All buses are expected to run according to schedule as of tomorrow, Arriva director Piers Marlow said yesterday.
Mr Marlow said that when the bus service started in July, the company had to make some “hard choices” and reduce the frequency of certain routes to run a skeleton service.
Over the past months, by bringing in drivers from the UK and with local recruitment, the company was able to “restore the service up to the level it should be” as of Monday.
This meant, Mr Marlow said, that customers could plan their trips according to the information provided on the company’s website.
The company reported that last month, “over 60,000” passenger journeys were registered daily, 20 per cent more than last year. Figures released by the Transport Ministry yesterday show that in Malta, 3.48 million passenger trips were made, compared with 2.96 million last year.
Asked whether the increase in trips was due to added stops in routes, managing director Keith Bastow acknowledged this might have had an effect, but he also pointed out that some contracted buses were not equipped with passenger counting technology.
A dramatic increase was, however, registered in Gozo, where the service generally received more favourable reviews. Bus trips increased to 257,312 in August, compared with 57,000 in the same month last year.
In a statement released shortly after Arriva’s press conference, the Transport Ministry said the results were a “show of confidence of the public and tourists in the new public transport service”.
“It is clear that the new public transport system is attractive, comfortable and has the potential to change the way one travels in Malta,” the ministry said
The ministry said it was “inevitable” that a service provided to 60,000 different people a day would be unsatisfactory to “a few hundred”, while a “few tens complain and expect changes”.
Mr Bastow reported that since the service started, 65,000 enquires had been made via customer care, while in August, 131 complaints were made a day – “less than quarter of a per cent of the travelling public each day”.
He rejected the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association’s claims that tourist concerns were not addressed in the new routes, pointing out that changes had been made to routes which served tourist destinations.
Commenting on the traffic jams which occur in Mrabat Street, Sliema, more often than not caused by buses, Mr Bastow said the company was discussing traffic management plans with Transport Malta.
He also blamed “indiscriminate parking” which was hindering the flow of traffic.
He also said it would be good to have more consultation on road closures, complaining that in some villages roads were closed overnight and poles placed in potentially dangerous places.
The company is also gearing up for the scholastic year, and the University and Mater Dei routes will be re-introduced to cope with the student population on October 2.
The end of October should see other changes to routes, as well as a full complement of local drivers, as the company is seeking to employ local drivers on its books. There are currently 70 drivers seconded from the UK, 50 less than the peak of 150.
“We are very much on target to complete full recruitment,” Mr Bastow said.
The company has also introduced new Optare hybrid buses, and is in the process of bringing 28 buses used in the old system up to the company’s specifications. Mr Marlow said the company was testing out the system which tracked buses and informed passengers of their waiting times.
The system, however, needed to be updated in view of further route changes and tested out thoroughly before being launched.