taxi owners. Frankly, they've held the island to ransom for so long - there are exceptions, but they are eceptions and not the rule. Smart cars, more buses, anything. An integrated transport policy is what is needed, not a bunch of uncoordinated ideas. And exclude the taxi drivers. They have forgotten that they provide a service.

I think our visitors would be well served by Smart cars and mini bus services.

[observor on 01.05.06 at 10:43]

Roundabouts ... Big Ben ... Parliament ... Clark Grisowld ... European Vacation ...

in Germany, Clark Griswold peers down at a village in the hills and tears come to his eyes,

Clark: There it is, kids, my motherland.
Rusty: Dad, Grandma is from Chicago.
Clark: Shut up, Russ.

[Two Cents on 01.05.06 at 10:57]

Observor,

That's a great movie line, however my fav from that movie is;

Stewardess: Can I get you anything to drink?

Clark Griswold: I guess I'll have a Coke.

Stewardess: Do you want that in the can?

Clark Griswold: No, I'll have it right here.

[Phil on 01.05.06 at 13:23]

justamysticman

Baaaad idea... driving a car on the left and our roundabouts will stymie most Americans, no matter how small the car is.

Bermudians seem to manage driving on the right and at considerably faster speeds when they go to the US. I'm sure most Americans are perfectly capable of driving here safely.

Shoot, many can't even control a 50 cc scooter for heaven's sake!

That's partly why I think it would be great if we can make hire cars available to them. Most tourists have never driven a scooter, even a 50cc one. It's no wonder they have trouble controlling it. Most of them have driven a car, however.

[Ethiops on 01.05.06 at 13:34]

Increased public transportation is the way to go, smaller buses, fast ferries and whatnots. Hell should freeze over before we start renting out cars to visitors. Give people a service they can depend on and they’ll depend on it.

[Kate on 01.05.06 at 14:07]

Having just driven from Somerset to Hamilton and back I have to say that I truly believe that the time has come to halt the rental of scooters to tourists, many, if not most, are a danger to themselves and other road users.

Limey is right in that if they have a current drivers licence then they will be used to driving cars already and this will be safer option. This may lead to more congestion and we must make sure that tourism does not impact in any way on full-time residents. Heavens, we resent them enough when they clog up the sidewalks and make the buses full. Some of them even have the nerve to expect decent service, anyone would think that they paid to be here.

The bus service is a joke as an alternative to your own transport, fine for commuting to and from work if you live on a bus route, hopeless for evenings out if you are not on a main bus route and awful for tourist on rainy days.

i agree with Ethiops, the bus and ferry services need a revamp to make sure that visitors do not want or need to hire vehicles.

[observor on 01.05.06 at 14:15]

Bermudians seem to manage driving on the right and at considerably faster speeds when they go to the US. I'm sure most Americans are perfectly capable of driving here safely

Bermudians are used to driving in conditions which, at times, approach controlled chaos. That's why when we venture west it's fairly easy to adopt our habits to the large American infrastructure where Cadillacs float down the highway with unencumbered views and you never have to turn the steering wheel more than 10 degrees in either direction as you power down the highways with your 32 oz. (roun de vurld) Big Gulp.

I don't think the reverse is quite so true.

[ace on 01.05.06 at 14:32]

"Limey is right in that if they have a current drivers licence then they will be used to driving cars already and this will be safer option."

You and Phil must have missed my post. I'll be more detailed this time:

I was at Smatts a few years ago buying something when an obviously American tourist was refusing any instruction or assistance relating to a scooter he was about to rent. He waved off the local guy who was trying to tell him how to operate the bike and loudly proclaimed that he had a 1,000cc Harley at home and that if he was able to ride that mighty thing he could easily handle a dinky little scooter.

He got on and gave the bike some "gas". He then took the bike off the stand, but had not bothered to stop the back wheel with the back brake. The bike leaped forward and the guy did the classic tourist thing where they keep the throttle on full and try and stop the bike anyway. He flew across the road and smashed into the wall on the other side...fortunately no cars hit him.

I fear much of the same with respect to these smart cars.

It's all fine and dandy if you are in a car and one of these "know-it-alls" hit you. You "may" or "may not" get hurt. I ride a bike everyday. One of those smart cars hits me and I'm gonna definately get hurt.

[silencedogood on 01.05.06 at 14:36]

observer,

Where are you driving in the US? It certainly isn't New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston, Boston, New Jersey, Washington D.C., or anywhere in the state of California.

Compared to those places Bermuda's roads are virtually empty, not to mention the fact that roads in those places are almost always under construction one one part or the other.

Most tourists have not been on a bicycle in 20+ years and may never have been on a motorcycle. You have to relearn that balance which becomes more difficult the older the tourist is.

It may not make sense from a structural perspective to rent cars, but it definitely does from a safety perspective.

