HAVE YOUR SAY - Arriva one year on

Ray Pizzuto

Aug 25th 2012, 09:06

Comments? What is there to comment? A total disaster...majority of drivers have no manners, buses are degrading faster than Flash, accidents galore, no adherence to any time schedule, air-conditioning is a joke, organization nonexistent ........I could go on....but must catch the bus hahhhahahahahahahh

julia sharpe

Aug 24th 2012, 12:12

bring back the old buses !!!!!!

Mrs M. Attard

Aug 23rd 2012, 01:16

Marsascala residents in the Jerma Siberia Cerviola areas have been deprived of the Night Bus to Paceville since Arriva started. First it was the excuse that the night bus N91 followed the route 91 ( when the 91 did not go towards the Siberia area) now the 91 has been since 27th May going towards triq il Qaliet, but strangely the N91 does not now follow the same route as the 91. Complaints to the Council and to Arriva and to Transport Malta have fallen on deaf ears. Issa when a local girl gets assaulted then Transport Malta will take action - as usually happens in this country - we take action after something happens not before. It is a 20 minute walk to get to the siberia St Thomas are from near Grabiel where the night bus N91 currently stops. It is less then 5 mins detour by bus. So the buses pass in the daylight but at nightime they do not. What total lunacy. Also Malta must be the only country in the world which does not have a night service to the airport as this stops at 11pm. In other civilized parts of the worldl there is a 24 hr bus service to the airport. In Malta if you need to depart or arrive from 11pm - 6am your only option is a Taxi, hobson's choice!

Christian Borg

Aug 22nd 2012, 00:04

The Biggest problem is that Arriva is saying that it would make a number of routes per day but in fact it does not have the manpower to do all those routes! The buses are keeping with the scheduled time most of the time but sometimes a bus just doesn't come cause they don't have any drivers available to take the route!

ALBINO ELLUL

Aug 15th 2012, 04:23

THE ARRIVA SERVICE FOR THE MALTESE TOURIST IS GREAT . FOR 50 CENT YOU CAN TOUR THE WHOLE ISLAND CAUSE YOU HAVE THE TIME ,BUT FOR THE MALTESE WORKER IT TAKE A LONG TIME TO GO FROM A TO B SOME OF THE DRIVERS CANNOT ANSWER A SIMPLE QUESTION BY SAYING YES OR NO. THE REST WAS ROSIE FOR US

Cornelius Murphy

Aug 12th 2012, 11:11

The service is OK, but the number of accidents is atrocious.

Adam Cassar

Aug 11th 2012, 14:33

I have to use Arriva on a regular basis, especially to get to work. I have to take it from Zejtun to get to Gzira, and I do NOT trust the service one bit. I have to plan at least 2 hours ahead just to make sure I arrive on time - sometimes I don't even have a few minutes to spare.

Buses come by irregularly. One moment it seems like they are following the schedule, the next you don't see an 81 bus (example) for an entire hour. Or if you do they all seem to be going in the same direction.

And, it's happened one too many where I board a bus (example a 135 or a 206) and suddenly somewhere along the route, the bus driver changes the bus number (to 119 or 204) and does NOT inform the passengers. This last one is inexcusable and is what has damaged my trust in the service the most.

Anthony Pace Gouder

Aug 9th 2012, 02:41

Shame on Arriva , and a shear sign of great negligence and disrespect that FOR A WHOLE YEAR it has left a bus stop named 'LONGO' in San Gwann to stand right ON a BRING-IN SITE ! Only in Malta syndrome .
...............and by the way Happy Anniversary .

Roland Wadge

Aug 8th 2012, 00:21

Caught the bus yesterday from zejtun. Arrived on bus stop at 6.30. Bus for valletta arrived at 7.30. The driver did not charge me anything for the trip. I arrived at 7.47. Will not ride a bus again if i can help it.

Alexe von Brockdorff

Aug 7th 2012, 15:36

My daughter has just had a whole load of Italian friends here, and they spent one week in Sliema. They said that the trip to Mellieha was close to tragic... they waited hours every day ( 4 days out of 7 - so it was not just one day) for the bus 222, which was meant to come on the half hour. They also said that the drivers were incredibly rude to the passengers. A shame because it is definitely not a very good advert for Malta

John Spiteri

Jul 28th 2012, 14:37

Arriva started badly for us down South, especially St Thomas Bay was forgotten as a destination.

