Tuesday, 7th October 2008 - 10:01CET
Transport Federation warns of new strike if agreement is not respected
The Transport Federation has warned the Transport Minister to respect what was agreed at the end of the recent transport strike, unless he wanted to see public transport paralysed again.
It made its warning in a reaction to the consultation document issued on Saturday on a reform of the taxi service.
The federation noted that the ministry’s vision was to see the current 200 taxi permits increased to 700, while also increasing the number of electric taxi cabs.
“The ministry clearly has not studied what the market can support’” the federation said.
It said that the taxis sector was not made up only of the 200 white taxis, but also included some 2,000 taxi services, including black and grey taxis, red and white vans. One could see at the airport that for every taxi another five operators carried passengers. Therefore, the people had a choice of vehicle and tariff.
What the ministry had failed to mention, the federation said, was that during winter, there was not even enough business for the 200 white taxis.
The minister (Dr Austin Gatt) expected that the Maltese should start using white taxis, the federation observed. Yet, had he been at City Gate after 10 p.m. last Saturday, during notte bianca, he could hear the people complain about the special bus fare of €1.16. So how could they be expected to pay €5 or €10 to take a taxi to work?
The federation recalled that when the transport strike ended, it was a agreed that the parties concerned would conduct a study of the market and if it was shown that the market could support further permits to meet demand, the outcome would be discussed with the sector involved.
It also pointed out that despite the liberalisation of the hearses sector, consumers were not seeing lower prices.
“The federation warns the minister that if he does not wish to see public transport paralysed again, he should respect what was agreed” the federation warned.
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Comments
You cannot discuss anything with the Federation and its members. They will not listen let alone understand that biting the hand that feeds you will put you on the bread line fast.
A threat of another strike should be matched with a promise of giving the Police and the AFM with full authority to use all the force necessary to keep law and order and prevent road blocks. Any vehicle which is used to prevent the free flow of traffic should be impounded and scrapped. Most of the buses are a heap of scrap anyway.
When are we going to see spot checks from ADT performing real CHECKS fromTailpipes of the buses to verify the emissions, and increasing the rate of CANCER in Malta!???
Is there anybody who has the GUTS to start, MInister please!!!!
So here it is! September 2nd 2008--Bugibba ,an unbearably hot day, I waited for the 70/645/652 bus for one whole hour in the heat of the afternoon sweating like a sick pig!!! Got to work twenty minutes late swearing my head off and and vowing to share this 'experience' in the middle of the tourist season, in a locality of over 40,000 residents (in Summer) with the esteemed readers of The Times!!
The next day I went on the same route and gave the bus driver 2 euros to which he groaned (as they always do) and said that he didn't have change....there you go..voila!!! An increase of 4cents to a rude driver for giving me shoddy service!!!!!!!!!
£5.4 m new buses hit region’s roads
A striking fleet of 27 new buses that transport chiefs say they will “revolutionise” travel on Black Country routes was launched today.
The Diamond bus company and West Midlands passenger transport authority Centro have pledged to make a series of improvements on a number of key bus routes as part of a £5.4 million investment.
They will give passengers more frequent, cleaner, state-of-the-art services.
The new Black Diamond buses, painted in a black, red and silver livery, boast “friendly, helpful drivers” according to the firm, who will help passengers travel to their destination in luxury.
The vehicles have Euro 5 standard engines, the most environmentally friendly available.
Thousands of leaflets with a voucher giving holders a week’s free trial of the new services have been distributed. As part of the changes Centro is also upgrading a number of stops and shelters which serve the new buses, so that passengers can wait in comfort until their service arrives. The shelters will be fitted with solar powered lighting where possible.
The government should then procure new buses that are not decrepit death traps, and establish a true publicly-owned public transportation system; one where there are no owner-operators but employees of the system.
Public transportation in Malta is one of a kind. It is an anomaly - a privately-owned public transportation system. Malta is tired of being held hostage by these people. It is long past due for the government to act firmly and settle this matter once and for all. Away with them.
Yesterday, the no. 45 (07.45) bus from Mellieha to Valletta left at 07.53 since it was already past quarter to that the driver decided to let commuters on the bus and then obviously we still had to buy the tickets. This when the bus was already there but all the drivers felt like having a conversation on this same bus, despacher included.
This morning no. 145 (07.45) bus to Valletta left late again and the driver had already smoked 3 cigarettes by the time I alighted at Mosta. But that's OK as long as the bus is full of no smoking warnings. At St. Paul's bay, one of these young inspectors who seem more like school children, approached the driver, me thinking he would give the driver a telling off. But how wrong I was, he only wanted a fag. These people are giving us a bad name with foreigners. They are a hazard in every imaginable respect. Pity about the very small minority of decent ones amongst them.
