Red mist descended on a bus driver in Gżira yesterday when he refused to accept a €1 coin for two fares costing a total of 94c – eventually flinging the coin on the floor in anger and shouting obscenities.

The target of his anger was a middle-aged foreign woman and her son, who were left shocked and bewildered by his behaviour.

Witnessed by a journalist from The Sunday Times, the incident happened on a number 62 route bus to Valletta at around 9.05 a.m. on The Strand.

After passing on details of the incident to the Transport Ministry yesterday morning, including the vehicle registration number, The Sunday Times was informed that the driver was immediately suspended from duty.

The incident is the latest entry in a catalogue of complaints about bus drivers and comes 100 days before the reformed bus service is due to begin operations run by German-owned company Arriva.

The European woman sat down near the back of the bus as the son, who appeared to be in his early teens, tried to buy two 47c tickets. The driver told him he had no change and he would have to wait for the next bus.

Awkwardly, the son joined his mother at the back of the bus. After all the other passengers getting on had paid, the driver turned his attention to the pair and demanded to know if they had tickets.

At this point, the woman went to the front of the bus and calmly attempted to explain that they wanted to buy two tickets with a euro coin. In response, the bus driver started shouting at them to get off as he had no change, peppering his language with blasphemy.

The woman said she did not want change and he could keep the euro, but this would not appease the driver who was adamant they had to get off.

Tourists on the bus exchanged uneasy glances as some Maltese passengers tried to reason with the driver and even offered to pay the exact change, but he would still not accept it.

After a few uncomfortable minutes, he grabbed the euro coin from the woman and flung it to the floor before resuming the journey to Valletta at high speed, prompting more concerned expressions from the passengers.

The woman returned to her seat saying she would have no objection if a ticket inspector got onto the bus and wanted to inform the police that she did not have a ticket, as she had tried to pay.

Afterwards, the woman told The Sunday Times she thought the driver’s behaviour was shocking, but she did not wish to go on the record with her official account as she thought the driver was a “black sheep”. She lives in Malta and has never encountered such behaviour before. She also praised the Maltese passengers on the bus who came to her assistance.

Last year, a similar incident involving a Spanish tourist – who claimed a bus driver insulted her and tried to throw her off a bus when she asked for change from a euro – resulted in the tourist being offered a free holiday by the Malta Tourism Authority. The bus driver was tried for insulting behaviour but acquitted due to lack of evidence.

Aside from rudeness, common complaints about bus drivers include speeding, smoking and talking on mobile phones while driving.

A total of 405 current bus drivers agreed to work for Arriva and abide by certain conditions, which include training. Under the terms of the agreement reached between the government and Arriva, the drivers who chose to remain were guaranteed a 10-year contract.

A Transport Ministry spo-kesman said that under the new system, incidents such as the one yesterday would incur penalties for the operator levied by the regulator, Transport Malta. Each bus will be fitted with CCTV cameras which will assist investigations into such incidents.

Drivers found to have br-eached regulations will incur heavy penalties and penalty points, the accruement of which may result in the suspension or even the revocation of their driving permits.

In cases of serious offences, Transport Malta can take criminal proceedings against the driver.