Three in four buses will be driven out

Only a quarter of the current fleet of 508 buses meet the requirements stipulated by the reformed public transport system, Transport Minister Austin Gatt announced yesterday.

The rest of the buses - most of which are deemed a health hazard - will either be recycled or placed in a Transport Museum.

The government yesterday unveiled the specifications for the new buses and published the tender documents for the five bidders.

The buses forming the new fleet cannot be more than 15 years old. On the first day of the new system, a maximum of 70 per cent of the buses have to have low emissions (Euro III and Euro IV).

By the second year of operation, the Euro III buses have to decrease to 50 per cent and replaced with Euro IV. By the fourth year and for the remainder of the 10-year-contract, all buses have to be Euro IV compliant.

These guidelines are the minimum expected and any bidder will be awarded more points if he were to propose cleaner buses on the first day of operation, Dr Gatt said.

At least 70 per cent of buses operating within Valletta, Cottonera, on the Attard, Lija and Balzan route and in Victoria, Xagħra and Żebbug routes in Gozo must be electric.

Buses would have to be parked off the streets at all times when not in service. They must also be equipped with a first aid box, CCTV systems and electronic displays of the destination both at the front and back.

They must also be right-hand-drive, well ventilated and air conditioned. Bus stops should have electronic timetables with the estimated time of arrival updated in real time and the operator must coordinate with other service providers, such as Gozo Channel.

By the second year of operation, an SMS information system would be in place, enabling commuters to text the name of the bus stop and the route they wanted and receive the estimated time of arrival of the next bus.

For the first time, a contract for the operation of the bus service would be in force, Dr Gatt said.

Malta, he added, had the largest ratio of cars on the road per square kilometre. This was cost-ly and resulted in environmental problems.

He said that 370 buses from the current fleet were so-called Euro 0 and only a few could be used as vintage vehicles.

Dr Gatt said the ministry had an arrangement with Wasteserv to recycle some of these buses and others would be passed on to Heritage Malta for display in a transport museum.

The government, the minister said, would be improving bus lanes and making changes to the traffic system in order to give priority to buses.

It would also seek to upgrade the terminuses at Valletta, Victoria and Buġibba as well as the Blata l-Bajda Park and Ride and create new park and ride systems in Marsa and Luxol. The budget for this infrastructural work is €9 million.

Some of the reforms at a glance

• New service in place by the end of 2010;

• 10-year contract with obligations and penalties in default;

• New routes, covering also peripheral destinations never serviced before;

• Network to increase from 25 million kilometres to 46 million km;

• Buses of different sizes, depending on route;

• Fleet down to 270 buses from 508, used for 85 per cent of time they are available rather than 12 per cent as at present;

• Electric buses in villages with small, winding roads;

• Increased frequency and guaranteed punctuality and reliability;

• Service to run between 5.30 a.m. and 11 p.m.;

• Cheaper fares for frequent travellers, children, students and the elderly but higher fees for occasional users;

• Prices set by the regulator not the service provider;

• New hubs at Buġibba, Mosta, Luxol, Marsa, Paola, airport, Birkirkara, Rabat, Mater Dei Hospital;

• Extension of Blata l-Bajda park and ride amenities and new park and ride system at Luxol and Marsa;

• Eventual removal of the current subsidy paid by government - €45 million over last 10 years.

Who's interested

Transdev Plus Consortium - This is made up of one of the largest public transport operators in France. It teamed up locally with CVA Technology Ltd, the operator of the Controlled Vehicular Access in Valletta, Gee Five Ltd, a subsidiary of the Gasan Group, and locally-owned Leo's Transport Company Ltd.

NEX Continental Holdings SLU - A Spanish bus transport company.

Empresa Monforte S.A. - A consortium made up of a subsidiary of the Spanish Monbus Group of Companies, La Hispano Igualadina S.A., which forms part of the latter group of companies and Empresa Municipal de Transportes de Madrid S.A., the provider of bus transportation for the city of Madrid. These have teamed up with local company FMC Motors Ltd.

FIN-Part S.P.A. - A consortium made up of Fin-Part S.P.A, an Italian company which teamed up with Malta Land Transport, a Maltese company made up of 193 current bus owners, Arriva, one of the largest transport services organisation in Europe and the Tumas Group.

Llorente Bus - which operates almost 50 routes around the Benidorm/Alicante region in Spain and the Avanza Group, the largest private Spanish urban transport management group.

mxuereb@timesofmalta.com