Open market in coach, minivan licences

Vintage yellow route buses will be used for sight-seeing tours under new regulations that will liberalise unscheduled transport from today.

The reform regulations will lift previously imposed quotas on the number of licences issued for coaches and minivans, set standards for operators and limit the age of commercial vehicles on the road to 28 years.

This open market will ultimately translate into a better quality service, safer transport, competitive pricing as well as reduce the risk of illegal cartels forming between operators, Transport Minister Austin Gatt said.

He added that the reform was "a compromise" reached following consultations with transport representatives.

"We want to be driven by the market," Dr Gatt said, adding he did not rule out limiting the market again in exceptional circumstances.

The reform targets the unscheduled transport commercial sector that includes: coaches that seat over 30 people, midi-buses of up to 29 seats, red minivans of 11 to 18 seats, white vans that accommodate about 10 people, tail lifts used to transport disabled people and open-top buses used for sight-seeing. Until today all markets were closed except for the white minivans. The new regulations do away with the distinction between white and red minivans.

In fact, only 33 per cent of white vans are manufactured before 1997, as opposed to 49 per cent of red vans and 94 per cent of coaches.

The regulations also introduce a new sight-seeing licence for the traditional, long-snouted Maltese buses that can remain in operation so long as they remain fit for the road.

Apart from liberalising the sector the regulations outline standards aimed at ensuring a quality service.

The standards address operators, drivers and vehicle quality and outline a new code of penalties for breaching regulations. Training for drivers will become compulsory and a points system will ensure those who repeatedly flout the law will have their licence withdrawn.

To be eligible for registration, tail lift vans must be new, while coaches and vans cannot be more than five years old and must be replaced once they exceed 28 years from their manufacture date.

However, there will be transition measures whereby, for the first five years, vehicles over 28 years can remain on the road.

For the next six years transport vehicles with over 11 seats and older than six months will have to pay an entry fee - ranging from €11,000 to €31,000 - unless they are replacing an existing van.

This will not apply to coaches which, for the first five years, can be vehicles up to 10 years old (rather than five).

Dr Gatt said once the scheduled bus reform was implemented by next year, route bus drivers would not be able to work in the unscheduled sector as they occasionally did.

The reform followed lengthy consultations with various unions and associations that included Rent A Car Association, Unscheduled Bus Services, Minibus Cooperative, the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin and the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU.

But the Unscheduled Bus Service declared last night that what the minister announced yesterday was "substantially different from what the UBS and the ministry had agreed in writing".

The UBS said that this agreement had not yet been signed as it was subject to ratification by the Cabinet. The UBS committee expected the government to formally honour what had been agreed.