The Transport Ministry said this evening that the MHRA's insistence on the removal of the distinction between residents and non-residents in the new bus fares only meant that it wanted to raise the fares paid by local residents and decrease fares paid by non-residents.

Reacting to a statement issued by the association this morning, the ministry said it viewed the MHRA position as unjust on local residents who at the end of the day pay the taxes to subsidise reduced fares for pensioners, students and children and subsidise public transport.

The other possible alternative was to increase the subsidy paid to the operator to make up the difference in revenue which, since it was financed out of taxpayers' money, amounted to the same thing.

"The percieved sectorial interests of the tourist lobby should not be considered superior to the general interests of all Maltese residents" the ministry said.

Furthermore, the new scheme already catered for frequent users, pensioners, students and so on, who could apply for, or buy a card that entitles them to discounted bus fares.

"The system of differentiated fares is a well tried and tested system in Malta and has given excellent results. It seems that MHRA has also forgotten that this very same distinction was introduced in 2003 for fares on Gozo Channel where non-residents pay a different (higher) fare than residents of Gozo. The system has been working in Gozo Channel for 7 years and patronage has increased.

"It is more than obvious to any non-prejudiced observer that the point at issue is the price of a ticket and not some fanciful discrimination argument and at €12 for 7 days for unlimited travel on all buses in Malta including dedicated transfer to and from most hotels is a very, very reasonable fare. It is also somewhat incredible that the MHRA has failed to even mention the improved service, the new buses with substantially lower emissions, the dedicated airport services and the other hundred and one things improvements that the new bus service will bring with it" the ministry said.

See also

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20101110/local/transport-ministry-indifferent-to-the-concerns-of-the-tourism-industry-mhra

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.