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[formulanone]

I was in Bermuda for work this month, flying in from Charlotte. Since we don’t have a Bermuda thread…


Give Way! Hope you like roundabouts; this one is from exiting the LF Wade Airport (BDA):


The airport is on a large island which was once a joint US/RAF field, later transferred to the US Navy, but transferred the land back to Bermuda in 1995. An all-new terminal opened in 2020. There's a handful of flights per day from the US, which is (vaguely) the closest country to Bermuda. Air Canada and British Airways also operate flights, since there’s no flag carrier of Bermuda.


Signage seems to be Vienna Convention, using the Transport font.



Though most of Bermuda is considered one mainland island, there's also a lot of smaller islands. It's considered the remnants of an extinct volcano shield which formed 35-45 million years ago. The causeway linking the island is called…The Causeway. It was originally constructed in 1871, but rebuilt several times due to storm damage.




North Shore Drive:



Hidden Entrance becomes Concealed Entrance:


Ess Curve:


Left Curve:


Speed Humps in Flatts Village:


Automotive traffic wasn’t allowed until 1948, so mechanical transit was handled by train. There were two railway lines spanning the length of the island, but they were eventually removed. Much of it has become the Railway Trail.


North Shore Drive had a construction zone for laying utility lines, with a temporary traffic light…by the looks of things, this was the only MUTCD-spec signage!



I’ll end Day one with Langton Hill Lane, which was cut into the side of a hill, exposing the limestone and providing a canyon-like experience…


More to come…

[formulanone]

Hamilton is the capital of Bermuda, and the main road is called Front Street. It's one of the few four-lane roads on the island.

There's an old traffic post in the middle of the road, affectionately called the "The Birdcage".




Front Street becomes Crow Lane, which has a traffic light, but then leads to a busy roundabout, which splits off into four routes.





There are no BGSes on Bermuda, but there are a few small green signs; in this case, telling me to stay on South Road for the beaches:




Fingerboard signs also appear from time to time.


Street Signs seem to have two varieties...a serif font I can't quite place and the Transport variety.


There's a bus service called the Breeze, using what seem to be Citroën busses. The major gas station around the island is Rubis.

[SectorZ]

Nice pix! That island really is a unique part of the planet.

I can't help but think a few of those signs are getting close to Craig County styling.

I'm also perplexed on the truck signage, where it's 10t per axle and 29t total for a truck, then proceeds to show a two-axle truck in the sign for the 29t limit.

[formulanone]

Nice pix! That island really is a unique part of the planet.

I can't help but think a few of those signs are getting close to Craig County styling.

I'm also perplexed on the truck signage, where it's 10t per axle and 29t total for a truck, then proceeds to show a two-axle truck in the sign for the 29t limit.

I think it's to prohibit laden multi-axle vehicles, which seemed be rare sights on the island. We saw one American-style rig pass by the road a few times that week, which stood out like a sore thumb on those narrow roads. It was never carrying a trailer, so I wonder if it was doing off-road hauling. There were also a few larger versions of "mini-trucks", and they had little warning decals of 10,000kg limits.

The taxi driver told me that the "temporary" dual bridge structure on The Causeway has been there for a while.

Road/driver/vehicle-related notes:

* Only Bermuda citizens may own or drive gas-powered vehicles.
* If you're a tourist, you can rent an electric vehicle. It was $24 an hour, and $100 a day.
* Only one car is allowed per household, unless it is a registered work vehicle or taxi.
* You can own as many motorcycles or mopeds as you like.
* Gas was the equivalent of $8.50-9.00 / gallon (sold in liters)
* Speed limits are very low. 40 km/h is the highest posted speed limit, and there's substantial penalties for more than one speeding ticket in a year.
* Vehicles are separated into sizes for taxation; so there's a lot of small, sub-compact cars that you won't find in the US and Canada.

Other info:

* Bermudians don't really think of themselves as "Caribbean".
* Quite a wide variety of spoken accents, even among Bermudians.
* Due to the possibility of Atlantic hurricanes, all structures are concrete, as well as most roofs.
* Their Dollar is pegged to the US Dollar, so there's no exchange rate.
* US credit cards still have a International Transaction fee on purchases.
* Import duties on seemingly everything; very little is manufactured in Bermuda, it's only 21 square miles of land.
* Things get expensive; land and space is scarce. But there's no sales tax, GST, VAT, et cetera.
* Gratuities are worked into every sit-down meal (legally it's an 17% maximum). Sometimes they call it a "service charge".