It's worth looking into--it might decrease the vehicles on the road or promote a different type of tourist. A smart car could hold two adults and two kids fairly easily if memory serves me.

[curious on 01.05.06 at 15:00]

By not allowing rental cars, Bermuda has always limited its appeal for tourists.

Mopeds are fine for couples (with a good sense of balance and courage) but anyone with kids knows mopeds are far too dangerous.

I'm not suggesting that we should open the roads to rental cars, but we have to acknowledge that by choosing to offer only mopeds we have a smaller pool of tourist who would be interested in coming here.

[Full Fullish on 01.05.06 at 15:27]

Come on guys, rental cars for tourists? Honestly, just imagine 5pm traffic and now throw into the mix a few smart cars driven by tourists who aren't familiar with our roads. Even though these cars are half the size of one of ours, come summer time can you imagine another few hundred of them on the roads here?

I'm with Ace, I too ride a motorcycle daily, and it's bad enough navigating past a tourist on a bike, let alone a car. I know that if I were to get struck by one of those, I would probably pick it up and throw the bloody thing overboard. Do we really need to add even more cars to the mix here? Where are they going to park them in Hamilton? It's hard enough finding bike parking in the summer time.

Make public transportation more efficient, then more tourists and locals will take it.

[Yet Another Limey on 01.05.06 at 15:36]

I cannot believe the general attitude on this thread, if anything Bermudian’s should be prevented from hiring cars in other countries, just imagine some guy arrives at Gatwick airport, hires a car and is thrust onto the M23 at his usual top speed of 22 mph, beeping his horn, waving his arm out of the window and talking on his cell phone.

Given that most people that come to Bermuda have not ridden on two wheels since their early teens it only surprising that more tourists aren’t killed each year.

With the exception of city breaks, most tourists expect the convenience of personal transportation; can you imagine going anywhere else in the world and not heading from the airport straight to the Avis or Hertz desk?

Of course expecting a tourist to keep to the speed limit when they’re no longer constantly worried about falling off is a different matter (I’ve seen smart cars in Europe happily going 90mph).

PS Public transport in Bermuda is fine. Sure, I’d like more busses and later ferries (especially on a Sunday) but compared to everywhere else in the world we have it pretty good here.

[Radio4 Listener on 01.05.06 at 15:47]

How about confining car rentals to visitors/tourists who are staying longer than a week? This will eliminate cruise ship passengers and ensure the roads are not over clogged. It might also encourage more independent travellers to stay longer. There sure should be some dispensation for family visitors, especially Seniors.I have no objection to an upper age limit. Improved ferries and small buses are also a great idea. I loved getting around on the ferries, but the shedules are limited.

[charles on 01.05.06 at 15:47]

As a repeat tourist who goes to Bermuda two or three times a year I would not mind using a smart car for transport. Seeing as this is not an option then using a scooter is my alternative. I think every user of a scooter should be required to have a proficiency test. Oleander has a short track near Port Royal that should be used to judge rudimentary ability at least. Maybe other companies should be required to have the same. I do find interesting though your method of road testing scooter drivers toughness by scaring the crap out of them by passing on both sides at once as I have seen many times or passing them at high speeds just to turn off in front of them with about ten feet to spare.

[GoodSolution on 01.05.06 at 16:49]

Here are some ways to create more parking spaces

1) Allow even license plates to park in town certain days, odd others. That instantly gets half the cars off the road.

2) Increase the parking fees dramatically, so its not feasable to park in town. How much does it cost to park in downtown London for a day?

3) Improve the joke bus and ferry system. More people would take the bus/ferry if it was somewhat more reliable, and the operators obtained some manners. Someone should do an expose on its reliablity. My wife takes the bus 1 or 2 times a week, and it never comes on time. She took a bus to dockyard a few months ago, and got asked to leave as it wasn't empty and the bus didn't feel like going all the way to dockyard.

Its not difficult to solve the traffic problems here its simply just a matter of getting cars off the road.

[Linda on 01.05.06 at 17:11]

BAD IDEA!! It's frustrating enough now during rush hours. Add a bunch of fart cars to the mix and we are inviting road rage. Parking problems need to be thrown into the mix. I'm sure many have seen the amount of rental cycles parked any which way and anywhere in the city during the high season. "Sandgrownman", you are obviously not in a job where your income is controlled by Government. Will taxi owners object? Yes, and they should. Perhaps there wouldn't be such a transport problem if Dr.Brown would enforce his own laws. All cabs should have the GPS installed by now, but no-one is enforcing it. This rock is 21 mls. long, and getting more crowded by the minute. More unnecessary vehicles is the last thing we need.

[novote on 01.05.06 at 17:49]

Personally, I'm unconvinced about the argument that rental cars would increase traffic congestion.

Outside of rush hour flows into Hamilton, traffic in Bermuda really isn't that bad at all.

