Thank God for Arriva (1)

Francis Sammut

May 30th 2012, 20:37

I'd like to take the Rev. G. Mercieca to task for his last comment in his letter where he stated: ''The fact remains that the Maltese islands were not prepared for the high standard of service that Arriva provides'' Note that he speaks of the here and now, of the present, when he says: 'the service Arriva provides' he seems to forget that the bus service was not something which was launched on the 3rd July and presto, except for some teething problems, Arriva provided an excellent service, because that is what the Father is giving to understand. Also, by that statement, like it or not, one will remember that famous phrase by minister Gatt when things did not go to plan (to put it mildly) when he said that the service was too avant-garde for the people to appreciate. After all the commuters had gone through with the debacle created by not Arriva, because mostly it was not to blame, but by Dr. Gatt and Mr. E. Delia who arrogantly ignored the people's needs to bring in the old routes. OK, finally, (finally!) they did, after so many months of suffering by workers and other commuters. That's why I find Rev. Mercieca's last comment to be an insult against the people of Malta as a whole.

Francis Saliba M.D.

May 30th 2012, 17:00

The sterling Arriva service in Gozo, certainly better than that in Malta, is due to the centrally placed main terminus in Victoria with routes radiating out from it like the spokes of a wheel.

The Arriva service in Malta is vastly superior to anything on offer before but it could be improved if the Gozo model is adopted with the main terminus centrally situated in the middle of the place, not peripherally in Valletta, with routes radiating from it to outlying districts. Such a plan would be improved still further if popular outlying towns and villages were interconnected directly by smaller circumferential routes as necessary.

Francis Saliba M.D.

May 30th 2012, 17:00

The sterling Arriva service in Gozo, certainly better than that in Malta, is due to the centrally placed main terminus in Victoria with routes radiating out from it like the spokes of a wheel.

The Arriva service in Malta is vastly superior to anything on offer before but it could be improved if the Gozo model is adopted with the main terminus centrally situated in the middle of the place, not peripherally in Valletta, with routes radiating from it to outlying districts. Such a plan would be improved still further if popular outlying towns and villages were interconnected directly by smaller circumferential routes as necessary.

Joseph Cauchi Senior

May 30th 2012, 13:57

I would like to pose this question to the readers of this column.

If you were given the chance to choose the mode of public transport again, (once you have experienced the present Arriva system, with all its warts and all); would you want to stick to the present system or revert back to those old ‘nostalgic’ mode of public transport?

JC.

Adrian Pavia

May 30th 2012, 13:28

Bid difetti kollha ta' l-arriva jien nista' nghid li issa qieghdin hafna ahjar minn qabel. Fadal hafna xi jsir specjalment fejn tidhol real time information, announcements u displays.

Ian James

May 30th 2012, 13:12

Regardless as to whether the roads and infrastructure of Malta was/is ready for the advent of Arriva, would it be too much to ask that a simple rule be activated by the Arriva drivers and co-ordinators to prevent the constant scenario of being stuck behind a rolling roadblock of 3 'bendy' buses making a total in excess of 70mtrs of traffic jam. This happens daily on the Sliema sea front and worse still when it happens in M'rabat Street. Surely it isn't rocket science for the operators and drivers to ensure there is always passing space left between buses at all times and less frustration and chaos for other road users??

B. Storace

May 30th 2012, 13:09

Reverend, it is obvious that you are not a driver....nor a frequent visitor to Malta.....are oblivious to the difficulties the driver faces when confronted by monster buses attempting to negotiate streets that were never meant for them to drive through and to insinuate that the Arriva service is of a high standard.

Mr Andrew Camilleri

May 30th 2012, 12:38

The last sentence is a grave insult to all Maltese. It seems some people believe they have a monolpoly on being bright, intelligent and avant garde. The writer should apologise to the Maltese for his patronising comment.

Louis Saliba

May 30th 2012, 12:10

I will not comment on the first sentence, as I have so far not had the pleasure of using the Arriva service in Gozo.

As regards the service in Malta, the only part of this letter that makes any sense is the phrase ”still leaves room for improvement” in the second sentence. The service still needs quite a bit of improvement, in fact, particularly in the schedules. Otherwise, the letter constitutes a pathetic and ill-informed attempt to put the blame on everything and everybody but Arriva.

As regards the last sentence, the fact is that after all the pompous fanfare preceding the introduction of the new Bus Service, the Maltese were not prepared:

To have to wait for hours at bus stops;
To see, on a regular basis, buses pass by the stops full to the gills, leaving everybody stranded;
To experience, again on a regular basis, the ordeal sardines go through when they are canned;
To have to walk long distances to get to bus stops, because the former ones were removed as a result of the change of routes;
To have to change buses on journeys between locations previously served direct;
To have to go on long meandering time-wasting trips between several locations;
To have to ask the driver in what direction the bus was going, because in several instances, the external electronic display was (and still is) incorrect;

If the author of the letter considers all the above (which by no means represent an all-inclusive list) as examples of anything approaching a high standard of service, then he obviously does not know what he is talking about.

PAUL BUSUTTIL

May 30th 2012, 10:10

The fact remains that the Maltese islands were not prepared for the high standard of service that Arriva provides'
You must hold a great amount of shares in Arriva!!!