Thursday, 24th July 2008

Transport reform seeks to increase patronage

Rosanne Zammit

The government yesterday launched a vision document on public transport reform which has to be in place by 2015 but has to start in 2010.

The main aim of the reform is an increase in patronage.

"Patronage is consistently going down. I will be happy only when this increases," Transport Minister Austin Gatt said.

The document analyses the reasons for failure, proposes principles for reform and discusses solutions.

Dr Gatt said the main reason for the failure of the public transport system was political indecision by several governments that failed to grab the bull by the horns and instead came up with several minor reforms.

There were also managerial shortcomings both from the bus owners and from the Malta Transport Authority (ADT), which did not fully utilise the power it had by law.

Moreover, there had been a cultural resistance to change.

The country, the minister said, had to opt for systems that made sense. There were no easy solutions but if the country really wanted change, there had to be a change in mentality.

Buses had to be integrated with other forms of transport for the country to have one cohesive system serving the people. For this to happen, he said, the country needed the will to change what it had been doing for 50 years.

Dr Gatt pointed out that EU rules did not permit the government to reach an agreement with the Public Transport Association for the provision of transport.

The available options were nationalisation, the issue of a public tender or the award of the service to SMEs by direct order. The last option was aimed for small regional systems and the government intended to apply it to Gozo. It had also tried to apply it to Malta but it had clear indications that the EU would not accept it.

So the options were for the government to buy the licences from the owners and nationalise the service or to issue a public tender for which anyone could bid.

The association, he said, had to understand that it had to change its format in order to be able to compete in line with EU rules.

The minister said when asked that while subsidies were permitted by EU rules, these were not aimed at giving owners a guaranteed income whatever the level of usage.

The ADT would be drawing up a new public transport network which it would then discuss with the Public Transport Association. It was also preparing studies on the type of buses the country would need and on the recurrent expenditure expected for a modern and efficient system.

The government's aim was to eventually have a whole energy-friendly fleet. Besides the Valletta terminus, the intention was to have four other termini at Buġibba, Sliema, Paola and the airport.

The buses reform had to start by 2010. Dr Gatt said he was aiming for the complete reform to be in place by 2015. This would possibly include the introduction of tram lines, and a group from the UK should be in Malta to study this possibility next week. The tram routes planned are Valletta to Sliema and Valletta to Birkirkara and Rabat.

Other transport systems that should form part of public transport include taxis, electric cars and ferries.

The document can be viewed online at www.mitc.gov.mt. Comments can be sent to info.mitc@gov.mt.

Next article • Reform public transport immediately, AD insists

Article © Allied Newspapers Ltd., printed on Sunday, November 22, 2009. This article is for personal use only, and should not be distributed.

Comments

victor vella (on 25/7/08)

@josef Grech too cheap for too long,yes true buses in Malta are considered cheap when compared to the ones in UK for example, but have you ever compared them to Greece? or Italy? the viability of routes is a factor that I tend to agree with, and I will only pay extra for say subsidies a route like the villages/hospital route at the visiting hours time, but not to subsidies karta anzjan most of the OAP are richer by half anyways . Josef please note that viability of routes also depends on the bus service, I remember the introduction of the service between Bugibba abd Sliema ferries, was that successful? only because you wanted it to be as you had a higher fare,and please note that you were supposed to change all the buses, the old Thames is still working.

Denis Catania (on 24/7/08)

Trams, yes I can see them taking 5 to 7 yrs.But new buses should be here no later than a year. And it could be done in a few months, if wants be. Do ministers wait 7 yrs for their new cars? if not why should the Maltese, who are the minister employers wait 7 yrs.
Give the bus owners 30 days to order the new buses. the ones that can afford it, can stay i n business. The ones that can't, should do something else. No subsidy for the purchase of new buses.

Marisa Attard (on 24/7/08)

To increase patrionage, certain routes must be introduced. Living in Marsascala it may take an hour to reach Zejtun by bus. One has to take a bus to Paola and then take the Zejtun one from there. If there is a direct bus say every hour, it will only take about twenty minutes each way. How about it?

Jeffrey Abela-Wadge (on 24/7/08)

Well done Dr Austin Gatt. Finally someone is taking the bull by the horns and implementing the much needed change. I would also like to add that the buses etc should be equiped with some electronic payment system like the OYSTER card of London. This is very efficient and controls abuse. When this change is implemented, everyone stands to gain.

josef Grech (on 24/7/08)

As an Association we believe that we supply whatever service the ADT requires from us but inevitably if it is not viable the cost for supplying such a service has to be carried by the ADT and consequently the tax payer has to pay at a later stage. Such things stand to reason. The only conclusion is that the present Public Transport System has been kept running too cheap for too long and now it would be a big mistake to talk about such a leap in a sector that has been taken for granted for such a long time. Even if people out there do not realise it, as it is not their responsibility, still those in the sector do huge sacrifices to keep going and rest assured that were it not the so called way of living that operators got accustomed to and that the Minister mentioned in last Sunday Times, it would have not been possible to run the service we have today!! Minister Gatt, please see that we have been running TOO CHEAP FOR TOOLONG!!

josef Grech (on 24/7/08)

This would enable us to invest more in our buses and thus providing a better environment for our drivers with air-conditioned cabs so as to be able to end their day smartly dressed. The Minister made some good points, that of seeing that EU driver hour regulations are adhered to. Certainly if the buses are made to work more hours, than we would need shifts to be introduced and more drivers to work in the sector. There again, who is going to pay for all this? The tax payer no!! But that alone would not improve the environment we have at our termini with the total lack of facilities. He even mentions the route network that needs an overhaul. Viability and sustainability, one only needs common sense to realise that the fare must be calculated by number of seats, average number of people travelling per journey and then compare to costs per trip. Therefore it is useless saying we want more connections if they are not viable.

josef Grech (on 24/7/08)

Unbelievable!! So many bright ideas, we have to do this and that, but no suggestion about how to improve the present public transport system.
James Sultana and L Ebejer simply can’t accept the fact that at the end, being it a service or a commodity it’s the consumer that has to pay the right price for it being supplied. The fact that he still believes that people had to pay out money from their taxes so that bus operators could buy their new busses is proof that the fare system dictated by various administrators is wrong as it did not leave enough profit generated to be able to invest in newer buses ourselves. And it is still like that!! Do you think that during the five years we have been running the new buses we managed to put aside enough money to re-invest in our sector? Remember some 5yrs ago the fare was just the same 47€ cents!!! The mistake here is that as operators we carry the burden of running a social service. I believe that we have to go commercial in order to start seeing improvements. The social part of the service must be carried by the Govt.

Transport reform seeks to increase patronage

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