I fail to understand why a tourist would want to drive in or out of Hamilton at that time anyway, so I'm doubtful that they would make the rush hour worse?

Indeed for those that do wish to travel into Hamilton during rush hour, there is a pretty decent public transport system.

The hastle for tourists generally is not getting into and out of Hamilton in rush hour, but trying to get anywhere else but Hamilton at any time(or to/from Hamilton in the evenings) in a reasonable amount of time.

This is why they would really want cars. Indeed I think that hire cars could be offered with a ban from Hamilton during certain hours, and we'd hardly notice any difference in the congestion levels on the Island.

Business visitors would in all likelihood continue to need to be in Hamilton during the day and have to be accomodated during the morning and evening crawl.

However, my guess is that they'd continue to use taxis etc, as they wouldn't want to deal with finding parking in an unfamiliar place or simply to avoid having to find their own way.

To avoid abuse, there would probably have to be a ban on residents renting cars though.

[VB on 01.05.06 at 18:03]

I guess none of the local residents on this thread rent vehicles when they travel.

I would hate to have to depend on taxis & other public transport when overseas. Most of the places I go I have to drive on the 'wrong' side of the road. Over the years I have had the privelidge of driving everything from a subcompact to a 30' motorhome on my Bermuda drivers license. I have faced 5 o'clock traffic in just about every east coast major city & blizzard conditions on Colorado interstates.

Every last mile has been incident free. Why? Because the US drivers are far better than us. They respect the colours of a traffic light. They don't drive 2' off the vehicle in front's bumper.

The driving is more hazardous here though not because of the volume of traffic. Our problem is our lunatic drivers. I doubt we are the worst in the world but we are bad.

The rules are there but not enforced as they are elsewhere. For this reason I don't feel Smart Car rentals would work. The visitors, mostly US, would be relying on others to know & abide by the road rules. It just does not happen here.

Bermuda is not the only place with small roads. We are not the only place where one can rent mopeds.

Try Block Island at the east end of Long Island Sound. The mopeds are more expensive than here, & you can't keep them overnight. An afternoon rental of a mini SUV will cost more than a 24hr rental of a luxury car on the mainland. The roads are not much wider than here. Traffic volume & parking, like here, is horrendous. The rental companies do a booming business.

Enforce existing rules & change locals attitudes & smart cars would be great for tourists, especially families with small children.

Smart cars would be great for locals too. Can't believe how many 'almost legal' Honda CRVs are on the road. Can't believe how many single occupant cars go into Hamilton every day taking up the space of 4 or 5 bikes or 2 Smart Cars.

[novote on 01.05.06 at 18:04]

Linda - Good Point. Why doesn't the government enforce its own laws...and a few that have been on the books for a while?

If government enforced its requirement for GPS in taxis, then dispatch and pick-up times might improve.

Even if they don't, however, the government would still have the data that proves what we all already know: taxis on the Island do not meet their obligations to be in service on average 17 hours every day.

They would be able to re-allocate licenses to licensees that are willing to meet this service requirement and significantly increase the supply of taxis, which is woefully inadequate for much of the year and at key times such as the late shift on weekends.

Everybody knows that the latter is the real reason why taxi drivers resisted GPS. It was nothing to do with its cost.

Now that the law is on the statute books, it's ridiculous that it's not being enforced....unless of course it's because it's an unpopular law...and an election is looming soon!

[PTB on 01.05.06 at 18:53]

You have tourists coming to Bermuda?

[Full Fullish on 01.05.06 at 20:26]

VB and all others who have comments like this:

"I guess none of the local residents on this thread rent vehicles when they travel"

Let's put things into perspective. This Island is only 21 miles long, by 2 miles at the widest. Asking us to put even 50 more cars on the road is similar to putting another million of them in central NYC. The difference between other places and here is that the other places, due to their size, can accomodate or absorb the increase in car usage, whereas Bermuda can't.

I'm all for being accomodating for the tourists, however, we also need to ensure that things are ok for the residents as well.

[sandgrownan on 02.05.06 at 08:55]

You know Linda I don't disagree. The Taxi operators, by and large, do what they want when they want. If the bus, ferry service was more convenient and taxi's were on the road the required amount of tiem then prhaps less local residents would drive also.

I also take another point someone made, tourists have no problem getting to and from Hamilton during the day. It's getting away from the beach with 2 kids, or trying to get home late a night after a dinner in town...

[VB on 03.05.06 at 09:16]

If taxis were available when & where the customers wanted them the whole idea of Smart Cars would never come up.

In the pre 1980s there were fewer taxis. The taxis were smaller. We had far more visitors needing transport. The taxi industry was not without it's problems, no industry is, but the level of service was far superior to what is available now.

Hopefully with the new dispatching system we will finally get service. Of course for the new system to work the taxi operators will have to TURN THE UNITS ON. Also TCD will have to take action against those who do not comply with the terms of their license.