But now, thanks to the Mayor and Arriva, we have a first class service, the buses are virtually on time, we do occasionally have a delay due to traffic, the routes X5 and 135 to the airport and hospital are good, although they have been cut down the service to one an hour, but still it was necessary since they introduced the 91 (every 15 minutes) to pass through St. Thomas Bay. As for the fares, I think they are fair and justified especially if you do a double bus journey and return. Maybe they could introduce a cheaper single bus fare (as we used to have for the price of 47c) just to satisfy a certain group of commuters.
As for the old bus service, they may have been a tourist attraction and most of the times a joke to them, showing our backwardness of our commuter service the previous drivers were sometimes rude and unhelpful, the buses where rickety and uncomfortable, as for me, good riddance.

Well done Arriva, hope you maintain this service

Colette Sciberras

Jul 27th 2012, 12:51

As a regular user of buses here are some of my observations:

The only way to be certain that a bus will arrive roughly on time is if one catches it from near its origin. For example, if one needs to take a bus from Attard to St. Julians say, there is the 203 or 202 but since these start in Dingli, it is completely impossible to know what time the bus will reach Attard. Other countries have traffic problems and so on, yet only in Malta do they make bus schedules completely irrelevant.

Although I always look up time-tables, in practice, I'm always waiting at least half an hour for my bus. Sometimes it arrives at such an unexpected hour that I cannot tell whether it was the bus I was waiting for, which was late, or the next one, which was early. Then of course sometimes two or three turn up at the bus stop all together (which were meant to have left their origin half an hour apart!) which just adds to the impression that there is still no such thing as a bus schedule in Malta

In any case, the time-table as it was planned makes little sense for the passenger - for example, there might be two or three buses that could take me to my destination in theory, but if they all leave at the same time, then there is no alternative in practice. There are 60 minutes in an hour, but all buses seem to leave on the hour, on the half and quarter past marks, at ten minutes past or twenty to the hour...If you watch the Valletta terminal for a while, you will see periods of complete chaos, alternating with periods of complete inactivity (except the huffing of waiting passengers). Why not space out buses that go through the same towns so that if I've missed one, there is another 5 minutes later, rather than another three, all departing together half an hour later?


Similarly, the way bus stops are located also makes little sense for the passenger. There are villages through which several buses pass, which all might take me to my destination, yet because they don't all stop at one bus stop, I need to guess which one might arrive first. It is really frustrating to be stood waiting at a bus stop, watching another bus which you could have caught, stopping at another bus stop only a few metres up the road, but which you couldn't have reached in time to catch that bus.

Finally, why does the driver have to change half way through the journey, or, worse still, at the Floriana granaries where one has almost reached one's destination but has to wait for a further 10 minutes while buses queue at the granaries and drivers spend ages comparing notes and exchanging niceties (as if...) As they are, these exchanges just add to the total journey time and to passengers' frustration. Buses normally have to wait at the terminal before departing again so couldn't the drivers exchange places there?

Dennis Ramstedt

Jul 25th 2012, 18:10

Firstly, I'd like to say that we should all perhaps take a step back, and consider the fact we do not work or have not worked in Arriva (with some exception of course) and could not possibly know every reason why the service might not be as is expected to be. Roadblocks and Congestion are as common as pastizzi in Malta and this along with random roadworks and very bad roads will cause delays - With or without Arriva buses being part or cause of this.

I am much happier with Arriva than I will ever be with the scrumpy, uncomfortable, noisy, unbearably hot and smelly old buses. The drivers of the old buses also seemed to live in some kind of dream-land and not really considering themselves as service people but rather race-drivers who do their uppermost to avoid any passengers or questions that might come.

I have met much, much more rude drivers in the past than with the new Arriva being here. I would like you to just consider the above for a moment, and Also take consider the difference in service level now present. Think of the the helpful arriva staff standing outside in Valletta (and other places), assisting tourists and maltese in blaring sun or rain, and the good organization and logic in the main bus station - comparing to previous maze of yellow buses everywhere!

