The use of an automatic bus ticketing system, scheduled to start in five months' time, would probably be delayed, Public Transport Association chairman Victor Spiteri said yesterday.

He said that although 200 of the 508 buses already had the equipment installed, more was still required: courses for drivers and information campaigns for passengers had to be organised; Malta Environment and Planning Authority permits for the installation of vending machines had to be applied for and awarded; and the vending machines themselves had to be installed.

Drivers Charles Cachia and Wayne Zahra said that although the system was supposed to start in five months' time, they still did not have any idea how it was going to work.

Installation of the equipment started about a month and a half ago but they were waiting anxiously to see how it would work.

The association and its members, Mr Spiteri said, were all for the system.

Commuters would be able to choose whether to use the automatic system or to pay the fare to the driver directly, as was the case now. If they opted for the latter, they would be charged 1c more per trip.

Using the automatic system will be simplicity itself: cards in denominations of Lm2 or Lm5 will be sold from 12 vending machines which will be eventually installed around the island.

A card user would be able to top up the credit on his card using the same vending machines.

Mr Spiteri said that contrary to what many believed, the machines would not restrict contact between the driver and passengers. This was because the public transport system in Malta, he said, was based on a number of different zones. Therefore, when using public transport, the commuter would insert his card into the machine, and the driver would punch in the correct fare; the relative amount would then be debited from the card.

Bus route 45, for example, had three different fares - 15c, 18c and 20c besides the children's and senior citizens fares. The driver would retain control over which fare to charge, Mr Spiteri said.

The machine will issue a receipt to those using the automatic system and bus inspectors would have equipment with which to read the card and check from where the passenger boarded and what fare was debited from his card.

He said that ticketing and vending machines would be monitored for feedback on the volume of people using public transport. He said that to start with, six of the 12 vending machines were to be installed at the Valletta, Sliema and Bugibba termini. Bus cards would only be available from these machines.

The agreement to install bus ticketing machines was reached in 1995 but was delayed following controversy over details of the tender specifications.