Bus owners' demands would amount to 50% fare rise - minister

Transport Minister Censu Galea said yesterday that demands being made by the bus owners' association would amount to a fare increase of 50 per cent, something which was unacceptable for the government even if all other reforms to the bus service were implemented.

Mr Galea said in parliament that the fundamental issue in the current bus drivers' industrial dispute was that Malta had a bus fleet of 508 of which only half was utilised every day. Yet there was a low efficiency ratio, many areas were not served by the bus service, and the service operated in unsuitable hours in some cases.

Mr Galea was speaking during the debate on the financial estimates of the Malta Transport Authority.

"The bus service is facing fundamental issues which have to be addressed by the bus owners" Mr Galea said.

He said the available buses every day performed 4,000 daily trips carrying 85,000 passengers when their capacity was of 200,000 passengers - an efficiency ratio of 40 per cent.

While new routes needed to be introduced and operating times adjusted for others, there was also a need for new, smaller buses to operate to village cores where narrow streets were unsuitable for the larger buses.

The government, he said, was insisting that a fare increase being requested by the bus owners could not be negotiated unless it was accompanied by a comprehensive reform of the service.

The association, he said, wanted bus owners' income to rise to Lm15,000 from the current Lm10,000. That would amount to a 50 per cent fare increase which the government found unacceptable even if all the reforms were implemented.

Mr Galea said the government was also against subsidising the replacement of all 508 buses with new 45-seat capacity vehicles, as the bus owners wanted. Perhaps the government would subsidise a few more than the 174 approved so far, but Malta needed a bus fleet of different sizes as part of the reform process. The government wanted the vehicles it subsidised to be used on the bus routes, not on other services.

Earlier, the minister spoke about the aims and structures of the authority.

When he referred to the authority's traffic management directorate, Mr Galea touched on the closure of streets for several occasions, including feasts. Although there was nothing wrong in celebrating feasts, the more time passed, the more difficult it would be for arterial roads to be closed for this purpose, he said.

Mr Galea said the authority's licensing and testing department had introduced a theoretic section to the driving test as from the beginning of this year and the points system was being applied to new drivers. The system would apply to all drivers in a few years' time.

A sense of responsibility had to be instilled in all drivers, making them realise that committing certain contraventions would cost them points, and possibly, their licence.

Labour MP Charles Buhagiar asked what sense it made to change over to bigger buses when the number of commuters was falling, these buses could not negotiate narrow roads, and they cost more to operate. If at all, the change should have been to smaller vehicles.

The fact was that the bus service was getting millions of liri in subsidies when only half the bus fleet was used every day.

The new buses carried as many people as coaches, and were now taking the latter's work.

In contrast to bus owners, coach owners had spent an average of Lm60,000 to upgrade each coach at their own expense.

Mr Buhagiar said several aspects of public transport needed review. That included the bus routes and location of bus termini.

It was also time to think about a new system of water taxis which was linked to road transport. It was not good enough for passengers to be ferried to Valletta on the ferry only to face a steep climb to the city centre.

Mr Buhagiar also called for effective law enforcement in the taxis sector, including a clamp-down on illegal taxi work.

Labour MP Joe Brincat insisted that road signage should be effective and up to date. Tourist road maps also needed to be up to date.

He called for proper provision for run-off water in road building.

The roads, he said, had become congested with traffic in a way that not only slowed the traffic, but also caused environmental hazards. Reform of public transport should be the key to reducing this congestion.

The bus service needed to be extended to new areas, but the people too, needed to opt for the buses instead of their cars. Judges of the European Court used public transport to travel from the Strasbourg court to the town of Strasbourg because the service was efficient.

Evarist Bartolo (MLP) called for a better school transport service which did not require schoolchildren to be on the road as early as 6.30 a.m.

It was important that children had enough hours of sleep.

Some schools lacked safety measures while children were waiting for transport back home. How could the use of seat belts in school transport be enforced when some mini-buses carried three children for every two seats?

The issue of public transport should also be linked to children's health issues because of fumes on the roads.