The revamped public transport system in Gozo was originally met with satisfaction by commuters across the sister island. However, as the fourth week of service rolled on, logistical issues left frustrated passengers waiting on stages for hours.
Arriva drivers in Gozo blamed these hiccups on the lack of human resources, especially at managerial level, adding there was only one person overlooking the general management in the sister island.
Arriva Malta managing director Keith Bastow said the Arriva Malta central team oversaw all operations in both Gozo and Malta. However, the company had a senior member of staff in Gozo who supervised the depot and operations, supported by a local group of personnel and the central Arriva Malta team.
“After the first three weeks of operation we are undertaking a review of both Malta and Gozo and are looking at where to deploy additional temporary operational staff from Arriva’s operations elsewhere to support further improvements,” he added.
Drivers, however, insisted that, at times, especially in case of emergencies, they had to deal with vehicle maintenance issues themselves because no mechanic was permanently present in Gozo.
Mr Bastow said maintenance work was done by skilled mechanics from the central engineering team and the company would be setting up a local team in Gozo. “Drivers are not required to do any maintenance work. The Arriva Malta central engineering team is at the final stages of recruiting a local team for Gozo. In the meantime, mechanics from the central engineering team work in Gozo as needed,” he said.
On separate occasions, The Times witnessed drivers who had to skip a journey and leave passengers waiting on bus stops or the Victoria terminus to travel to the refuelling yard. Drivers said they had to do this because only one bus operated on particular routes and it was therefore very difficult for a bus to be out of service.
On one particular instance, a driver deviated from his bus route with a fully-packed bus to go to the yard and refuel in order not to skip any trip. He was not allowed to refuel the bus with the passengers on board.
Mr Bastow said bus refuelling was done in the evening “when buses are out of service, where possible. Occasionally, buses may need refuelling during the day. Refuelling buses while passengers are on board is not allowed and drivers have been reminded of this.”
Various routes, including the 302, 305, 306 and 307, which go through Victoria, are not making it on time as per the bus schedule. According to this timetable, a bus takes one hour between its departure and arrival point but, at times, it takes more than 90 minutes for a bus to make the trip.
Arriva employees in Gozo said that, because there was only one vehicle serving the routes, as opposed to having two, which would cover the opposing directions, buses were less frequent than advertised.
Mr Bastow said the service in Gozo was being reviewed: “Passengers in Gozo have improved transport options than was the case in the past but we are continuing to work hard to improve operations further. Across Gozo, as is the case in Malta, we are undertaking a review of all aspects of the operation.”
On particular routes, as the packed aquamarine buses make it to and fro between destinations under the scorching sun, passengers cry out in vain, asking the driver to switch on the air conditioner.
The driver retorts that air conditioning was not available on the bus featuring UK adverts. Mr Bastow said some of the fleet across Malta and Gozo included “a small number of buses from the previous system in line with the contract”.
He added the majority of these buses were handed over to Arriva on July 3.
“As we are undergoing a full refurbishment programme including air conditioning and Euro V emission standards before they enter service, we are temporarily using a number of buses from the UK.
“In Gozo, four of the buses in use are from Arriva’s operations in the UK and are temporarily in service while refurbishment is completed on the permanent buses that will all have air conditioning,” he added.