Bus usage figures based on electronic count in each bus - ministry spokesman

Aleandro Pace Tahir

Oct 14th 2011, 17:40

Because of their very poor service, I suffer from many conflicts with my employees nearly everyday because at times I arrive extremely late. After three months of using their service I have seen no improvement in the time I take to get from home to work. Every morning It takes me about two hours to get to my office in Mater Dei. I really want to get my driving license the sooner the better, as I can't stand this anymore.

Regarding the statistics, I believe there can never be a definite count of how many clients takes the bus or changes the routes. How can anyone write that type of exact percentages and data in an article? Do you have a brain like anybody else?!

R ferriggi

Oct 14th 2011, 14:39

i dont even trust this data then.


they ( arriva) have been so unreliable,,,,,,, that i find it hard to beleive them.

Christina Pace

Oct 14th 2011, 13:57

do these counters also count the people who board and alight immediately due to lack of space or wrong number, cause it happens a lot since they changed every route.

C. Muscat

Oct 14th 2011, 09:13

Tajjeb li wiehed jinduna kemm hu misruq il-poplu malti. Mela kienu jgorru d-doppju tan-nies u jirregistraw nofshom biex hiehdu d-differenza. Jien zgur ma hiniex nuza d-disastru ta Arriva. Kont niehu bejn 10 minuti u kwarta biex nasal il-belt. Illum l inqas li hadt 20 minuta fuq li stage u 20 minuta biex wasalt. Naturalment hallast ta gimgha u uzajthom 3 t'ijiem.

Mr David Spiteri

Oct 13th 2011, 23:29

It could be that the patronage increased because that more persons are using Arriva or people are just taking the advantage of boarding more buses in 1 day with a 1.50c euro ticket or elderly persons for just 50c euro

Anthony Pace

Oct 13th 2011, 19:58

SO IF IT IS THE ELECTRONIC COUNT ON EACH BUS THIS MEANS THAT THERE IS A DECREASE OF 22% AND NOT AN INCREASE.

Peter Camilleri

Oct 13th 2011, 19:49

Unless somebody from the Ministry of Transport explains what exactly is meant by the term "usage of the bus service is being calculated according to the electronic count in each bus", everybody is still very much in the dark. Apart from which, the reliability of the data, both present and past, has to be considered.

Until people are so informed, the information (or should I say the disinformation) given by the Ministry should be taken with the proverbial pinch of salt.

Emanuel Galea

Oct 13th 2011, 19:04

Can someone explain how a trip from Msida Junior College to Paola should take 2hrs 45 minutes. That is how long my daughter takes when we cannot pick her up.
The shorter way is that she walks from Msida to Floriana.
This is detrimental to their future as they have no time and motivation to study and read around subjects

A Caruana

Oct 13th 2011, 18:48

Marsascala residents are still without a direct Bus to Valletta since the start of Arriva on 3rd of July, so what is the excuse for not letting Bus nom 91 go round from Qaliet Street and into Gardiel Street back to the terminus instead of waiting for 10 mins at the terminus with the engine running??

lilly vella

Oct 13th 2011, 17:17

The 22% are surely not people coming from the south because it takes us 75 minutes to get to work in the morning because of the frightening traffic jams !

Carmel Cilia

Oct 13th 2011, 17:09

Mur oqghod fuq l-istitistika. Kulhadd igorr u jid--i u jigi Transport Malta u jghidlek li il poplu qieghed juri kunfidenza fis-sistema il-gdida. Hitler jumejn qabel miet' bil kanuni sovjetici ma dahru kien qieghed jghidilhom li se jirbhu. Heqq xi trid taghmel is sur Delia ghandu bzonn naqra inkoraggiment ghax ma nafx kif se johrog ghal-elezzjoni bil- buzzullotta ta rotot godda(halli ma nghix ta l-Arriva).

Carmel Zammit

Oct 13th 2011, 17:03

Commuters cannot continue to seek refuge in Dr. Gatt. as Minister for transport. His interpretation of figures provide by Arriva are more than distorted. If he were really interested in discovering whether patronage of the public transport really experienced an increase or otherwise all he has to do is risk taking a trip from the south of Malta to Valletta at 06:45 Monday to Friday. I am sure his aide Mr. Delia will tell him how long it takes to reach Valletta from Zurrieq at 06:45. I know people leaving Zurrieq at 06:15 to reach their office in Valletta in time to start Work at 08:00. If they leave later they get caught in huge traffic jams and would not make it in time. This apart form the fact that people are compelled to use their own private cars and make a detour through Ta'Kandja to reach their destination anywhere except the southern part of the island.

Since Dr. Gatt has shown only indifference, Dr. Gonzi should now assume responsibility for the current mess in the public transport. After all Dr. Gatt has only delegated authority. If Dr. Gatt does not resign out of his own free will Dr. Gonzi should remove him. Otherwise he is equally responsible.

S Aquilina

Oct 13th 2011, 16:31

Kull ma trid tara hu kemm qed jinxtara fuel mill-petrol stations u tohrog statistika tajba!

Mr Lawrence Mifsud

Oct 13th 2011, 16:04

The increase in passenger number is simply because the old ticketing system was abused. The actual number should have been much higher. Cannot beleive this new figure. Are the bus computers working right?

Brian Gatt

Oct 13th 2011, 15:54

Dear Mr Spokesman from the Transport Ministry can you please show us the Raw Data from where you extracted this fantastic information. Kindly also advise which formulaee or software you used to compile such a beauty.

I think however that they must have an intergovermental defective software they are using to issue these kind of reports because I think the ministry of Finance uses the same one since the last statement was that our finances are A OK , remember, only a couple of days before Moody's downgraded us !!!

Mr Peter Zahra

Oct 13th 2011, 15:35

All we have is just an unreliable service, with buses going around the island without any timetable whatsoever.
My son had to attend his 1st lesson at school in Msida at 10.00am this morning. At 8.15am he was on the stage in Mtarfa awaiting a bus which eventually did not turn up. After 1/2hr he managed to take a lift to Rabat to catch some other bus, however he was still stranded near Roman Villa till 9.30am with a considerable amount of people awaiting on stage. Seeing again that after all that time no Buses had turned up, I had no atlernative but to take an hour leave from work to go and take my son to school personally with my car !!!

Hows that for a reliable service ???

Joe Camilleri

Oct 13th 2011, 15:09

The only count there is, is the number of tickets sold. That is electronically recorded. The number of passengers boarding a bus is not recorded in any way.
One thing is obvious. Traffic on our roads increased to alarming levels. Perhaps private cars are driven by ghosts and their owners are on the busses!

K. Bugeja

Oct 13th 2011, 15:00

kemm tidher nadifa din il-bus fir-ritratt!!

mhux bhall-Arriva tat-toroq Maltin ghax imgidmin qed ikunu bil-hmieg u kollhom daqqiet, tghid ghaliex???

S Aquilina

Oct 13th 2011, 14:55

The only way to verify that the new transport system is working is to check national trends in the fuel consumption. Although this can still be misleading, one can check if overall fuel consumption in the country is being reduced resulting in better air quality.

FRANS H SAID

Oct 13th 2011, 14:46

therefore those who now have to use 2 buses when previously they only needed one are being count double. Thus there has not been any increase but a substantial decrease.

This is misleading and obscene statistics to misinform the public and an effort to keep on ramming on the people an extremely inefficient service and saidtic routes.

Come on minister, admit the fiasco.

Charles J. Buttigieg

Oct 13th 2011, 14:40

Prior to Arriva I used to take one return trip to go to Mater Dei Hospital. Now I have to go to Mosta and then get a connection there. This means that my use of Arriva is 100% more than the days I used the old buses and getting the same end result.