Kimberley Portelli

Jul 24th 2012, 21:23

As a person that catches the bus 4 times per day, I can actually and honestly say that I CAN'T WAIT to get my license!!!! Ending up with a headache because of the AC, Being chocked to death with different smells that accumulated on the bus, reason being that NO AIR circulated, late buses making me wait endlessly on a stage frustrated and late for work, having to plan an hour and a half to travel from Mosta to Fgura (or even more), the fact that if you are lucky to catch a bus and the bus is early you get to wait 15 mins on the bus on a stage standstill waiting for the time to pass. Need I go on?! I met many rude bus drivers and to be honest I NEVER complained on the other bus service. We all know that the uniform put the whole things together and that their manners really improved, the only thing that I can actually thank Arriva is that they pushed me in learning how to drive.

Charlene Debono

Jul 22nd 2012, 03:46

I love the fact that all busses have AC and the drivers are (usually) polite.

I've only had 3 rude(ish) bus drivers for the past 3 weeks (as i was living abroad for the past year) and i get the bus at least twice a day. The shame is that they are not timely or accurate.
I have a bus stop 2 minutes away from my house, and to get to St. Julians from Bugibba it's not the first time I went to the bus stop two hours prior and still made it just in time for work. It's only a 15 minute drive realistically, I don't expect to wait two hours, but I waited about the same amount when there was the old service, so it makes no difference to me.
However, I found that if I walk the 30 minute walk from my house to the Qawra terminus I never wait more than 20 minutes, so it's a good alternative for me.
I would say it's an improvement because of the AC and polite drivers, as it's not the first time I fainted in a bus with the old service in summer, the bus so packed that you can't breathe and hearing the driver shouting expletives at people to 'MOVE BACK' ....

I really do wish that my route would arrive every seven minutes as stated and at a bus stop most convenient for me, however you can't have everything in life. I have no choice but to get on a stop far enough from me two hours early just so I can sit in an ACed environment for 15 minutes and perhaps get to work on time..

Jonathan Camilleri

Jul 19th 2012, 18:15

Today there was another accident involving Arriva buses at Testaferrata street in Gzira. It seemed to block quite a bit of traffic, and, sometimes, I wonder why there are so many buses after each other. In some areas the bendy buses occupy a noticeable portion of the road when in traffic. However, accidents do not only involve the bendy buses, car accidents can occur just about with every vehicle, since they are accidents. Why do the accidents involving bendy buses cause such great havoc I wonder.

Is it possible that the buses get filled up so quickly that they end up after each other?

Steven Smith

Jul 17th 2012, 13:23

most people seem to have forgotten the old service...was not any good either..overcrowding, no shows, lates, dirty buses obnoxious drivers m coming through gaps in the roof, no night service etc need i go on !

M Ellul

Jul 15th 2012, 18:21

Arriva,

The only reason complaints have decreased is because people gave up on you.

I can't wait to stop using the buses in a few months.

Jocelyn Erskine-Kellie

Jul 13th 2012, 21:48

Arriva! They're great - as long as you don't have to be somewhere at a specific time!

Daniel Leahy

Jul 13th 2012, 13:03

A lot of the problem is that the roads in much of Malta are useless - they are simply not capable of taking modern sized vehicles. Do not pretend that cars, delivery vehicles, taxis or tourist buses are any more reliable. Not much works on time in Malta - try the ferry from Sliema to Valetta and see if it manages to run according to its schedule.

The second problem is the buses are second-hand - moved from Europe when they have outlived their lives. And they are not prepared for the heat, so are also unreliable.

The third problem is overcrowding from the most popular tourist places - when you get a language school arranging a day trip of 30 or 40 people by bus, it is crazy.

David Bonnici

Jul 9th 2012, 12:33

Sorry to say but ARRIVA is a HOPELESS case.

Spent 45 minutes waiting for either a 51,52 or 53 in Valletta when these should leave every 10 minutes

Karl Consiglio

Jul 9th 2012, 11:59

The air-conditioning is nice in summer, before people used to faint on the old buses.

