Mary Anne Mallia, Sliema
Some advice for Arriva (2)
As yet there is no sign of Arriva having kiosks near the bus stops to facilitate the buying of tickets and to give information. A classic example is at Mater Dei Hospital where the activity is 24/7 and it is shameful to see the Arriva people calling their superiors to send them more buses.
What about Arriva advertising their fare on bus shelters to let people waiting for the bus know the exact fare and to prepare the exact change?
Meanwhile, some drivers insist that people who bought the seven-day ticket have to wait in the queue with the other people buying new tickets before showing the driver that their tickets are valid. After this process the drivers then park their buses in places like the Sliema Ferries so that inspectors can board and check our tickets again. Reminder: We all want to arrive at our destination on time. If Arriva want to check tickets that’s fine, but the inspector should also help the driver to keep order on the bus.
Another point: the tickets are valid for seven days but the cheap print fades away within two days.
Arriva should seriously start thinking of buying more buses too, as they seem to be full all the time. It took us one hour to travel from Valletta to Sliema and this is one reason why people are not yet encouraged to use public transport.
The bus drivers are facing tough times; I hope they remain calm and polite when dealing with their customers.
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Mr Charles.C. Brown
Sep 2nd 2011, 20:38
youre going to see a change for the better on the 11th of this month .now thats not a very long wait isnt it?
Mr john cassar
Sep 1st 2011, 17:58
Arriva has failed to deliver what it promised. The government seems to be impotent and unable to protetect citizens' rights for an efficient transport system. Arriva should be asked to leave as we were better served with the old system despite the poor quality of the buses.
Mr M Borg
Sep 1st 2011, 19:54
Agree with you 100%.
No bus ever left Valletta with standing passengers. It is no joke being asked to make your journey standing. not with these new routes that go on forever !!
Mr C Cassar
Sep 1st 2011, 21:37
Yes it did. Frequently the old 62/66 etc buses towards Sliema were too full to take all passengers from Valletta. I frequently had to wait for the next bus at the terminus.
So many have such conveniently short memories.
Arriva really has moved the game forward, it's such a shame that many Maltese can't accept change and successful change at that. This explains why the islands are so backward compared to the rest of Europe.
Peter Camilleri
Sep 2nd 2011, 10:38
@ Mr C. Cassar
Are you sure you can understand plain English? The statement by Mr M Borg was that no bus ever left Valletta with standing passengers (which, after years of travelling on the buses, I can personally confirm). The fact that if there are more would-be passengers than a bus can hold, some have to wait for the next one, is an entirely different matter.
Your statement that Arriva has really moved the game forward is unfortunately contradicted by the facts. And sorry, mate, the Maltese can accept change, but not when it is for the worse. As for being backward compared to the rest of Europe, sorry again, but you cannot generalise on the basis of a few individuals who apparently see everything of foreign origin through rose-tinted glasses.
Louis Saliba
Sep 1st 2011, 15:17
I am sorry, Madam, but those drivers who "insist that people who bought the seven-day ticket have to wait in the queue with the other people buying new tickets before showing the driver that their tickets are valid" (your own words) are perfectly correct. Do you really think that a week or day ticket entitles you to jump the queue?
I wonder what you would say if you had been waiting at a bus stop for half an hour or more, and a person came along at the last minute flaunting a ticket and expecting to get on board before you. Come on !!!!
Mr M Borg
Sep 1st 2011, 12:17
" It took us one hour to travel from Valletta to Sliema. "
Now that is what I call progress !!
The journey to Savoy from Valletta used to take 15.mins.
Bus 63 from Valletta took 15-20 mins to get to Dingli Street.
The other Sliema Buses that took the Gzira route used to take 20 mins to get to the Ferries.from Valletta
These are the routes we want back. We do not want to waste 1 hour on any Arriva bus when we know that we would have made the journey at a quarter of the time with the old system.
Mr francis darmanin
Sep 1st 2011, 18:44
I agree 100 %. I've been saying and writing about this (the former 63 Sliema bus) from the very beginning. I phoned Arriva customer care several times to see whether this will be one of the new routes announced for September 11th (D Day), but guess what? You guessed correctly. They DO NOT EVEN YET KNOW !!!