Norbert Abela

Oct 13th 2011, 14:34

But don't we learn from other countries that experiment before us and so we can analyses their results? Arriva failed in UK and Scotland and strangely we did our utmost to get this company to Malta. They promised luxury, clean and an efficient service. Till to date I can see nothing of this. I always dreamt of using the public transport and so enjoy my journey to work everyday. But nothing of the sort yet. Traffic is increasing exponentially and during my 1 hour drive from the south of Malta to work I rarely see an Arriva truck.
It is simply ridiculous. Sometimes I suspect that corruption and money in some people's pockets is again the reason for such chaos.

Roderick Micallef

Oct 13th 2011, 14:21

Dear Mr.Cassar, I am happy and proud not to use the public transport because I have the luxury of my own transportation. Let me also add that I have no intention of changing this for the time being especially if that means being a guinea pig of a new service!
The only people I am scorning here are the service providers (in this case Arriva) and the ministry that is involved (even though the minister keeps insisting that he has got nothing to do with any mayhems caused by Arriva) and therefore there is no need to take this 'personal'
You don't have to be an Arriva user to be in a position to judge, just by reading articles and seeing tens of people stuck on bus stops is already enough, however I wasn't even judging. I was simply expressing my opinion that I am happy that I don't have to rely on Arriva.
I also said that unless the ministry tells us black on white how they got those statistics I will not personally believe them!

j brincat

Oct 13th 2011, 14:19

Is the IT system working after all?


(jb)

Alexander Farrugia

Oct 13th 2011, 14:14

And the bus usage figures for the old yellow buses was based on which electronic count?

Frank Gauci

Oct 13th 2011, 14:00

Better if they leave the routes as they were in the past... It's not fair that from St. Paul's Bay to Mater Dei you spend about an hour or more to arrive and buses are not frequent. And for what buses leaving from Mellieha passing from St. Paul's Bay By Pass without picking up no one cause there's no bus stops there. And people at Qawra waiting for a long time for the Buses to arrive and waiting in the sun for a long time.

And what about bus stops poles in the middle of the pavement with no access for wheelchairs and pushchairs??? Sorry to say but this is UNACCEPTABLE for our country !!!! Please take action !!!

Francis Grech

Oct 13th 2011, 13:48

Having to board two buses for the same destination that before was one bus ,people using the Arriva service have declined

Albert Bezzina

Oct 13th 2011, 13:29

Still hoping that Arriva will eventually deliver BUT PLEASE:

With an incentive of higher subsidies when passenger numbers decline on the old bus service and an added bonus of pocketing unaccounted passenger fares increase undeclared income for tax purposes, these statistics can be interpreted in the following context;
The number of unrecorded or under declared passengers in September of last year could have been 17% of the actual number while that of Gozo (predictable to say the least) 75% of the real number of commuters made to 'disappear'.

There is a perceptible (marked) increase in traffic congestion on the roads since the start of school. The increase in the number of registered passenger cars over the last six months cannot account for this increase in traffic congestion. There can be a plausible explanation which a 'research unit' from TM (if it ever becomes effective) could confirm or not.
1) Have the number of students using the school transport service declined? –Increasing family expenses and school transport fees make it more economical for parents to ferry their offspring in the family car.
2) What is the effect of current major road works or construction on traffic flow deviations?
3) Have the ‘bigger’ size of the new buses interfered with the flow of traffic in urban areas?

James Dewar

Oct 13th 2011, 13:07

When almost everything else connected with the new service is flawed and unreliable why then should we believe the numbers electronically produced on board? I think we should not.

Tonio Farrugia

Oct 13th 2011, 13:03

I'm sorry. I have no numbers at hand. But road traffic this month is much more then it was in the same month of last year. For sure less people are using public transport....!!

and i think that with the mess that Arriva managed to coordinate, it is even understandable!

B Borg

Oct 13th 2011, 12:48

Well now we got the answer how these figures are collected, they use an electronic passanger counter, same to an electronic time table

john micallef

Oct 13th 2011, 12:45

what kind of fools does minister gatt thinks we are ,just a small example to go to mater dei you used to board the direct bus , up to last week ,to go to mater dei you had to board two buses and another two buses back and with the brand new service introduced last week you end at the back of the hospital,and you have to walk all the way to the reception,imagine going to a hotel and the taxi drops you at the back instead of the reception desk,that,s ARRIVA,S brand new service to mater dei,you have to pity the old folks going there

effie stafrace

Oct 13th 2011, 12:36

i live in naxxar and here the arriva service is being up to standards requeried .number 21 23 and 31 parr freely through the village core.lately number 43 was added near the higher secondary school to serve students at the said school.naxxar people are using it frequently to go direct to valletta via bkara and msida every 15 minutes.but still you here communters from other towns and villages who complain of arriva and their pleas are sincere.one example i think arriva should follow,just listen to complaints made by these people and try to solve them.not just the naxxar residents have the right for a good service

effie stafrace

Oct 13th 2011, 12:30

i live in naxxar and here the arriva service is being up to standards requeried .number 21 23 and 31 parr freely through the village core.lately number 43 was added near the higher secondary school to serve students at the said school.naxxar people are using it frequently to go direct to valletta via bkara and msida every 15 minutes.but still you here communters from other towns and villages who complain of arriva and their pleas are sincere.one example i think arriva should follow,just listen to complaints made by these people and try to solve them.not just the naxxar residents have the right for a good service

Clayton Bartolo

Oct 13th 2011, 12:27

There are lies, damned lies and statistics... (Mark Twain)

'Nuff said...

Gordon Scicluna

Oct 13th 2011, 12:22

If you have to catch 2 buses to get to B from A instead of 1 bus then your bus usage has increased by 100%. There can be lies, damn lies and statistics. Now who is the FW???

angelo azzopardi

Oct 13th 2011, 12:18

Allura x'inhi r-raguni li t-traffiku zdied daqstant fit-toroq Maltin? Jista jaghtina l-persentaggi u statistika l-ministru tal-Jaguar jew dan ma jaqbillux ixandarhom!!!!!!!

Mark Galea

Oct 13th 2011, 11:57

I would really like how the statistics are worked out. Does the driver count the passengers? Arriva has no way of counting passengers on busses since people with a weekly/day ticket will just show it to the driver and walk past.

I assume they are using some calculation on tickets such as (numbers are my suggestions)
2 hour ticket = average of 2 trips
day ticket = average of 4 trips
weekly ticket = average of 20 trips per week

Moreover, due to these interchanges, one can say that a trip now becomes 2 trips - in my case a 1 trip to Cirkewwa turns out to be 3 trips.

S. Camilleri

Oct 13th 2011, 11:52

I beleive my sentiment has already been echoed.

How on earth can anyone determine these figures when the Arriva ticketing and validating setup is so hopelessly inadequate , their statistic collection is limited to the sale of tickets with no visibility on trip usage etc. It is clearly an attempt at saving face and to justify asking for an increase in buses when Wonder Boy Dr.Gatt and his consultants had always insisted we have too many buses!!

Mrs silvia debono

Oct 13th 2011, 11:52

It is no wonder that the usage goes up, there is no other way to commute if you do not have a car (duh!). Nevermind the time wasted on bus stops waiting for Arriva to arrive (pun so intended). Drivers of Arriva should be grateful to work for Arriva. If they were in the position of the common mortal who relies on the bus system as means of transport they would never ever be on time for work.

