Bus lanes 'here to stay'

Recently introduced bus lanes which, although welcomed by some, have caused a lot of anger among many motorists, are here to stay.

The first bus lane to be introduced by the Malta Transport Authority was a one kilometre stretch in Aldo Moro Road, Marsa last summer. Last month, another lane, 1.9 kilometres in length, was brought into being in Mdina Road, Mriehel.

While the Mriehel bus lane is timed - the road has only two lanes, and bus use of the road is not heavy - to coincide with the peak hour traffic flow, the Marsa bus lane is not timed - the bus lane in Marsa is on a four-lane carriageway and bus frequency is high.

Fines for unauthorised use of bus lanes can be up to Lm20. The police were asked a number of questions about the fines for illegal use of the bus lanes, but a month after the questions were passed to them, no answer has been received at The Times.

Bus lanes are for the use of all classes of public transport vehicles. These include mini buses, taxis and route buses. They are banned to private passenger vehicles.

Since the introduction of the bus lanes, irate motorists have been writing to The Times voicing their anger, though some expressed appreciation for their introduction.

Martin Farrel of Zabbar wrote that following the introduction of the Marsa bus lane, it was now taking him a whole hour to make the journey to Msida.

Clive Farrugia of Birzebbuga said there had been a congestion at Marsa ever since the bus lane was introduced. The proportion of cars to buses did not justify such a lane, he argued.

And Joseph Sammut of Marsascala asked when were the transport authorities going to realise what a mess they were causing during rush hours with the introduction of the bus lane in Marsa.

He pointed out that reducing a four-lane road into three lanes was neither going to improve the public transport nor would it encourage the public to use the bus service.

Carmel Mifsud Borg of Marsascala wrote that not only were the bus lanes causing traffic chaos, they were also the cause of additional air pollution, a waste of fuel, and an exacerbation of the country's foreign exchange negative balance of payments. They were also leading to hundreds of commuters and drivers starting their working day with a bad temper.

But Tony Gaffiero of Marsascala was of a different opinion.

He said he believed the authorities should stick to their decision. He wrote that in reality, traffic congestion in Marsa was only marginally worse than it was before the introduction of the bus lane and his daily trip from Marsascala to Pietà was still taking him the usual 30 to 40 minutes at peak time.

Congestion, he said, was not caused by bus lanes but by the fact that most people relied exclusively on personal motor transport to get around. A bus user, Karina Fiorini of Zabbar, said the bus lane in Marsa proved to be very useful as now she was being whisked out of Marsa faster and arriving in Valletta earlier.

Asked if such letters were given any consideration, an authority spokesman said the authority took note of all comments made by the public, including letters in the press, comments on radio programmes and phone calls and correspondence to the authority.

The spokesman said that not all comments received were negative. There were a large number of favourable comments, and suggestions where other bus lanes could be introduced in both Malta and Gozo. The spokesman said when asked that the authority was evaluating the possibility of other bus lanes but such studies were still in the preliminary planning stage.

The criteria for deciding where there should be a bus lane included heavy traffic volumes especially during peak hours, adequate road space or enough lanes to accommodate the inclusion of a bus lane, the minimum width of it being three metres, and the safety aspects of the location.

The spokesman said the introduction of bus lanes was in line with the transport white paper, whose main aim was to promote sustainable transport through transport integration. The bus lane was one of a number of measures implemented to improve the efficiency of the public transport system, along with the introduction of the new public transport routes, the upgrade of ticketing systems, bus shelters and other related services.

The spokesman pointed out that buses and bus lanes did not create congestion, it was private passenger vehicles which did.

In a statement on the situation, the opposition spokesman for roads and public transport, Charles Buhagiar pointed out that bus lanes had to be considered as an integral part of road designing but new arterial roads were, in many cases, being narrowed to just two lanes, making the introduction of a bus lane in these roads impossible. Only old roads were wide enough to accommodate a bus lane.

A study by the transport authority whose results were announced earlier this month has concluded that the introduction of the Marsa bus lane did not show any shift from the use of passenger cars to buses. But it was pointed out that such a shift usually occurred in the medium to long term.

The study also concluded that the cause of traffic congestion in Marsa was not the bus lane but the merging of two lanes proceeding from Garibaldi Street into the three lanes, instead of the former four lanes, on the lower end of Sta Lucija Avenue, opposite the car battery shop.

Because of the bus lane buses were found to have cut the time to reach the Marsa flyover bridge from the Addolorata traffic lights, but buses were meeting additional delays before reaching the bus lane, owing to the traffic congestion created.