And the Commissioner of Police gets praised by the Justice Minister whilst innocent bystanders are threatened and some beaten.
Pathetic. And here we are again. Our Govenrment is spineless: it seeks to square the circle but for obvious reasons it always fails to do so,
So the story goes on... another strike, more praise to the Commissioner of Police (who no doubt his latitude of action is constrained by political direction), and the inevitable spineless action to resolve this matter conclusively.
On my part - the next strike: I will sue the Government for the loss of business, road rage, the far of intimidation et al. It is Government that failed to conclusively resolve the matter when everybody was behind it. This time round, I for one will not be there.
they forget that their primary concern is their customers. I have seen very little initiative taken by this federation and by the member it serves over the years. Any other business would do its utmost to attract more customer base and improve its product. In the 38 years of my life, i have seen precious little of this from this sector. It remains an anachronism.
The people need to come out and vote with their feet. A boycott of this service would push them all out of business, and let it start afresh with hopefully a better attitude.
This bullying attitude comes on top of violence and aggressive behaviour, but it seems nothing would shame these people.
it just beggars believe...this federation is the same one which came out with an outcry of foul when obviously polluting buses were to be submitted to more vigorous testing. tanymore more to be said?
customers first federation? ..apologies for my rant!
In my opinion a radical change would be to start giving Maltese people what they really deserve and which has been lacking for ages. This is no Smart City here were everything is to start from new. Here we are talking about peoples’ lives, which have invested all their energies, earned a living, brought up their families, raised their kids and grown old in delivering such services to the Maltese public in an environment dictated by the Government with all the uncertainty that this brought about for a long period of time without any incentive to progress.
First and foremost, the main problem is that all past administrators held control on public transport fares. I believe that this was always used as a tool to keep the cost of living down and led the Government to start subsidising passengers who travelled by bus. Unfortunately, Operators did not foresee that this would be used by Authorities as a weapon against the Operators themselves! Proof of this is the fact that in order to have part of our fleet of buses replaced, the government had to intervene given that no provision for replacement of rolling stock was ever considered when calculating the yearly income per bus. Unfortunately this is still the present situation.
A 5 minute, 3 stops bus ride in Dublin, Ireland will set you back around Eur 4.
Not sure what bus your talking about since Dublin Bus have a set fare structure. If you paid €4 for a 5 min bus ride, then you got ripped off. My bus jounrey takes 30mins and only costs €1.70. http://www.dublinbus.ie/fares_and_tickets/fares.asp
Every other business has competition and we all have to work hard to make a living... why do you transport people expect to be treated better than the rest of us? Because you make the biggest pollution contribution? Because you create havoc on the roads by driving in the worst possible way? Because you overcharge? and most of the time don't issue receipts...?
Go ahead and strike have your bbqs or whatever GIVE US A BREAK!... if you couldn't afford it you wouldn't strike! so you mustn't be all THAT "poor you(s)" after all!
all the rest of us ask and DESERVE is for the authorities to make this JUST & FAIR! if they are parked in the middle of the road FINE THEM! if they block roundabouts FINE THEM! and mostly... and this is for everyday not for the strike days only... FINE THEM FOR POLLUTING! ...the same way the rest of us get fined!
These are only a few hints for your market review Mr Spiteri. The fact that you didn't do this may show something on your managment skills!
What about tackling also the sharp increase in the cost of school transport (mini-vans) ? In our case, fees for one term have gone up from Lm 40 (last year) to Lm 60 now, i.e. an increase of 33%. And that's just for one child.
Roll on the day we have a fully competitive playing field here in Malta !
Buses? I have no means of transport, but even these need looking after, they, the TF, should not rule our Country.
Last Saturday when we used the park and ride system I was amazed to find the Co-op providing the service of the park and ride. The Minister did not keep his promise to us the law abiding citizens!! The Maltese proverb - "Kelb jinbah ma jigdiemx!!" really suits the situation. Now they know that if they once again create havoc, no long term action will be taken against them, they can get away with murder.
I couldn't agree with you more. The country should not be held hostage because of the public transports declining patronage and revenues not being generated. I would have to agree that perhaps it might be time for some drivers to consider a career change, but there should be some kind of training assistance given to drivers in the event they do leave the public transport completely.
In the event that there could be another strike, the country will continue to move on. You'll just see more vehicles on an already clogged arterie system.
It seems that your argument is tied in a knot; first the market could not support more taxies then a conjecture of a hypothetical fare to support a non existing argument!
Fares are established against some form of standard, for instance like distance travelled for a night or day journey. For sure most of the taxies charge against the standard of maximum gain for minimum work.