[abefroman329]

* Their Dollar is pegged to the US Dollar, so there's no exchange rate.
* US credit cards still have a International Transaction fee on purchases.

Same deal in the Bahamas - I have separate debit and credit cards that are linked to accts that don't charge a foreign transaction fee, and my debit card wasn't working, so I had to use my regular one, and promptly got socked with a 3% charge.

[US 89]

My aunt and uncle lived in Bermuda for several years, so I've been there a couple of times. It's a fascinating world.

* Vehicles are separated into sizes for taxation; so there's a lot of small, sub-compact cars that you won't find in the US and Canada.

And a typical US/Canada compact car won't even fit into a lot of the parking spaces, nor would it be all that comfortable to drive on the narrow streets there. Bermuda is one of the most densely populated places on this planet and any amount of space is at a premium.

* Speed limits are very low. 40 km/h is the highest posted speed limit, and there's substantial penalties for more than one speeding ticket in a year.

I get the sense that these limits aren't all that enforced though, because people absolutely blast down those narrow roads at speeds I would never feel comfortable doing on my own. The general speed on something like Middle Rd or South Rd was shockingly high, and the concept of being a pedestrian anywhere outside of Hamilton rather horrified me.

* Only Bermuda citizens may own or drive gas-powered vehicles.

This is not true - I think it's limited to Bermuda residents. My aunt and uncle drove a little Honda Fit despite not being Bermudian citizens. I am also pretty sure they only let non-citizens stay there so many years, which is why my uncle's company eventually relocated them to London.

Another note on gas - if I recall correctly, the stations there are OR or NJ style full serve.

* Due to the possibility of Atlantic hurricanes, all structures are concrete, as well as most roofs.

The roofs are also specially designed to catch rainwater, as there are no rivers on the island. Most buildings supply their own water and do not have any connection to any sort of municipal water system.

Street Signs seem to have two varieties...a serif font I can't quite place and the Transport variety.

I don't know what that serif font is either, but I'm 80% sure I've seen that same font in the UK in more rural areas.

Also not mentioned above is that most Bermuda traffic signals use the UK style red+yellow indication immediately before the green. The ones that didn't were pedestrian crossings where the red light went to a flashing yellow at the end of the pedestrian cycle, but I'm not sure if any of those are still around.

[formulanone]

* Only Bermuda citizens may own or drive gas-powered vehicles.

This is not true - I think it's limited to Bermuda residents. My aunt and uncle drove a little Honda Fit despite not being Bermudian citizens. I am also pretty sure they only let non-citizens stay there so many years, which is why my uncle's company eventually relocated them to London.

I mixed that up, sorry. A Honda Fit is just about right for most of the island. Though a Suzuki Jimny seems about right if it rains or need a little ground clearance, but those were $41,000 cars (they'd probably retail for $22-25k in the US, but they're not certified here).

Another note on gas - if I recall correctly, the stations there are OR or NJ style full serve.

Yup, noticed that at the Rubis (the only brand I saw on the island) next to the store I was at. Only two grades that I noticed: Regular or Diesel.

* Due to the possibility of Atlantic hurricanes, all structures are concrete, as well as most roofs.

The roofs are also specially designed to catch rainwater, as there are no rivers on the island. Most buildings supply their own water and do not have any connection to any sort of municipal water system.

Yeah, that's what I figured from seeing very little outward slant to the flat part of roofs, and a drain in the center. Or they have "steps".

Street Signs seem to have two varieties...a serif font I can't quite place and the Transport variety.

I don't know what that serif font is either, but I'm 80% sure I've seen that same font in the UK in more rural areas.

But they also still seem to use it, since there was a newly-renamed street.

Also not mentioned above is that most Bermuda traffic signals use the UK style red+yellow indication immediately before the green. The ones that didn't were pedestrian crossings where the red light went to a flashing yellow at the end of the pedestrian cycle, but I'm not sure if any of those are still around.

I thought I caught one out of the corner of my eye in downtown Hamilton, but didn't notice it when I was driving.

Court Street in Hamilton.


I like the curve in the post; I noticed the yellow arrow phase was embedded in the same "ball" location or not. White reflective back plates looked new-ish.


Edit: fixed mis-attributed quotes.

[formulanone]

I also think I found a sign error (or accidental swap?) when I was there. South Road had a Playground warning sign with a mounted horse. Hey, even equines need to play:



A little bit up the road was a HORSE CROSSING sign. That's a funny-looking horse...

[7/8]

I don't know what that serif font is either, but I'm 80% sure I've seen that same font in the UK in more rural areas.

Looks similar to the "Privet Drive" sign used in Harry Potter.