Anthony Borg

Oct 13th 2011, 11:52

Please stop using this photo of a shining, unscathed Arriva bus.
There is no such thing anymore

Kendrick Bondin

Oct 13th 2011, 11:45

Did they take into consideration that some may be changing buses? Did such a person count as 2 or 3 depending on the bus changes thats/he had to make?!

Three times this week I have been waiting on a stage for more than 30 minutes every morning & no bus showed up. I had to ask someone to give me a lift every single day.

Is this the promised service that we were promised? A service that Austin Gatt said that 'Cars now iwll be left in the garage.'

To me these statistics are simply FALSE!

Christian Grech

Oct 13th 2011, 11:34

Could the fact that passengers have to use more than one route to arrive to a destination effect this statistic?

Monica Pace Bonello

Oct 13th 2011, 10:35

Yeah the amount that was going directly into the pockets of the drivers. And fuel....well there's another good piece of the jigsaw!!!! :))) we aren't stupid dear Government!!!!

Paul Cauchi

Oct 13th 2011, 10:31

3 million passengers? So if we assume that around 200,000 Maltese use the service, would that mean that there where 2.8 million tourists using arriva in Malta last Month?

Ray Cassar

Oct 13th 2011, 10:21

So is this the round in a circle way of the ministry admitting the responsibility for the routes and praising it self for the more journey options! But still kicking the dog they tell what to do at the same time - blame passing game and patting self on the back is not what we shold expect of this ministry or the ever quiet transport malta.

David Camilleri

Oct 13th 2011, 10:18

I will never believe what Transport Malta says. Their credibility is now gone down the drain.

Mr Roderick Micallef

Oct 13th 2011, 09:58

I am still very happy and proud that I don't make part of these 'statistics' however it is curious to know how and from where did the ministry get these figures? Can these be verified or we simply have to rely on what the ministry says because if it is the case I don't believe them!

E Gatt

Oct 13th 2011, 09:56

would someone please tell me how they figured this out with day/week/ monthly tickets? are they thinking that by buying a day ticket, it means that people are using the buses 4 times a day and not once or something of the likes?

Malcolm Mifsud

Oct 13th 2011, 09:54

Of course it's true. That's because it works cheaper because the bulk of the population cannot afford to pay the high rates park & ride and Floriana car parks are charging. You have to lump it, wake up early, pray to God that buses do not go by full up and count your lucky stars if you reach your destination on time. Simple logic.

Mario Camilleri

Oct 13th 2011, 09:47

Żinnnnnnnnnnnn......Gidba mill-bidu sal-aħħar! Propoganda! Logħob bil-figuri li ma jagħmlux sens ħlief propoganda biex il-misiteru jqarreb il-likk viċin il-boċċa tiegħu.
Kumbinazzjoni dawn il-figuri eċċezzjonali ħarġu GIMGĦA biss wara li Nicola Abela Garrett, l-istudenta brava li apparti li ħammret wiċċ il-Maltin kollha għax huma passivi u jeqirdu biss jafu, b'kuraġġ rredikolat lill-Ministru, il-ministeru ħareġ b'din il-farsa hekk kif kollox għadu frisk jew kif jgħid il-malti, "il-ftira sħuna tajba"

It-tifel mill-Imsida JC jispiċċa fil-ħamsa u qed jasal id-dar fil-Mosta satgħejn u xi minuti ftit wara jew qabel, meta qabel kien jieħu madwar tlett kwarti sa l-aktar l-aktar siegħa, jiddependi minn nies fuq l-istejġ u l-frekwnza tal-karozzi.
Dan kif qalet Nicola, illum qed jitlef mill-istudji tiegħu u jkollu jdum imqajjem sat-tard bil-lejl biex ilesti l-'homework'. Agħar minhekk qed iħallas biljetti li jispiċċa ma jużax għax jew jiskadi l-ħin, jew ikollu jimxiha lura. B'hekk biss jista jasal kmieni d-dar. Fil-għodu l-istess, ikollu jqum kmieni u joħroġ kmien avolja jkollu lezzjonijiet tard, inkella ma jasalx fil-ħin kif qed ikun hemm li ma jaslux.
Imbagħad xi ngħidu għax-xogħol? Jew bil-karozza tiegħek jew tibdel ix-xogħol u tipporva ssib x'inkien viċin.

Il-Ministru m'għandux dawn il-problemi li tefa lilna fihom għax aħna lill-Ministru ħallasnilu karozza lussuża, 'Jaguar', inħalsulu l-fjuwil, il-manutenzjoni u s-salarju li qed jieħu. U wara dan kollu lilna jagħtina dak li jrid hu, mhux dak tajjeb għalina!!

U issa l-Ministeru tiegħu jrid ibellalna din il-ħrafa. Ħalluna, tinsulentawx aktar lin-nies!!

francis agius

Oct 13th 2011, 09:46

Jekk il-passiggieri zdiedu, kif ser jigi spjegat il-fatt li l- bejgh mill- 'Petrol pumping stations', zdied b'persentagg konsiderevoli

Ray Buttigieg

Oct 13th 2011, 09:44

If you believe this piece of news you most probably believe that pigs fly. Din xi orha hoxna bhal ta 20 sena ohra fil gvern sur Hon Gatt!!!!!!

Aldo Chetcuti

Oct 13th 2011, 09:42

Congratulating and patting yourself on the back will not make the problem go away.

The facts are people are NOT REALLY HAPPY AT ALL with the 'reformed' public transport system and no amount of PR and excuses will remedy the problem.

What I fail to understand is why the people who can solve this huge bungle cannot see simple reason and give us back the old established routes but this time with the right buses and the drivers with the correct attitude. I would have retained the old route numbers as well!

The secret of introducing a successful change is to do this slowly and gradually. The Arriva story had neither of these and will for many months to come be associated with failed promises and unsatisfactory delivery.

In any other civilised community, the perpetrator of such an unsuccessful venture would resign to hide his shame and not try to erase the obvious with silly statements such as this last attempt. Maybe it is time to read again the fairy tale of 'The Emperor's Clothes'?!

Brian Busuttil

Oct 13th 2011, 09:40

kull min ghandu ghajnejh f'wiccu jaf li dan ir rapport huwa falz.
skond hawn fuq in nies zdiedu bi 22%... jekk qeghdin idahlu lill dawk l anzjani ( naf xi 4 minom jien) li f gurnata joqghodu jduru nofs Malta, ma tantx ghandom biex jiftahru.

is sitwazzjoni qeghda tkun gravi filghodu, f'Malta kolla imbghad specjalment in naha tal Marsa u in numru ta Karozzi privati zdied b modd esagerat fi ftit xuhur.

Hemm triq Garibaldi maghluqa ukoll ghall iktar min sena... sitwazzjoni tal Biki u hadd ma jiehu responsabilta ta xejn.

N Mifsud

Oct 13th 2011, 09:34

Qormi - Near Polyclinic- No bus passed for Uni/Mater Dei between 7.35 & 8.25...

Mr joe vella

Oct 13th 2011, 09:24

iddahaqax aktar nies bik u bil gvern tieghek austin, tahseb li ahna xi qatta gdur?
mhux kulhadd jaf, jara u jesperjenza b'ghajnejh u bin nervi l kjuz u traffic jams ma kullimkien - trid siegha biex tasal
ghandek ragun ghax int tkun ghadek rieqed fis 7 ta' filghodu jew fit terrazzin tiehu l-brekkie!!

Klaus Pedersen

Oct 13th 2011, 09:22

Well we didn't have much of a choice did we? With parking places being closed, Park and Ride increased and major roads closed for months on end, it was more by force than by choice. Almost as if somebody had promised somebody a certain amount of customers.