So if you feel like plunging into another adventure go ahead, but this time around the authorities are forewarned and forearmed. Probably this time around you will beg the public to forgive you for any inconvenience that your actions will cause and promise that after the strike the taxies will give free lifts until the end of 2008!
We need a free market in this sector and at least drivers with some basic education.
I was once asked for Lm6 to take 3 people from St.Andrews to Paceville, a 3 minute ride, but since it was right after the Aussie Floyd concert, the driver thought it was a fair price.
I cannot understand how taxis should be exempt from competition when any other business has its market saturated. Those drivers who want more customers should start off by dressing well and showing some manners on and off the road.
Public sympathy towards anything that has to do with public transport is destined to remain low until someone with enough firepower turns things around, so another strike is surely a shot in the Federation's foot.
If this happens, businesses should take the Federation to court for damages in loss of business.
The only reason there isn't enough business for taxis is because they're expensive as hell.
"Yet, had he been at City Gate after 10 p.m. last Saturday, during notte bianca, he could hear the people complain about the special bus fare of €1.16. So how could they be expected to pay €5 or €10 to take a taxi to work?"
Can we really compare a bus ride to a taxi ride? Buses are uncomfortable, noisy, they stop every couple of minutes to drop people off, and it takes ages for one to arrive to his or her destination. So yes, €1.16 for a bus fare is expensive. €5 for a taxi is not, although I doubt anyone would be willing to pay that amount on a daily basis to go to work.
The market will support however many taxi drivers it will support, that is a matter for market forces in a liberalised market, and not for communist-style quota restrictions which lead to bad service and cartelisation. The public does not want a small cartel turned into a bigger cartel – it wants full liberalisation, including no restrictions on the number of licenses.
It is absurd how such cornering of markets is still allowed, to the detriment of the economy and consumers, even when it has been expressly prohibited by Maltese law, namely article 5 of the Competition Act (concerning cartelisation), since 2002, and by European law, notably articles 81 (cartelisation) and 86 (special or exclusive rights limiting access to a market) of the EC Treaty, since 2004. All of this is patently illegal, but our competition authority is not independent and is asleep at the wheel. Stop this nonsense and enforce competition law!
We taxpayers want liberalisation and this is what Minister Gatt is promising. I hope he'll stick to his guns to act accordingly.
I sincerely can't understand what the hell do they think they are. I quote,
"“The federation warns the minister that if he does not wish to see public transport paralysed again, he should respect what was agreed”....no words to add!
If these "hero" white taxi drivers want us Maltese to use their service, they should decrease their lucrative profit, by reducing the pocket-whopping fares. And don't come to compare a bus fare of €1.16 to taxi service. I, for one, would not complain that taxi fares are priced between €5-€10, as I would have a decent and comfortable ride (hopefully not a deathride, coz of their over speeding).
I'm prepared for the eventful strike,... and by all means, I will (like most other Maltese) see that I keep NOT using any services capped under the Federation!
Let the games begin!
Market liberalisation does not lead to cheaper prices, look at the UK energy market at the moment. The growth of compettition and private businesses in place of a state owned utility has seen the cost of electricity and gas to consumers increase to record levels.
Why don't the transport federation work WITH the government and both parties look to bring about the development of a safe, sustainable and affordable public transport system for Malta what its people deserve.
If they do go on strike, send the Army in and stop the situation we saw last time
When is the public going to say stop to all this bullying and threats from this Transport Federation?
Malta needs an efficient transport service and the Government should do all it takes to achieve this aim. We cannot continue to be treated in such manners.
Our transport service resembles that of a third world African country, and if Malta is to keep up pace with our EU partners, this service must definitly improve ! ! !
Mr. Victor Spiteri, is unfortunately living in another era and he hasn't yet realised that Malta has changed, and that the threats of strikes and demonstrations are no longer effective and they are PASSE (with an acute accent on the "E").
Results are achieved through negotiations, and negotiations are held around a table.
The people are tired of these tactics. We are in 2008 and not in 1978 ! ! !
Let us have a transport service that we the citizens of these islands truly deserve !
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On second thoughts, bring it on, and let us have some civility on our roads!
We want European Union standards in all our types of public transport, be it buses, be it taxis (whatever colour), be it mini-buses (whatever colour), be it horse cabs, be it hearses. Let them know that we just want DECENT PUBLIC TRANSPORT
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The roads were better off without them last time. If they strike, revoke all their licenses and offer them to people who will give a good service, we have seen no improvement from these arrogant cowboys.
The introduction of electric vehicles is a positive step that needs to be implemented asap.
We are all behind you Austin!