Public transport complaints have dropped drastically in three months, indicating the contentious Arriva bus service is now moving in a more stabilising direction.
Drivers earned high marks for courteousness
In October, Transport Malta received 509 complaints about the bus system but in December these went down to 179, indicating the numerous changes to improve the system were finally bearing fruit.
Figures obtained by The Sunday Times, which exclude those received by Arriva, show the biggest criticism in October (223 complaints) was directed at bus route timings, but within two months these objections went down to 59.
Passengers were still grumbling about the actual routes in October – the most contentious issue since the new service run by Arriva started operating last July – but by December these had become less and less (69).
By November, Arriva, which had not had a period of stability since it started, had gone through five big changes to fine-tune the system and pacify people’s indignation.
At the time, a protest had also been organised to express disapproval at the “sorrystate” of public transport – commuters felt they were being short-changed on the long-awaited reform.
However, by December, overall complaints in every sector were drastically reduced. Objections relating to bus shelters, infrastructure, traffic management and fares were also practically negligent – less than five – by December.
A separate study, commissioned by Transport Malta and carried out by Misco, also confirms the service and the behaviour of bus drivers improved.
Transport Malta asked Misco to carry out a mystery shopping exercise – getting passengers to use the bus and provide feedback.
The aim was to evaluate the overall experience of the bus service, gauge waiting time, report on the state of the bus, test the level of service provided by drivers and establish if weather affected operations.
This exercise was split into two waves – 202 bus rides between November 28 and December 2, and 183 bus rides from January 20 to 26.
Some trips were planned using the Arriva website, while others were unscheduled. Each time a bus was boarded the mystery passenger had to fill in a questionnaire.
For the majority of trips (over 41 per cent) buses arrived on time during both waves, with a small percentage (7.4 per cent during the first wave and 2.7 per cent during the wave) having to wait more than 20 minutes. The average waiting time was under five minutes.
Bus drivers, who for years earned a reputation for bad behaviour, earned high marks for courteousness and driving at a reasonable speed – over 90 per cent during the weeks under review.
Arriva seemed to falter when it came to displaying journey information on board the bus – it was missing on 51.5 per cent of the trips during the first wave and 56.8 per cent during the second.
The overall experience was at the end of the trips was one of satisfaction (44.6 per cent during the first period and 61.7 per cent during the second). Some (20.3 per cent, 14.8 per cent) went as far as to say they were “very satisfied”, while others (12.4 per cent, six per cent) were dissatisfied.