Ms pat muscat

Oct 13th 2011, 09:19

An other repeat of 'finanzi fis-sod'! It took me one and a half hours to travel from Mosta to St Paul's Bay! Give us back the non'reformed' bus routes and frequencies. The 'smart' minister should resign and compelled to join the bus queues!

Paul Azzopardi

Oct 13th 2011, 09:15

What we need is a reliable service not brainwashing.

Daniel Muscat

Oct 13th 2011, 09:15

I think they mean 22% increase in traffic! and 22% decrease in parking space at university.. seems like nobody is using the bus to come to university, and i don't blame anyone!!

Emanuel Tabone

Oct 13th 2011, 09:04

laqqas jiflhu jigdbu izjed mela mhux johorgu fit triq imqar mis 06.30 sad 09.00

Franco Abela

Oct 13th 2011, 08:56

50 minutes from the South to Valletta...

THIS IS HOW TRANSPORT MALTA HAS MANAGED TO CREATE HAVOC ON OUR ROADS>>>>

1) Closing Garibaldi Road

2) Closing Luqa Road

3) Closing one lane on traffic lights from Gudja to Tal-Barrani (direction south) causing long traffic lanes near Scotts supermarket (even in non rush hours). Gudja and Ghaxaq residents are now driving through Airport Roundabout to avoid this.

4) This in turn is causing major traffic for Zurrieq / Safi / Mqabba residents in Airport tunnel right through ST Electronics

5) Many Zurrieq residents are now using road from Mqabba to Hal Farrug (near Montekristo) which is cauing major traffic in Qormi

6) Then onto Marsa... Valletta Waterfront closed.... thus everyone through Sant Anna

7) and in Sant Anna no one keeps his lane.

8) removing 900 parking space from Valletta/Floriana

9) Introducing excessive fees on park and ride... from FREE to €2.50 daily

AND NO TRAFFIC POLICE TO BE SEEN ANYWHERE! - Except near ONE TV where his sole purpose is to create a bottle neck for those coming from Garibaldi by making a 3 lane road to 1 lane, instead of mimicking traffic lights.

AND ON TOP OF THAT.... an unreliable public transport.

THANKS TRANSPORT MALTA! WE LOVE YOU!

Mr A. Mizzi

Oct 13th 2011, 08:55

With loss of parking spaces, other parking spaces like the Park & Ride commissioned to Arriva and are now with a charge and an exorbitant one at that... the Commuters are left no alternative but to go bus hopping to get to their destination. with more surprises than on the Discovery Channel..... whilst Austin Buzollotti Gatt is still in dreamland!

Carmel Cilia

Oct 13th 2011, 08:53

Many passengers have to take four buses instead of two to go to work and back.Even here you want to deceive. The question is : has the number of persons using this service increased? Tridu tmeru l-alla maghruf.
Transport Malta int qeghda hemm biex taqdi lic-cittadin u ghalhekk se nsaqsik ghahiex il- karozzi mil belt ma humiex jitlqu bil hin. Ghalhiex dawn il-karozzi ma humiex jitilqu b'numru ta postijiet vojta biex jghabbu lil passiggieri mat triq. Ir raguni kulhadd jafa barra intkom:- ma hemmx karozzi biz-zijjed.

Ivan Cocker

Oct 13th 2011, 08:37

I wonder what shall be the statistics of this week, this last two days I have witness a massive increase of traffic from all sides!
My usual timing has just increase with a frastarting 3/4 of an hour jammed in Corradino Hill, then Marsa, then Valletta ... are you seriouse TM!!!!

TM it is better come up with a good argument and see why so many cars are in the road so early morning, and surely they are not travelling to deliver kids to school at 6.00am!!!!!

Mr David Bezzina

Oct 13th 2011, 08:32

AND ALL OF THEM ARE SATISFIED CUSTOMERS !

Mr joe vella

Oct 13th 2011, 08:27

austin gatt ought to wake up early, get his jag and try to drive through any of the arterial roads
eg via san pawl tat targa, naxxar, iklin, lija, b'kara, and on to valletta
then next morning try rabat, attard, b'kara, marsa
followed by rabat, zebbug, qormi, marsa

take a timer and let us know how long it takes you to do the trip mr minister and make sure it is a good timer!

you can then gauge for yourself how effective Arriva has been to take cars off the road!!
we do it every day so we have made our own judgement-- good day sir

Jonathan Scerri

Oct 13th 2011, 08:25

I reckon this is all based on some statistical assumption that day ticket passengers ride 4 buses a day and 2-hour ticket patrons ride 2 trips in the allocated time.
With the old system, where one had to purchase a ticket for each and every trip, statistics were accurate. This time round, commuter statistics are based on assumptions.
I agree with today's ticketing system but things ought to be put straight.

Tonio Micallef

Oct 13th 2011, 08:20

Dawk li gabru l-istatistika ta' kemm nies qed jirkbu l-Arriva messhom waslu wasla sa' l-inhawi ta' Rahal Gdid, Tal-Barrani, Hal-Tarxien, Garibaldi u l-Marsa dalghodu ha jkunu jafu kemm aktar nies qed juzaw tal-linja. Kullimkien iggamjat bil-karozzi u kulhadd qed jitlaq ghax-xoghol nofs siegha qabel biex forsi jasal fil-hin. Il-karozzi fit-toroq zdiedu mhux naqsu MINHABBA L-ARRIVA. Tkomplux tidhqu bil-Maltin ghax m'hu jemminkom HADD.

Mr R ferriggi

Oct 13th 2011, 08:14

these figures really need to be checked.

how on earth have car numbers exploded on the roads when schools have restarted??

Mr Peter Bonello

Oct 13th 2011, 07:52

U mela... nixtieq nkun naf minn fejn igibhom l-istatistici s-sur ministru!! l-unika haga li zdieda ma l-Arriva hi il-frustrazjoni, kemm ta dawk li bil-fors irridu jaqbdu l-Arriva u dawk li minkejja li ghandhom karozza spiccaw mwehlin fit-traffiku... u hallina sur ministru!!!

Malcolm Mifsud

Oct 13th 2011, 07:43

It stands to reason. One must be nuts to use alternative transport. Using the Park & Ride parking or the Floriana car park is costlier and we can't afford it. As simple as that.

John Scerri

Oct 13th 2011, 07:33

Let's say that whatever TM says today about public transport should be taken with a pinch of salt .

TM is not credible ,not any more . Dr. Austin Gatt as responsible for TM should seek to find out why and what were the reasons which cause so much harship to his fellow maltese citizens and take the necessary action .

What IS CREDIBLE is what EVERY BUS USER OBSERVES and experiences on a daily basis .

The public cry for the retention of ALL the old routes has not materialised 100%.
Yes .....there have been improvements one must admit.

The timing needs more coordination.

Many new drivers need to gain experience and job knowledge ....This also calls for Support from the public and especially from other drivers who think of themselves as being EGOISTIC, ARROGANT, KINGS of the road !!...you know what I mean .

Commuters need to get used to buying prepaid tickets once and for all.
STOP paying the driver. THIS IS TIME WASTED

Arriva must distribute Tickets to stationairies, mini markets like the phone companies do. Also set up more ticket machines like at Hal Far in front of Lister barracks where many people maltese and non board the X4 .

EVERY commuter is a SINGLE individual and should be treated as one. Stating numbers like in this article as if people are heards of cattle is no proof that the service is up to the required standard. Commuters have no choice but to use the one and only transport system. It is imperative that TM understand this.

Minister Austin Gatt is a person who made great improvements where IT , Communications, and Technological Advances are concerned for the benefit of all of us.