Also, these are great photos! It's very cool to learn more roadgeek stuff outside US/Canada.

[1995hoo]

....

* Bermudians don't really think of themselves as "Caribbean"
....

They shouldn't think of themselves as "Caribbean." Look at a map and you'll see why—it's at roughly the same latitude (32°20') as Charleston, South Carolina (32°47').

[formulanone]

....

* Bermudians don't really think of themselves as "Caribbean"
....

They shouldn't think of themselves as "Caribbean." Look at a map and you'll see why—it's at roughly the same latitude (32°20') as Charleston, South Carolina (32°47').

Yeah, that's the first reason, the distances. There's other cultural reasons I can't really speak for, but that was the advice we were given when discussing support and situations to the clients.

[1995hoo]

I have wanted to get to Bermuda for a good while now and have just never gotten the chance. When you say tourists can rent EVs, what sort of EVs do you mean? My wife has been to Bermuda (before we got married) and she said that back then tourists could only operate motorcycle-style scooters. Is that still the case or do they allow something else these days? She didn't operate one of the scooters herself, which was probably a good thing because she tends to be directionally challenged.

[US 89]

I have wanted to get to Bermuda for a good while now and have just never gotten the chance. When you say tourists can rent EVs, what sort of EVs do you mean? My wife has been to Bermuda (before we got married) and she said that back then tourists could only operate motorcycle-style scooters. Is that still the case or do they allow something else these days? She didn't operate one of the scooters herself, which was probably a good thing because she tends to be directionally challenged.

When I was there last (2016ish?) the best thing you could rent as a tourist was an electric moped.

[formulanone]

I have wanted to get to Bermuda for a good while now and have just never gotten the chance. When you say tourists can rent EVs, what sort of EVs do you mean? My wife has been to Bermuda (before we got married) and she said that back then tourists could only operate motorcycle-style scooters. Is that still the case or do they allow something else these days? She didn't operate one of the scooters herself, which was probably a good thing because she tends to be directionally challenged.

When I was there last (2016ish?) the best thing you could rent as a tourist was an electric moped.

I wasn't aware of vehicle rental directly from the airport, but since neither of those cars could fit much more than a backpack and a camera bag, I would have needed a taxi. I only carried a camera bag for my little drive to the beach and a few other spots.

I used a rental car app (called "Current"), since it was walking distance from my hotel. You upload your information and driver's license and credit card ahead of time, and then pick an available car on the app. I picked one that had a longer electric range than two other choices. Picking you time of pick-up/return gave me a few more vehicle choices. Give the rental app at least 36 hours to process all the driver information or it won't confirm the reservation and availability.

I drove a Renault Twizy, which seats 1.75 adults, from what I heard, since it's a real squeeze in the back. I was comfortable enough.



The Citroen Ami was the same price, and seemed to have a little more room. There were not as many of these available.

I don't know what that serif font is either, but I'm 80% sure I've seen that same font in the UK in more rural areas.

Looks similar to the "Privet Drive" sign used in Harry Potter.

Wow, good catch!

[1995hoo]

Thanks. Makes sense that those sorts of vehicles weren't available when she visited. I'm not sure when that was other than that it was more than 20 years ago.

[US 89]

I don't know what that serif font is either, but I'm 80% sure I've seen that same font in the UK in more rural areas.

Looks similar to the "Privet Drive" sign used in Harry Potter.


Also, these are great photos! It's very cool to learn more roadgeek stuff outside US/Canada.

Okay, so I went streetviewing a bit and this font appears to be fairly common and widespread across the UK for smaller roads, including in all four constituent countries:

https://goo.gl/maps/wdYszciGAEXZMCdK9
https://goo.gl/maps/qrYQt9dyjdagXNQW7
https://goo.gl/maps/aUthdvnBhcCm9wMS8
https://goo.gl/maps/yy6VejLq8YzwHads7
https://goo.gl/maps/b2vvWLagwEdDBtSs8

I assume it has a name - would be interested to find out what it is

[formulanone]

The Somerset Bridge supposedly has the narrowest drawbridge opening in the world. Middle Road goes over the passage, which is the inlet between Ely's Harbor and Great Sound.

Middle Road, approaching the drawbridge:


A view from the waterfront.


The drawbridge opening is manually-operated. I didn't see any bridge tender there, either. Those "paddles" are cricket bats; the annual Bermuda Cup Match between Somerset and St. George was played two weeks before.

[Road Hog]

I'm guessing the bridge attendant has to go out and disconnect the 4 (8?) chains every time.