Public buses: From hell to heaven and back

The title to this contribution sums up my views about the public bus service. The introduction of the new buses has certainly improved the service, however, regrettably, the fact that these new buses make up only a minority of the present fleet of buses in operation does mean that many commuters have to make do with the "antique" buses some of which are characterised by a series of shortcomings.

Let me start on a positive note. The new buses are a joy to use. The seats are comfortable, the bell ringing system visible and the interior of the buses airy with ample standing space.

Some of the "old" buses in contrast are a nightmare. Using the new and old buses may be our way of making people conscious of the difference between heaven and hell in this world!

Generally, with the "old" buses there is no uniform bell ringing system to alert the bus driver to stop. Some buses still have the traditional "rope" bell ringing system with which many commuters are familiar and which, at least, is easy to spot and use. Some of the other "old" buses however have no easily visible bell ringing system. At times it takes me a few minutes to figure out where the bell is. In stark contrast, the new buses have a uniform and easily discernible bell ringing system.

The windows on some of the old buses seem to be the result of someone's idea of treating commuters to a free sauna in the hot summer months. At least with some of the older buses one can generally open the windows for a breath of air. Ironically, in some ways the "oldest" models still in service are, in my opinion, somewhat better than some of the more recent "older" buses.

What I personally find extremely annoying is the access to some of the old buses. There are a minority of buses - especially in the case of the aging, former coach tourist-type buses - which have three or four steps, a daunting task for some of our senior citizens. Sometimes getting on these buses is like some military obstacle course especially created for our senior citizens. The new fleet of level floor buses in contrast cater well for the needs of senior citizens and people with a disability!

A word about the ticketing machines. The original idea of having a travel bus ticket seems to have fallen by the wayside. Initially, some people - a very small minority of commuters - did purchase these cards. However, the idea never really got off. The fact that one had to pay an extra Lm1.50 simply for having the card was evidentially a disincentive undermined by the additional handicap that the ticket machines apparently took that few extra seconds in processing each travel card - somewhat impractical especially in the early morning rush hour trips.

On the plus side the use of these machines to actually issue tickets seems to be an improvement on the old manual ticketing system and has the advantage of providing customers and operators of the bus service with a record of the tickets.

The attitude of bus drivers seems to have improved marginally in recent years, though as with every profession, there is a small minority whose attitude leaves a lot to be desired.

Evidently there is still a long way to go before more people start using the public bus service. The ever increasing problem of car parking coupled with the relatively low bus fares should clearly be an incentive for the use of public buses. There has been some improvement but certainly not enough has been done. People, I think, will be prepared to pay those few extra cents for the use of the service but not before there is a visible improvement.

Clearly, one of the measures that will improve matters and make the bus service a more attractive proposition is the substitution of all of the old buses with the modern buses. In my view many of the problems relate primarily to this consideration.

Dr Micallef is a member of the consumer association.