Arriva chosen as preferred bidder for new bus service

Transport Malta has invited Arriva (Malta) Consortium for talks after it was selected as the preferred bidder to run the bus service.

The competitive process, which started on July 14 last year, was based on technical parameters as well as financial bids.

The points awarded by the Evaluation Committee at the conclusion of the tender evaluation process were:

Arriva (Malta) did not appeal when the technical scores were published and Transdev Plus did not appeal the final adjudication, the Transport Ministry said.

Arriva (Malta) Consortium is made up of Arriva International Ltd (holding a 66.66% share) and Tumas Group (33.3%).

At the bidding stage, Arriva (Malta) Consortium notified that Malta Land Transport plc (a company owned by a number of the operators of the current public transport service) holds an option to purchase a maximum of 10% of the shares in the new company.

Arriva is one of the largest transport services organisations in Europe, employing more than 42,000 people and delivering more than one billion passenger journeys across 12 European countries every year. It is quoted on the London Stock Exchange that in 2009 registered revenues of GBP 3,147.8 million.

€47m INVESTMENT INCLUDES 230 BRAND NEW BUSES

"Arriva brings to Malta, expertise and professional management, as well as €47 million investment in a sector where it is sorely needed," the ministry said.

"Arriva has by far exceeded the minimum expectations set out in the tender published by Transport Malta, which required as a minimum, buses that were not older than 15 years and a minimum Euro III standard with air conditioning and accessibility for persons with disability," the ministrry added.

The fleet being provided by Arriva will:

· cost €35 million at the start-up of the new service;

• include 230 brand new Euro V buses;
• include an additional 86 buses all with Euro V engines that are between 2 and 7 years old;
• ensure improved accessibility and comfort: the entire bus fleet will be wheel-chair accessible and air conditioned in addition to the improved safety standards of contemporary bus design that only a fraction of today’s bus fleet is equipped with;
• the new vehicles will include 13 electric-hybrid vehicles that will be used to provide services in historically and environmentally sensitive areas including Valletta, Cottonera, Attard and its surrounding villages, Victoria and a number of routes in the Gozitan countryside;
• be air-conditioned and equipped with on-vehicle destination and ‘next stop’ electronic displays;
• be washed every day to retain the highest standard of cleanliness but specialised equipment will be used to re-cycle 95% of the water;
• be strictly maintained and undergo daily technical checks in accordance with international engineering standards.

This will mean that Malta and Gozo will have one of the youngest, most modern and most environmentally friendly public transport fleets in Europe.

AIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

The ministry said that an independent report it had commissioned found that when compared with the current bus fleet, a bus operation running with a Euro V engine standard was expected to lead to a 48% reduction in hydrocarbons, a 94% reduction in particulate matter, a 70% reduction in oxides of nitrogen and a 55% reduction in carbon monoxide.

The study, which compared the typical performance of engines of the existing bus fleet with a Euro V engine fleet working on the same basis, did not take into account the improvements to air quality that could be reasonably expected as more people switched to the buses.

"The fleet improvement combined with various other environmental initiatives that Arriva (Malta) undertook to implement, such as fitting eco-driving technology to vehicles, tyre inflation monitoring and turning engines off between journeys, will go a long way in supporting Malta’s effort to improve air quality, particularly in urban areas," the ministry said.

TARGET TO INCREASE BUS PASSENGERS BY 54%

It added that Arriva undertook in its submission to make their Malta project a model of sustainable development.

Its target is to increase bus passengers by 54% over current levels of use by the end of the 10 year contract term while reducing the carbon footprint of Malta’s bus operation by 15% in 2017 over 2011 numbers.

"The reduction from the carbon footprint of today’s bus operation is almost inestimable given that the average age of the bus fleet before the changeover to the new system is of over 30 years which will be going down to less than two years overnight when the new service starts," the ministry said,

Arriva also undertook to provide all the services on the extensive network required by the government in the tender process as well as night services connecting various destinations around Malta on a 24-hour basis on weekends all year round and all week during the summer months.

The bidder also undertook to employ around 1,100 people in Malta’s public transport operation, more than double existing numbers, creating new jobs for hundreds of people never before connected with the transport industry.

"It also undertook to set up a new specialised training centre bringing the level of training in the transport sector in Malta, in terms of driving, operating systems and most importantly customer services, from its current abysmal levels to international standards. This will be combined with a secondment programme for experts from other jurisdictions served by Arriva to train local service providers," the ministry added.

Arriva will introduce contact-less smart cards and several new ticket vending machines. It will also operate through agents across Malta and Gozo to ensure easy access to the services for tourists and locals alike. In addition it will provide extensive passenger information, with information panels on each stop, route information on all buses, publications, on line information and a call centre.

Passenger information will also be provided on around a 100 electronic bus stop displays that will be coordinated with vehicle tracking technology that will inform bus passengers in real time on bus arrival times.

Arriva Malta also said it would support, with maintenance facilities and volunteer labour, a heritage bus museum for retired traditional buses if one was to become established.

"Transport Malta now has the task to secure the best possible deal in its negotiations with Arriva to ensure that public funds are spent in the most cautious and responsible manner in exchange for the highest standard of service the Maltese public and their visitors are right to expect," the ministry said.

'A STEP CLOSER TO THE REFORM MALTA HAS BEEN HOPING FOR' - GATT

Minister Austin Gatt said that Malta was now a step closer to the reform the country had been hoping for.

"It is wrong to assume that we can bring about this massive change without investment, both public and private. We do believe however that the rewards the country will reap will go beyond the monetary. Cleaner air, reduced congestion, increased accessibility and improved mobility will be a social, economic and cultural reform that will go far beyond the narrow but highly visible difference made by a new bus fleet on our roads.

“The reform is far from completed. Quite apart from the fact that Transport Malta still needs to complete negotiations with the preferred bidder on the best possible terms for commuters and the public purse – and that will not be an easy ride – the reform will be a failure if all it does is switch old buses with new ones. The success can only be measured over several years, as we get over the inevitable hitches of the first few months and start convincing more people to make the ‘modal shift’, travelling less often by car and more often by bus. We have a long way to go yet.”

The new bus service is expected to be rolled out six months after a successful conclusion of the negotiations that are expected to commence in earnest in the coming days.