Alfred Cassar

Jul 9th 2012, 11:51

Mr Zammit,

For some time i thought drivers did not know how to operate the air con, but now i heard it over and over again that drivers intentionally, or through negligence, do not switch it on.

I hope Politicians are listening in, and without delay, draft a law in the Criminal Code, that puts these Drivers behind bars and fines them a heavy fine Multa, that would make them and their families, homeless.

This is sheer cruelty and an indirect attempt on the well being of the Person.

As I said , and will say it again, The Maltese and who ever walks this Land, is treated worse than an animal.

Alfred Cassar

Jul 9th 2012, 11:45

We have so many Brilliant Lawyers in this Country, in fact some say, wrongly or rightly, they run the Country.

Every time a Commuter boards an Arriva Bus, he can actually file a court case, and sue for damages, every time. Why?, because the Law permits it. If the Commuter and Arriva sign a contract every time a ticket is exchanged for money, and conditions in that contract are breached, the right arises.

How is it, that no Lawyer, takes up a Class Action (ie. represents the rights of maybe a Hundred, Two Hundred Thousand Commuters), against Arriva?

You only need to ask for a donation of 5 euro from each, which all can afford.

This would make that Lawyer , the most famous and of course a Millionaire, overnight.

J Cachia

Jul 9th 2012, 11:43

Disaster with a capital D.

Arriva has become a national joke in the Maltese language. When someone tells you "You are like Arriva" it means that (1) you are never on time and (2) No one knows if you are coming or going.

Will Minister Austin Gatt kindly use Arriva for one week so that he can experience first hand the martrydom we are passing through each day? Especially now, when we bake in the sun for buses that never come or arrive an hour late!

And it is useless calling Arriva to complain. They NEVER listen to our complaints. And they have the gall to tell us that the number of complaints have decreased! Of course they have! We know that we are complaining to a wall with no ears.

Lino Maniscalco

Jul 9th 2012, 11:29

Who is saying that the old buses were better is crazy. They were filthy, unreliable, inefficient, driven by arrogant drivers who skipped routs and schedules, noisy, burning all sorts of fuel except diesel and did not have the network of routs that Arriva is offering today.
Since that Arrive have changed the routs, they have become more reliable apart from having good comfortable buses with AC, polite drivers, keep the routs even if sometimes they could be a bit late. They are still subject to improvement but far much better than the old buses and system.

K Zammit

Jul 9th 2012, 09:12

Apparti l-AC (meta jinxtghel), konna ferm aktar komdi bis-sistema l-antika. Meta fittixt karozza kwazi dejjem kienet tkun hemmhekk u qatt ma niftakar li stennejt aktar minn 5 minuti il-Belt, u qed nghid hafna biex ma nezagerax.

Bl-Arriva trid tistenna fl-elementi tat-temp(shana fis-sajf u xita fix-xitwa), u hadd ma jaf il-karozza fi x'hin gejja.

Haga ohra hi li peress li l-karozzi huma maghluqin, hemm riskju akbar ta' mikrobi fil-konfini peress li l-arja mhix tinbidel.

Monica Muscat

Jul 9th 2012, 00:15

Yes I am satisfied - partially so - since I had thought that it would have taken less time to reach the present stage. The company has still a lot to deal with, change, remove and introduce, before optimal service is reached - if ever it does, considering the blinkered attitude some Arriva users look at the Company.

I, personally, have seen a great improvement, even if a do not bus-travel that frequently. But at least, we now do not have to roll up our car windows and speed away from a bus everytime we are caught behind a public transport vehicle!

True that personnel has also improved, but many still complain that they come across drivers that they are not only less than well mannered, but even downright rude - in a couple of words - nut cases!

Another problem which needs tackling is the frequent break-down of the "new" buses! Which, besides creating worries about security, they also make problems with time schedules.

To conclude Arriva has still a long way to go to "Arrive".

Alfred Cassar

Jul 8th 2012, 20:03

Will the next New Labour kick this Company out of the country.


Yes.?

No?

Can we Know?