Minister Austin Gatt has failed to ensure that whoever was planning the transport system with Arriva was the right team for the job . Facts speak for themselves.

Mr R Psaila

Oct 13th 2011, 07:28

Now they must make another survey. They must count the huge amount of private cars that have increased on the road because of the inefficiency of Arriva.

Clayton Zahra

Oct 13th 2011, 07:23

jista l ministru mela jghajdilna kif zdiedu l karozzi u t traffiku fit triq? it traffiku zdied ghax nies li kienu juzaw tal linja qabel m ghadomx jafdaw fl arriva biex jghaslu fil hin ghax xoghol u qedd imorru bil karozza taghhom!

John Spiteri

Oct 13th 2011, 07:20

There are definitely more cars on the road than there use to be, because people have given up hope with the buses

John Spiteri

Oct 13th 2011, 07:18

Ive been using ther buses for free at times, especially on the bendy buses. They are so jam packed that it is easy to ride for free. The driver told me to enter the bus from the back end!

Patrick Calleja

Oct 13th 2011, 07:12

Does anyone know why parking restictions have been recently introduced in a road next to St George's bay??

A Azzopardi

Oct 13th 2011, 06:36

BTW, thanks to Arriva I cannot find a better job right now and I am stuck working extra hours at a job far below my qualifications and experience. You know why? Because the moment I go to an interview and they find out I as of yet do not drive; they tell me; But we need you to come to work on time; and puff, interview failed no matter how competent and experienced I am. Not mentioning that most job adverts on the etc website; even the ones with jobs which would technically not require candidate to have own transport;are requiring people to have own transport. And pray tell me; how do I get a car? I have no one to give me the money but myself and the income from my part time job is definitely not enough atm for me to be able to afford one. Not to mention that those dudes at Transport Malta seem to enjoy seeing me fail my driving license test over and over again.
If this goes on for another year; I swear I will just sit on my ass for my entire life and claim benefits. Seems the most profitable thing to do atm.
Thanks for destroying my life.

Roseanne Stevens

Oct 13th 2011, 05:53

I think reports submitted to the Minister are wrong. How can you pretend people use public service if everyone has one sure guarantee: you will not arrive to destination on time. No wonder traffic increased dramatically !

Andrew Cumbo

Oct 13th 2011, 00:53

Onorevoli ministru, tista tghidilna min fejn gibt dawn il- figuri? Meta it-traffiku li qieghed ikun hawn fi toroq huwa ta twerwir mindu beda servizz tal- Arriva. Ghall li jista jkun ma gibtx dawn il- figuri l-istess min fejn gibt il- figura ta 5000 ruh li suppost qeghdin jahdmu go Smart City sa issa !!

anastasia micallef

Oct 13th 2011, 00:24

Where are they getting these statistics from? I work in Valletta, have been working there for the last 8 years, at one job or another and I know quite a number of people who used to catch the same bus I used to catch every day without problems who are now forced to wake up earlier (in some cases more than an hour earlier than they used to), get their own car out and drive to Valletta. This is also amply shown by the steep increase in traffic on the roads in the morning in the last few days. Every morning this week I have tried to catch an earlier bus, yet despite my efforts I am just ending up arriving at work later and later! It's getting harder and harder to explain what's happening to my boss....especially when he sees statistics such as this!!!It's like I am not living in the same country which these statistics are speaking about!!

Mark Piscopo

Oct 13th 2011, 00:10

If prior to July 3rd a person took a direct route and today he has to take two buses to reach his destination (if not three) then usage has not increased by 22% but decreased by39%

Mark Piscopo

Oct 12th 2011, 23:58

I will never believe these statistic by the Ministry. I hope that there will be an investigation of such figures.The queues of private vehiches on the roads starts at 6 o'clock in the morning.The best judges of the bus service are the public and not statistics.

Zagroma Savrene

Oct 12th 2011, 23:56

Cool, I'm still going to be using my car tho, so please stay out of my way. thanks

Jonathan Muscat

Oct 12th 2011, 23:49

Statements bhal dawn ibezzawni... Wasalna fi stat fejn statistika (jekk tista tissejjah statistika ) nikllejmjaw li hija vera just ghax taqbel ma dak li nixtiequ nuru u nirrifjutawa vice versa, filwaqt li

1. lebda akkont ma jinata lejn li t teorija nnifisa tajd li statistika ma tatix stampa DEFINITTIVA ta laffarijiet u

2. li d derivazzjoni ta kif tkun ottenuta listatistika taghmel sens.

Wiehed ma jridx ikun gharef wisq biex jinduna li f dan il kaz xi haga hazina hemm... so jien nitlob il politikanti biex PLEASE ta linqas jistmawna ta nies, u mux annimali li jistghu jitimawna r ross bil labra...(ta linqas hekk andi limpressjoni)

Mr Mark Demicoli

Oct 12th 2011, 23:14

il maltaco lotteries ha tati miljun euro lil kull min jixtri ticket, anke jekk in numri tieghek ma jitilaw.....iggri iggri bahbuh Malti, emmen u iggri!

M Darmanin

Oct 12th 2011, 22:34

Oh yes pull the other one Mr Minister. Pls find below my daughter's daily hell this week and all she had to do was travel from Birzebbugia to Paola to attend classes at MCAST a 20 minute maximum drive with the old system :
Monday - 1st lesson starts at 9am. She was at the bus terminus at 7.45. Bus arrived at 9.15 1hr and a half later. She arrived at school at 10.15. Called Arriva to complain. They just listened very courteous what else can they do.
Tuesday - 1st lesson starts at 8am. She was at the bus terminus at 6.45. Bus arrived at 7am. She arrived at Paola 8.15 am had to stop in Paola Square and walk it to MCAST as bus was stuck in traffic. She arrived at school at 8.30.
Wednesday -1st lesson starts at 8am. She was at the bus terminus at 6.45. Bus arrived at 7am. She arrived at Paola 8.20 am had to stop in front of Paola Health Centre and walk it to MCAST as bus was stuck in traffic. She arrived at school at 8.35.
She missed 4 lessons in 3 days. How's that for a better service. I am not complaining cause she had to walk some distance as she used to walk more before using the no. 11. But something is wrong and you definitely need to come back down to planet earth on the maltese roads and see for yourself the real situation. It's impossible that you cant believe and not take notice of all these complaints. We are not crazy people, we are simply expecting the better service we were promised. By the way will Arriva be refunding our children the money should their stipend be deducted due to absenteeism???

C. Muscat

Oct 12th 2011, 22:34

TO ERR IS HUMANE TO PERSIST IS DIABOLIC. Tista. tidhak bija darba imma tibqax tipprova tidhak bija kull darba. B'min iridu jghaddu iz-zmien. Carissmu li Ghawdex marru tajjeb u Malta Arriva hi dizastru fenominali!!!LOL

Mr Tony Camilleri

Oct 12th 2011, 22:29

If this is so, why did private vehicles traffic increase so much after Tardiva started operating?

Why are we having so many traffic jams now much more than before?

Another thing I read on another media which makes a lot of sense is that while previously one took one bus to go from A to B and now has to take two buses the usage would have increased by 100%, if three buses by 200%.

So there goes your figures Agostino Pio.

Mr ALAN GALEA

Oct 12th 2011, 22:29

Mela jekk dawn il-figuri huma veru, hawn problema kbira bil-karozzi fit-triq.
Ara tigiex toqghod gimgha haz-Zabbar sur ministru halli tara kemm iddum biex tasal sal-ministeru.

