Editorial

The publication of the conditions of the proposed 10-year transport contract is an important milestone in the long process of transport reform undertaken by this administration soon after taking office. A transport reform system should be evaluated on three important criteria: Convenience to the users, cost effectiveness and protection of the environment.

Now that the details of the conditions binding the new operators are known, the public can start to draw conclusions on whether these reforms are likely to be beneficial. Various clauses specified in the tender document are meant to increase convenience to the travelling public.

The introduction of new routes will save passengers precious time when travelling to destinations that today can only be reached by using two buses that cover a much longer distance than is necessary. Buses will offer a more comfortable environment to passengers, especially in summer, as they will be air-conditioned. The new timetables will cover the most important times of the day when people usually need to travel and will eventually also provide a night transport service.

Cost to passengers is the critical factor that will either make or break these reforms. Regular users of the public transport system, including workers, students and pensioners, are being protected through fare schemes that will ensure they will not incur more expense than at present. But this system can only become viable if it attracts more users who, up to now, have shied away from using public transport.

If use of public transport does become more convenient, more tourists and irregular local users can be enticed to pay an increased fare to refrain from using private transport to travel around the island. The level at which the new fares will be struck will decide whether the public will prefer to leave their cars at home and travel by bus. One has to assume that the new operators will have the right commercial acumen to offer fares that may be higher than at present but that also offer good value in the form of added convenience to passengers.

The third criterion that one needs to consider, relates to the safeguards aimed at protecting the environment that today is under threat from the pollution caused by old buses that are badly maintained and are energy inefficient.

The gradual elimination of old buses over the next three years and the new emissions standards will ensure that our roads are less of a health hazard for those who use them, both as drivers and pedestrians. For far too long we have tolerated old clunkers poisoning the air that we and our children breathe in our streets and in our homes.

The mandatory use of electric buses in heavily built up areas like Valletta, Cottonera, Attard and Victoria is also a most welcome condition, especially for people who live in these towns. With Malta having the highest ratio of cars on the road per kilometre of roads, any measure that reduces pollution and noise caused by public transport is essential and not a luxury.

As usual, the acid test of the efficacy of these reforms will be the ability of the regulators to insist on the full implementation on time of these provisions. The fact that all five short-listed bidders have international experience in running public transport services elsewhere in Europe bodes well for the success of these reforms.

So, regulators must be vigilant to ensure that these reforms remain on the right track and are a promise lived up to.