Saturday, 6th December 2008 - 10:16CET

Bus owners call for talks on reform, contract

The Public Transport Association, which represents the bus owners, said today that it looked forward to reform which would usher in new routes, new buses, higher income and a better service, but it denied comments by the transport minister that it had been consulted about it.

Referring to comments made yesterday by minister Austin Gatt, the association said the appointment it had been given to discuss the reform was December 10.

The association noted with satisfaction that the minister had now acknowledged that the new low floor buses with Euro 3 emission standards were good for the reform, whereas in the past he had said that all the buses were old. It looked forward to talks with the government on the replacement of the rest of the bus fleet, which could include buses of different sizes.

The association said that, as in the past, it was ready to introduce all changes to the bus routes which it felt would benefit the people.

It noted, however, that the minister had not said anything about the new bus fares which commuters would be charged, or the subsidy which it said the government would have to pay for the operation of the service.

However, the minister’s announcement that new bus termini and new bus lanes would be introduced was welcome.

“Now that the association is seeing serious government commitment for public transport reform, it augurs that talks will be started immediately on the drawing up of a contract for the operation of the bus service for the coming years,” the association said.

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

Comments

cassar i (on 7/12/08)

Bus lanes won't solve any problems.In fact they do the opposite. If one restricts the flow of traffic at any one point it will effect others roads and traffic plies up. Thus gaining a few seconds on bus lanes and ending up loosing 5 minutes in traffic is sheer nonsense . To increase efficiency we need better traffic management. (ADT hasn't any idea of what it is) and moreover new roads should have and must be built dual carriage both ways where possible not the reverse. Not to forget multilevel parking spaces. rule 1 efficiency from A to B and the safest.Benefits reduces stress fuel pollution etc. finding adequate parking, same results. Ps the roads should be safe and guide you through such as in mid December at about 9.00 pm raining and with limited visibility and not in mid August noon and sunny. i.e remove all the garbage which you are allowing to be placed in the roads, not to mention holes.
So please do not continue messing up things.

Robert Scullion (on 6/12/08)

Bus Lanes are a cheap way of speeding up public transport. A faster way would be to introduce trams, undergrounds rail etc .. however the cost would be huge and create discontentment among the tax paying public. Therefore bus lanes are a cheap and quick substitute.

Also you don't need to have wider roads to accommodate them. Having roads that can be reorganised as 3lanes wide .. you can have what is known as a 2+1 system. Since the main rush hour exists in the morning you could, say, have all traffic coming from a town on one lane, but 2 lanes heading into a town. One of these would be a bus lane and the other for traffic.

Without bus lanes, then any reform of the bus service is likely to fail. Especially since the only way to make buses go faster than car traffic (and create the incentive for people to switch) is by having bus only lanes.

Jean Paul Galea (on 6/12/08)

Its good to have Euro 3 buses but still the government should check the emission because most of the new Euro 3 buses still emit a lot due to the fuel mixture in the tank.

a.camilleri (on 6/12/08)

does re-test for the bust drivers come in this reform?and how about teaching them about public relations as most of them do need it

René Micallef (on 6/12/08)

I´ve visited several cities with trams and bus lanes; in all cases, the social and ecological option taken is that of sacrificing the comfort and speed of private transport in favour of public transport. In the city centres (here in Madrid, as well as in London or in Paris, where I lived previously) you wouldn´t consider using your car unless you intended to carry heavy objects, go out by night, visit the outskirts or another city.

The plans published by MITC are very interesting, but 30 minute intervals on important routes seem too long... We need a system punctual and frequent enough to counter the inconvenience it inevitably adds to personal transport. The tram + park and ride at Ta´Qali seems to me a very good idea; and if successful it could be extended to other routes. But let´s get it right: let´s get a decent, rapid, frequent, rail-tram or light rail system like the CITADIS ones installed in 11 French cities, 4 Spanish cities, Gdańsk, Katowice, Rotterdam, Dublin... and currently being installed in Jerusalem, Dubai, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco... not some second-class slow solution with little traction and crawling on tarmac.

James Sultana (on 6/12/08)

@ John Williams

Can you then explain how a tram can have ITS OWN LANE in Marina Street (Pieta), The Strand, Vallet Road (B`Kara), etc ??????

Joe Micallef (on 6/12/08)

@ John Williams - Other vehicles CAN drive over tram tracks and no, they do not have their own lanes!

lgalea (on 6/12/08)

As if we have 8-lane highways for our roads!
The introduction of bus lanes was one of the most stupid thing that were ever introduced.
Their introduction only exacerbated the traffic problems while providing an income to the Government from car drivers who even inadvertently drive for a very small distance in them.
To rub salt into the would, we never see bus drivers and other heavy and slow moving vehicles driver driving on the outer lane arraigned.
The private vehicles drivers, and most of the drivers are private vehicle drivers, want the removal of the bus lane.
Remove the bus lanes and do not give the buses any special treatment.

John Williams (on 6/12/08)

Joe Micallef, what happens if trams are introduced in Malta? they drive on their own lane

Bradly Reece (on 6/12/08)

Hello all, i welcomed the new reform programme for the local bus service and general improvement in the transport sector, however i kind of love these old buses and i find them fascinating to look at, most are kept in an immaculate shape.,i know a lot of people complaining about the negative side of things but one never hears of the positive side of it all,i challenge anyone complaining about the hot headed bus drivers, to try and just take up the job for one day,driving under a huge load of responsibility, heat of 35 degs,and people coming and and out of the bus all day long,its not exactly a desk job now is it, so i say give credit to these bus drivers where is due and not always look on the dark side of things,i wish we had the same atmosphere back where i come from. , as the programme entails new route ,bus lanes and new buses well i guess we all got to move with the times as they say. Good Luck Chaps.

Stefan Gauci Scicluna (on 6/12/08)

Such transport reform is good news for most of the direct and indirect stakeholders in the Maltese islands. However, even though there might be some resistance from certain sectors that don't have the interest to improve the public transport package, the Government must push forward this reform for the sake of choice, less use of private cars, better environment in terms of air and general visual aspect of our country. I think that if people living or spending time in Malta would see the benefit of using public transport and other forms of transport, then they simply change. However, it's important to state that people using private transport give most value to cost and service frequency and quality. Such reform should focus on these two important consumer values.

Joe Micallef (on 6/12/08)

How can we speak of new bus lanes if we don't even have enough lanes of our own? Do the authorities realise that in order to have buslanes, you need to have carriage-ways with more than two other lanes?

Bus owners call for talks on reform, contract

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