Michelle Buhagiar

Oct 12th 2011, 22:28

Perfect timing to issue such statistics! Why not try to count the number of hours most of us are wasting in travelling each day because of the introduction of Arriva?

Kevin Spiteri

Oct 12th 2011, 22:21

How on earth can you compare lettuce and onions? The time spent waiting and touring on board buses has surely increased!

Peter Shaw

Oct 12th 2011, 22:15

H A HA HA

Paul Joseph Mifsud

Oct 12th 2011, 22:08

For sure, I am definitely not one of the 22% commuters who elected to use the bus service - if the Arriva public transport system can be remotely described as providing a service to commuters!!

This morning I decided to use Arriva to travel from Xghajra to Valletta instead of using my car. In order to be on time for an appointment at 09.30hrs at Valletta, I was present on the bus stop at 08.00hrs.

It must be emphasised that Xghajra is served by two routes - Route 3 and the recently introduced Route 120. Route 3 serves the Kalkara and Cottoners areas before proceeding through Paola and Marsa to reach the Valletta terminus. The newly introduced Bus Route 120 connects Xghajra to the Mater Dei interchange before proceeding to its final destination at Pembroke. I decided to catch the first route bus that presented itself and to effect an interchange at the Marsa Park & Ride before proceeding to Valletta in case of utilising Bus Route 120.

In my case dissatisfaction has increased by 100% because it is disgusting having to wait for a whole hour when four buses were scheduled to call with not even one being on time. Shame on you Arriva!! This is definitely not the way to attract car users to use your so called service.
According to the information brochures issued by Arriva received both routes operate every 30 minutes. Route 3 and Route 120 supposedly leave Xghajra every quarter and three quarters on the hour. Between 08.00 and 09.00hrs when at least four buses were scheduled to arrive, not even one showed up. In desperation at 0900hrs when I realised that by using the public transport system, it was impossible to arrive at Valletta in time, i reluctantly took my car out of the garage and drove to Valletta to honour my committment.

Peter Shaw

Oct 12th 2011, 22:08

Invest in a Segway like the Valletta Police !

Mr Hans Borg

Oct 12th 2011, 22:04

Comparisons must be like-with-like. The ticketing system now and the number of bus changes are different from the previous system. So how is the comparison being made - tickets bought ? trips made ?

j brincat

Oct 12th 2011, 22:03

Mark Twain once wrote:"Lies, damned lies, and statistics"


(jb)

Ms Marija Falzon

Oct 12th 2011, 21:56

mhux bil-fors jekk biex mill-fgura trid tmur il-belt, l-ewwel ikollok tinzel wied il-ghajn. flok trip wiehed issa ghandek 2

Noel Mifsud

Oct 12th 2011, 21:55

Minn hareg din l stqarrija mhux qed jghidx Malta. Ghawdex ma nafx pero biex tajd li zdiedu l passiggieri hija dahqa fil wicc dal poplu. Biex nsasal minn zabbar sa paceville, bil karozza tieghi 45 min domt meta qabel fi 25 m inutes kont namilla, u dan taf ghaliex, ghax bhali ma nistax nafda li nitla bl arriva ghax ma jzommux il hinijwt u ma tafdomx. Min hareg dan ir rapport haqqu gieh malta republika tasl mickey mouse. Grazzi

Claire Busuttil

Oct 12th 2011, 21:52

Ara veru il ministru gatt, qed jahseb li il malti injurant ta......biex gej jifrah b dil stqarija....meta ghad hawn kocc problemi kbar fis servizz

Mr Stefan Kottmann-Soler

Oct 12th 2011, 21:51

Well I am one of the people who started using the service and will soon give up.

Clemens Hasengschwandtner

Oct 12th 2011, 21:41

Hehe, they are using the figures of the old buses. Just shows that 22 % percent of sales did not get reported - nothing else. As if everyone always used to get a ticket in the old days. Most likely there are less people now than before.

Mr David Galea

Oct 12th 2011, 21:37

Ghawdxin qed juzaw aktar l_Arriva ghax basikalment thallew l-vjaggi l-istess u anzi ziedu xi rotot. Malta tharbaghd kollox u spiccajna indumu aktar biex naslu fid-direzzjoni taghna

Joe Camilleri

Oct 12th 2011, 21:37

A big lie.
There is no way of counting the number of passengers!

Mr Roger Chenery

Oct 12th 2011, 21:30

It is unbelievable that the Ministry should make such a statement at this point in time whilst so many complaints are still being made about the bus service. I find these percentage increases hard to believe and strongly suspect that the ministry was receiving wrong reports in the past about bus usage which would make the stated increases highly suspect.

Mr M Spiteri

Oct 12th 2011, 21:30

Those who have no other means have to use arriva irrespective of the service. In addition one has to see how these passengers numbers are calculated. A passenger needing to change buses to arrive at his destination is probably counted twice irrespective if before he used to ride one bus only.

Nicholas Grech

Oct 12th 2011, 21:22

Public transport usage up 22 per cent

public stuck in traffic for over 2hrs up 100 per cent

Godfrey Camilleri

Oct 12th 2011, 21:12

Are we sure about these statistics or it is further confirmation that the previous figures were skewed with unreported trips. The figures for Gozo seem to point in this direction. One should investigate thoroughly.

jesmond zammit

Oct 12th 2011, 21:10

jista jkun zdiedet il popolazzjoni mela , ghax kullhadd kelma wahda kemm zdied it traffiku mindu dahal is servizz bla buzullotti ta l arriva.

VINCENT WILLIAMS

Oct 12th 2011, 21:09

Then how it come that the private vehicles on the roads have increased and not decreased? Each morning in the south of the island the queues of private vehichles on the roads starts at 6 o'clock. I absolutely don't believe what Transport Malta is stating.

John Farrugia

Oct 12th 2011, 21:06

GUDJA / GHAXAQ pls We want our service like before ,,To whom is this massage....

Alfred Sancio Azzopardi

Oct 12th 2011, 21:04

Since Arriva came into Service,I can count the times on one hand how many times I managed to find
an empty seat from Swieqi to Valletta or Exiles to Swieqi. Of late, near the Balluta church, the bus suddenly braked and three passengers fell on me. I thank the Lord that I was not hurt and broke my arms. How about reintroducing the old '64' which was extremely convenient, going thru Tower Road,Sliema and service the inner part of Swieqi, especially for the elderly who can do without having to walk to the main road of
St. Andrews. The present route bus no.34 only goes thru Regional Road to/from Valletta. As it is, we can safely say that we were better serviced by the old routes. Please rethink and act accordingly.

Ms D. Azzopardi

John J. Borg

Oct 12th 2011, 21:03

In a few weeks all this moaning will seem as riduculous as that false moral outrage against the Sant Antnin recycling plant.

Mr Emmanuel Ebejer

Oct 12th 2011, 20:57

May I ask who on earth is responsible for this statistic? The author must have one hell of a hangover!!!!

MALCOLM SEYCHELL

Oct 12th 2011, 20:56

To reach the same amount of passengers of the previous service the rate has to increase by at least 100%. Before we used to catch one bus to arrive to destination. Today if you are lucky you have to catch two. So the use of public transport went down by at least 70%/

Obviously Transport Malta and Arriva are trying to hide the disservice they are doing to Malta.

Chris Tanti

Oct 12th 2011, 20:51

It seems that most of the bus users I know and Transport Malta are living in parallel worlds.. I have been using Arriva since September and the amount of time I spent waiting and writing emails to Arriva Customer service to complain is unbelievable. I even wrote to Malta Transport but received no reply. In 1.5 months, I only experienced 3 instances when No. 52 from Valletta was on time... 3 instances out of 30 working days.. 10%! Once I even risked getting hit by a car in Rabat to catch a bus after 2 hours of waiting near the Roman Villa. Confidence in Arriva? Not in my world! Now I am forced to use my private car to go to work and this from someone who spent 10 years using the old service without such problems!

