Bus service must improve

I hope that after three days of strike, the discussions between the bus owners and authorities will bear fruit and constructive measures for the benefit of all commuters who depend on public buses.

I would like to thank the police force and the Armed Forces of Malta for offering an emergency service, providing their buses and trucks to be used by the public. The education department also provided a service with its buses.

All public transport passengers now hope that the service will finally improve. Buses should be more punctual. Drivers could be more patient, helpful and polite, especially with tourists.

I also suggest that a new fare billing system is introduced. This way, commuters will pay according to the distance they are to travel. If they travel within one fare stage, they should pay for that specific distance only. If they leave that specified zone, they would have to pay the difference. This system is utilised abroad and the Public Transport Association's bus dispatchers/officials could help.

For example, the fare from Valletta to Blata l-Bajda/Hamrun is specified as 15 cents but sometimes passengers are charged 20 cents for this route. The new ticket billing system machines should be used to implement this measure.

The PTA officers could check the tickets upon inspection to ensure that passengers are travelling within the zones they have paid for.