Transport Minister Austin Gatt yesterday brushed off the flood of complaints that are still coming in about Arriva’s bus service by saying he did not expect them to stop, “not even 10 years after the service has started operating”.

He was asked about these complaints after saying he would wait until Arriva’s September 11 deadline to improve the service before commenting about it.

“One has to see the developments that take place within the timeframe, and then assess,” he said.

Speaking at the launch of the BOV boat show, he said there had been a “notable improvement” in the service from the way it was operating in July.

Arriva has set itself a September 11 deadline – this Sunday – to bring its service up to scratch after it got off to a false start on July 3, when almost 200 drivers did not turn up for work.

As the company brought in drivers from other countries, more deep-seated problems started to emerge, including the inconvenience of some routes – some of which it has since revised – and the fact that buses are simply too big for some of the roads.

The company also had problems with the computer system which should have allowed passengers to know their next stop and people waiting at a stop to know when the next bus was arriving.

Arriva employees face problems of their own: the General Workers’ Union has given the company until today to sort out their rosters so they would not exceed one split shift a week. Should the company fail to do so, the workers would be instructed not to work split shifts.

Meanwhile, Transport Malta said it would be introducing new routes and amending existing ones on Sunday, following public feedback.