Bus owners want lane back, suspend talks

The Public Transport Association said it was suspending talks with the Public Transport Authority over changes to bus routes and it requested an urgent meeting with the authority following the recent decision by the ADT to remove the bus lane in Mriehel Street, Mriehel.

Association president Victor Spiteri said his association strongly deplored the decision, which he said was taken without consultation with the association.

He said the talks in question were distinct from those which bus owners are having with the government and the authority over subsidies in the public transport sector.

Mr Spiteri said bus lanes were identified in the Halcrow Report on Public Transport as a good means to make public transport more efficient and punctual.

Mr Spiteri said that only last Friday the association had a meeting with the ADT and discussed bus routes. No mention was made of the removal of the bus lane in the following days, he said.

ADT chief executive Gianfranco Selvagi said the authority was legally obliged to remove the bus lane in Mriehel because it was not in conformity with the law.

"The suspension of talks by the association makes no sense at all. We are simply abiding by the law as instructed by the Attorney General's office," he said.