Neil Collins

Oct 12th 2011, 20:45

I use the buses everyday and they are no different to any other major city in the world. yes you have problems, mainly because you are not very thoughtful/courteous drivers, i,e you will block a major road just call off at a shop or get a pastizzi (and you know you do it!!!!!!).

And all these people saying its the worst public transport ever. It is a pleasure to ride on these buses, unlike the dirty, polluting, smoke belching other ones you called buses. And lets not forget the vest wearing, airy armpitted, foul mouthed, tattoo covered drivers who never had change and would decide to go home half way through the route and ask everyone to get off the bus. Out of the 3 million passengers in September there is about 40 of you who chat to each other moaning about the service trying to convince yourself that you represent the majority. You don't. The bus service is fine, there is nothing wrong with it.

A Cassar

Oct 12th 2011, 20:41

Hmmmmmmmmm....up by 22% from previous data given....What if the data from the Old (orange bus) System was 'under-estimated', the driver owners used to pocket more money etc etc..... I suspect that is the real reason for the increase!! Actual figures now over fake figures in the past....

FRANS H SAID

Oct 12th 2011, 20:40

How were the passengers calculated? When using 2 buses out and 2 buses in, does that mean 4 passengers? In that case 22% is hardly worth mentioning. Come on, statistics is a piece of elastic or plasticine that can be twisted to your heart's desire.

Tony Borg

Oct 12th 2011, 20:38

Austin Gatt in dreamland.

The best judges of the bus service are the public and not statistics.

Why don't Austin Gatt spend one morning going round the various bus stops and see what people think of the new service.

I can assure him that the student who confronted him on campus will seem an angel in comparison to what people would tell him.

Mark Jones

Oct 12th 2011, 20:37

"There are lies, damn lies and statistics." My wife, a daily bus traveller, was often given a free ride under the old system by drivers who knew her. As were many other people.
I'd like to see the public transport usage figures for this village, Ghaxaq, which has been effectively robbed of its bus service. And I'd like someone to measure how many extra car journeys are being made in this part of Malta because of the sh*t bus service.
This morning it took an hour to drive 4km from here to the Marsa lights. My son spent an hour and a half on a number 81 from the Tal-Barrani road to the stop opposite the prison; he was almost an hour late arriving at MCAST, having left home at 6.50.
TransportMalta and Austin Gatt should be ashamed.

Maria Zammit

Oct 12th 2011, 20:32

Someone did say statistics are lies.... but the greatest liar is the one who interprets them.

If prior to July 3rd a person took a direct route and today he has to take two buses to reach his destination (if not three) then usage has not increased by 22% but decreased by

100 - 122 division by 2 = 61 then 61 - 100 = a decrease of 39% and this can be seen by the increase of cars on the road.

Dear Minister don't take us for another ride... Arriva's job is just that!

John Farrugia

Oct 12th 2011, 20:32

Pls Mr Gatt,,,, Iin Malta there is a village named Gudja and Ghaxaq with STILL NO service like before,Make something NOW

Victor Vella

Oct 12th 2011, 20:31

@ Mr A Cardona whilst agreeing with you 100% about the traffic and I do not want to sound as if I am patronising the Ministry, I feel I must comment.
I travel from Zabbar to Mosta, a 30 minute trip at the most with rush hour traffic, I would like to have answers to the following,
Why were two arterial roads in Luqa closed off at the same timewith one of them closed and the work did not start for over 6 weeks. Why is it that the contractor working on a major road allowed to work literally office hours, works like these in other countries is a 24 hour operation.
Why was the police officer near the industrial estate at Marsa simply standing there doing nothing to ease the traffic flow.
Why can't privat ecars use the bus lane when no busses are in sight but then a police officer in a private car was seen driving along the bus lane with impunity.
Where are the traffic police when there is a traffic jam? Most probably only half of them had turned up for work by 8.
The traffic this morning started from near Hompesch gate and I was stuuck in traffic up to the turn off for Qormi on the sta venera bypass.
No it is not only arriva busses holding up the traffic, as stated by a PL supporter friend of mine.and it is not the lack of service which is causeing it iether as those who normally went to work by bus still go to work by bus,
All I can say about the busses is this, last monday while walking my dog early in the morning, I passed by a bus stop , as I was approaching this bus stop I saw a man arrive there to wait for the bus, As I passed him he was mumbling aloud that he has been there for an hour and no bus turned up.Regarding Fgura I appreciate that they never had it good, but I also know that Fgura was never served wellwith the old system iether.

Mr Paul Caruana

Oct 12th 2011, 20:23

TM's statement says it all...especially the part about improving the morning service.

maria curmi

Oct 12th 2011, 20:21

Passenger numbers rising faster than expected - with the worst public transport ever

Sarah Borg

Oct 12th 2011, 20:19

haha "confidence in the service" ... this is unbelievable you spend 5 minutes on a bus stop and all you hear is people showing their disappointment towards the service being given... Arriva and TM customer care lines are being inundated each day with complaints and the ministry says people are showing "confidence" in the service ... ooo please... Mr Gatt it's time you pulled your head out of the sand and face reality.

K. Vella

Oct 12th 2011, 20:13

Good news and very promising.

Now both Transport Malta and Arriva need to ensure to revise more routes and more frequent trips on the popular rush hour routes.

This was a massive reform, never expected this would have been tackled but it is now done. Unfortunately, it started very badly but I am sure that it will end up successful.

a borg

Oct 12th 2011, 20:13

it's not all so dark for arriva: in gozo it has been quite successful. the new buses have brought a noticeable change in the air quality too, especially in victoria, given the polluting old buses. why is it that in malta it's so different?

Mr robert micallef

Oct 12th 2011, 20:07

hmm so last week The minister said that its hardly his fault if a bus arrives late but it seems to me that its all due to him this increase in usage.

Ms Rose Cilia

Oct 12th 2011, 20:04

In my opinion this increase can be justified since the users have to change buses to go from point A to point B on some routes, whereas with the old system one did not need to change buses

Charles Bugeja

Oct 12th 2011, 20:03

kif zdied l uzu ta l Arriva u zdied it traffic- ma naghmlux mod li zdiedet il popolazzjoni!!!

Joe Brincat-LL.D

Oct 12th 2011, 20:01

It had to be said, however, that neither the operator nor Transport Malta had believed that there would be such an increase in patronage in such a short period, the ministry said.

And so say all of us ! We do not believe it. Just try to get into Valletta area at 9.00 a.m. on a working day.
There are so many passengers .....in private cars.

By the way, we were promised NEW buses. Why are second hand buses (apart from the bendy buses) being imported from the UK ? Customs have the evidence. My information comes from a person who works in the cargo sector.

mark borg

Oct 12th 2011, 19:59

Mela mhux bhalek sur ministru ...inti ma tantx, you are rising faster !

R Saliba

Oct 12th 2011, 19:57

Too much experts here. How many of you actually use the service?

mark borg

Oct 12th 2011, 19:54

Mhux ovvja ,per ezemplu il -belt gabuh impossibli tiparkja u il -park and ride qed fidejn l-arriva illum. Jien wiehed min dawk li nahdem il belt u jkollhi nuzhom bilfors u bhali kuljum hawn zgur mijiet ohran.Li u zgur mghandix fit tul nahdem il belt ghax daqt jitfghuni il barra ! ghalkhem nahseb hafna qabel qed nasal tliet kwarti tard kuljum !!!!!

