On the buses
The announced reforms of our public transport system could arguably be the second most important element that has been considered in the last few years to improve our tourism product. After the introduction of low-cost airlines, a reformed public...
The announced reforms of our public transport system could arguably be the second most important element that has been considered in the last few years to improve our tourism product. After the introduction of low-cost airlines, a reformed public transport system will go a long way to add value to the Malta experience that tourists look for when they visit Malta.
Many tourists admittedly find the use of our public transport system rather amusing and often comment favourably about the quaintness of our buses. But they do this more out of a nostalgic longing for the way things were in their own country forty or even 50 years ago.
Locals, of course, have a very different perception of how their own lives are affected by the use of our creaking public transport system. After recently taking up travelling by bus to avoid the parking congestion in Valletta, I have found that very little has changed in the quality of service of our scheduled buses in the last 40 years.
Our buses may be cutely quaint, but they certainly do not provide a pleasant journey, even if used for travelling just for short distances. The use of taxis is not much better either. Unaffordable and expensive, taxis are shunned by both the locals and even tourists who research their holidays on travel websites before they reach Malta.
The transport reforms announced recently started with the liberalisation of the service provided by hearse owners. Those who are superstitious may have found the choice of this particular section of transport for the first attempt to reform as rather ominous. However, on the whole the minister responsible for transport cracked this nut very successfully.
The more difficult phases are still to come. Without doubt the reforms of the scheduled bus service will be more difficult. A complete change is needed in the mindset of those who operate this service at present. We need a service based on new bus routes to cut on the long time it takes today to travel between two relatively close destinations, but which at present happen to be on different bus routes.
We also need to improve the quality of service for passengers through better and more comfortable vehicles. However, more important, we need a better attitude towards passengers by all those involved in providing the service. In a small island which is crammed with private cars, an efficient public transport service will bring immense benefits, if only passengers' trust could be won over by credible and effective reforms.
For far too long the political will to make reforms effective has been lacking. Price increases were always announced jointly with measures to improve service. But after a few months the price increases became permanent, while the improvement in the quality of service remained elusive.
Will it be any different this time? I believe it will. We have to be careful and not compromise on issues that could threaten the success which these reforms promise to deliver. After the phase of sabre rattling that accompanies every liberalisation process, the final agreement should promote radical change, if we are not to face yet another failure to improve the public transport service.
A successful transport reform process will add value to the tourism product that Malta offers. But it will also make life easier for us locals who could be enticed to use taxis, buses, mini buses, and other public means of transport more frequently, if only we were convinced that this public service provided good value for money. Today, travelling on the buses utilised on our roads is certainly not a comfortable or even funny experience.
The increasing cost of private travel, the enormous damage to the environment caused by so many travellers using their cars to travel to work, and the problems associated with finding a parking place has so far not convinced many of us to switch over to public transport.
The rationale of using an efficient public transport service is so strong on environmental, economic, and quality of life criteria, that it will be a real shame if this latest attempt to upgrade this service fails. I somehow think that this time round we will see better results.
Many tourists admittedly find the use of our public transport system rather amusing and often comment favourably about the quaintness of our buses. But they do this more out of a nostalgic longing for the way things were in their own country forty or even 50 years ago.
Locals, of course, have a very different perception of how their own lives are affected by the use of our creaking public transport system. After recently taking up travelling by bus to avoid the parking congestion in Valletta, I have found that very little has changed in the quality of service of our scheduled buses in the last 40 years.
Our buses may be cutely quaint, but they certainly do not provide a pleasant journey, even if used for travelling just for short distances. The use of taxis is not much better either. Unaffordable and expensive, taxis are shunned by both the locals and even tourists who research their holidays on travel websites before they reach Malta.
The transport reforms announced recently started with the liberalisation of the service provided by hearse owners. Those who are superstitious may have found the choice of this particular section of transport for the first attempt to reform as rather ominous. However, on the whole the minister responsible for transport cracked this nut very successfully.
The more difficult phases are still to come. Without doubt the reforms of the scheduled bus service will be more difficult. A complete change is needed in the mindset of those who operate this service at present. We need a service based on new bus routes to cut on the long time it takes today to travel between two relatively close destinations, but which at present happen to be on different bus routes.
We also need to improve the quality of service for passengers through better and more comfortable vehicles. However, more important, we need a better attitude towards passengers by all those involved in providing the service. In a small island which is crammed with private cars, an efficient public transport service will bring immense benefits, if only passengers' trust could be won over by credible and effective reforms.
For far too long the political will to make reforms effective has been lacking. Price increases were always announced jointly with measures to improve service. But after a few months the price increases became permanent, while the improvement in the quality of service remained elusive.
Will it be any different this time? I believe it will. We have to be careful and not compromise on issues that could threaten the success which these reforms promise to deliver. After the phase of sabre rattling that accompanies every liberalisation process, the final agreement should promote radical change, if we are not to face yet another failure to improve the public transport service.
A successful transport reform process will add value to the tourism product that Malta offers. But it will also make life easier for us locals who could be enticed to use taxis, buses, mini buses, and other public means of transport more frequently, if only we were convinced that this public service provided good value for money. Today, travelling on the buses utilised on our roads is certainly not a comfortable or even funny experience.
The increasing cost of private travel, the enormous damage to the environment caused by so many travellers using their cars to travel to work, and the problems associated with finding a parking place has so far not convinced many of us to switch over to public transport.
The rationale of using an efficient public transport service is so strong on environmental, economic, and quality of life criteria, that it will be a real shame if this latest attempt to upgrade this service fails. I somehow think that this time round we will see better results.