Ġ. Agius

Oct 12th 2011, 19:50

You see now naysayers?!
I have been saying this to people but their liberal/MLP bias seems to take hold of them in everything in their life!!

TRAFFIC HAS DECREASED THANKS TO AUSTIN GATT'S ARRIVA PROJECT

that is why I was extremely sorry and as a maltese, utterly disgusted by the level of ignorance and blasphemy showed by that student who crudely insulted him a few days ago!

Thank you Minister Gatt, for finally revamping that clunky system we had and gave us a brand new system which DECREASED 22 PERCENT OF THE TRAFFIC FROM THE STREETS! AND THIS IS NOW STATISTICALLY PROVEN TOO!!

Mr Joseph N. Attard

Oct 12th 2011, 19:46

Isn't it obvious? It just means that previously not all bus usage was being reported, with all that that implies.

Mr A Cardona

Oct 12th 2011, 19:44

If it has increased by 22% then why is it that traffic has went up exponentially up? Guess others noticed this too.

M. Micallef

Oct 12th 2011, 19:42

There are lies, damned lies and.... statistics!

Mr W Cassar

Oct 12th 2011, 19:38

The traffic on the roads compared with last year tells a different story.

Mr C Cassar

Oct 12th 2011, 19:37

This isn't really surprising since the current system is light years ahead of waht was there before July 3rd. Sure there are a bunch of professional moaners who'll always slate anything new but the figures speak for themselves and are to be expected.

It's funny how a minority have been slating the new system and now the figures show that there's been a huge rise in it's use.

Game, set and match to the new system.

Mr ALBERT FENECH

Oct 12th 2011, 19:32

Where can we obtain figures to show how many private vehicles were on the roads during the same comparative period? Something is not adding up and you do not have to be a mathematical genius to reach this conclusion. If public transport passengers increased so substantially, then usage of private vehicles should approximately have been reduced by a similar proportion. HOWEVER, all road users know full well this is not so. Traffic jams have been increasing on a daily basis and I have never experienced so much obscenity, blasphemy and foul language from irate and frustrated drivers and road users. Matters have become so chronic in this country that you cannot even rely on published statistics. I am more than certain that the public will view these figures with a large pinch of salt!

ALBERT FENECH
Qawra

Richard Sanders

Oct 12th 2011, 19:31

AUSTIN GATT wake up!!!!!!! We don 't CARE about figures we want a service full stop!!!!!! Did it ever occare to you that we are now forced to take two or three buses to get to our destination!!!! Try figure that out and you will know where the increase came from. Surely not because people are leaving their cars at home to take the long tours on your ARRIVA buses.

Mr Leon Zawadzki

Oct 12th 2011, 19:31

There appears to be more traffic on the road now than before Arriva started operations. Many people are reported to have abandoned the buses, yet the figures show a 21/16% increase in passengers. How are passenger numbers calculated, surly not by tickets sold. I along with everybody else can now use the bus 10 , 20 or even 30 times a day with my all day fare. So far I have never see anyone counting the number of passengers on a bus. How are the number of individual journeys calculated.
If the number of passengers have increased according to ticket sales, but decreased according to people who are now using their cars, one can quite easily understand why the old bus cartel never wanted to implement the new bus company. It must be an eye opener for the government with the lost revenue that went into bus drivers pockets and never declared for tax purposes.

Doris Farrugia

Oct 12th 2011, 19:24

For sure not by using the Gudja/Ghaxaq route because it's still non existing!!!!!!!We have been without a route bus since the 3rd July!!!!!! SHAME.

Mr Peter Murray

Oct 12th 2011, 19:19

UTILISATION INCREASED BY 22%-DISSATISFACTION INCREASED BY 100 %.

M Cassar

Oct 12th 2011, 19:16

Therefore it follows that traffic on the roads should have been lighter in the last few months. This assuming that there was no sudden increase in the local driving population, which there wasn't. Hmmm, considering that most roads are heavily congested one wonders whether another way of looking at this would be to consider the source of the numbers supplied for the number of passengers on the old service. Come to think of it, how were statistics extracted, from the ticketing system perhaps? Hmmmmm indeed!

Mr Colin Camilleri

Oct 12th 2011, 19:14

that means that Austin Gatt has earned his €500 weekly increase, right?

Mr Chris Gatt

Oct 12th 2011, 19:13

This is excellent news. The more people use the buses and leave their cars at home, the less pollution, the less traffic jams and the less money (in terms of money spent on fuel) leaving the country.
It is also proof that people are very happy to use the public transport if it is efficient and convenient.

Arriva should stop looking at short term gains and build up the fleet to the amount required, using the appropriate sized buses and creating the necessary routes (Transport Malta and its routes be damned!).

It should also introduce the Oyster card system (or something similar) as quickly as possible. This will allow Arriva to track where people are going from pick up to final destination. This will provide Arriva with all the necessary information to tweak the routes, (other advantages would include:routes becoming faster, cards topped up from home over the internet, and if lost, cards can be replaced, so people are more likely to buy monthly tickets). More people woudl ultimately mean more profit and we can remove this two-tier tourist/Maltese system which is hurting the island's image (Wake up MTA!)

John iNGUANEZ

Oct 12th 2011, 19:11

Is it true that the figures refer to usage and not to tickets sold? If during the day i use the ticket four time, am I counted as four passengers?

Paul Debono

Oct 12th 2011, 19:11

Could this possibly mean that the previous bus drivers under declared their income? I have not seen any drop in traffic jams to complement this 'increase' in use of public transport.....

FRANS H SAID

Oct 12th 2011, 19:10

And if the direct routes are re-installed, the increase will be even greater.

At the same time one must remeber that whenb Arriva started it was summer, now schoold, and other activities associated with autimn, winter, call for mor travelling.

Let not TM and Arriva use this as an axcuse not to re install the bulk of the previous routes.

Mr D Bonello

Oct 12th 2011, 19:07

This could also be a sign of a bad economy, where people are cutting back on driving their own car and cannot afford the price of petrol.

cesco di luigi

Oct 12th 2011, 19:07

Sure, and I'm the Pope's daughter!

l vella

Oct 12th 2011, 19:06

'It had to be said, however, that neither the operator nor Transport Malta had believed that there would be such an increase in patronage in such a short period.'

So now its our fault !

victor caruana

Oct 12th 2011, 19:01

Methodology please....??????????//

Robert Caruana

Oct 12th 2011, 18:57

Mela mhux kollox hazin ZEPP.....

Mr Tony Gatt

Oct 12th 2011, 18:54

Malta must be a bus operator's dream with the high occupancy rate of the buses. The punters deserve good service, at least.

Mr Manuel Mangani

Oct 12th 2011, 18:53

One should never take statistics at face value. During September I travelled twice between Rabat and Mater Dei Hospital. I had to take 2 buses on the way there, and 2 buses back. Prior to July 3, I would have taken one bus journey each way.

Thankfully, the direct route has since been restored. It should be interting to note whether there will be an increase in uptake, now that many direct routes have been re-established.

Anthony Cachia

Oct 12th 2011, 18:51

How many of these were tourists?

J Vassallo

Oct 12th 2011, 18:48

how do you explain the caos an the roads and people stranded on bus stops then ???????

Maria Fenech

Oct 12th 2011, 18:48

Considering the traffic from Zabbar to Marsa and onwards to Naxxar and Mosta, or past the airport and Qormi today morning I would have guessed that it more likely went down by 22%