George Azzopardi

Jul 8th 2012, 10:15

How can I be satisfied .. I never went on one and I'm not so motivated to do so either. When me and mu son worked abroad we used to use buses and\or trains for work. There were managers and even higher ranked people who used to use buses for travelling to work. They all had private cars but for work they used buses!

albert aquilina

Jul 8th 2012, 09:12

e baldacchino if it was a good company they should have started on the right foot .not one year preparingand they have 2 more years to get it right if they ever get it right i live in marsaskala do we have a service

Lawrence Fenech

Jul 8th 2012, 06:14

@Emanuel.

Teeting" problems?

C Busuttil

Jul 8th 2012, 03:23

Although Arriva has made some improvements it is still far from what has been promised, Ok for the Ac's when they work and for the drivers but for the rest its a total disaster.

What used to be a 30minute trip from St. Julians to Valletta and viceversa is now a 45mins trip if you are lucky!!! People have given up making complains since its useless.

I never thought I could miss the old service but Arriva has managed to achieve the unthinkable.

EMANUEL BALDACCHINO

Jul 7th 2012, 19:47

Dear Sirs,Arriva have done well in the past months,i use the bus service more then i use before,find the drivers polite and helpfull,but there is still teeting problems,on two occasions ,i have seen drivers by allowing passengers to talk to them while,the bus is half empty,surely that is against Arrivas rules,A/C.not allways on,and thirdly,the stopping bells,three times i have to be dropped on the next bus stop,especially on the bendy bus,apart from this, i say well done,you have solved a lot of problems in the past months.E.baldacchino M'scala.

tony abela

Jul 7th 2012, 18:15

It will be interesting if the authorities issue the figures of the cost of subsidies given to Arrive during their 1st year of operation and the subsidies given to the yellow buses during their last year of operations.

I am more than convinced that we taxpayers paid more during this year of Arriva operations.

albert aquilina

Jul 7th 2012, 17:36

it is not a service for malta it is a money making company

albert aquilina

Jul 7th 2012, 15:33

no no no no no no no no no not at all no need to say more they no the problems

Ivan Falzon

Jul 7th 2012, 14:27

another 2 buses - one a bendy bus, the other one of those that look like a minibus - were involved in a collision in balzan just now but at least they didnt hold up traffic because they drove off after 5 mins.i saw another collision last week and this got me wondering who exactly is paying for these crashes.
or will arriva turn a blind eye and leave all these buses unrepaired and hope that in a years time they ll manage to find one thats still undented?

pretty soon the whole fleet will look worse than the old fleet thay replaced

Nicholas Delia

Jul 7th 2012, 12:46

I have been told by friends that they have managed to see an improvement since the start, that much can be said but there are still ways needed to progress. It does not help that the busses generally get in the way of drivers such as myself and there could be some more improvements, such as cabin filters being changed as the odours can be smelt from within! With a tourist populated country, we should take special care to make sure that the public transport is on time and done so in a professional manner.

Anthony Grech

Jul 7th 2012, 10:50

Arriva Service... Good for Gozo, although some buses are too large for the Island. Smaller, the size of mini buses will be perfect on some routs and the service will be much better. Try them please.

Mr Peter Barbara

Jul 6th 2012, 16:10

If I can put in my honest tuppence worth.........I was never a great fan of buses, as in the past I did try a couple of times to use the old buses, but always something happened to put me off using them.
I have since boarded these new buses more times than I had in the past twenty or so years with the others. Granted my visits are from Fgura to Valletta or Sliema and a couple of times to Gozo, so I would not profess to be an expert user of these buses.
BUT.....the journeys I did manage to accomplish were quite pleasant except for one or two episodes, and I could not help noticing the difference in the attitude of the driver, the cleanliness of the buses itself and the comfort, all seriously lacking in the old system.

Matthew Vella

Jul 6th 2012, 12:42

Its still most definitely not what was promised and what it should have been. The number 12, which i take regularly is supposed to come every 12 minutes but it very often takes 45 mins. And the amount of bus which break down is ridiculous.

Most definitely not satisfied. The only improvements are the ac and somehow the driver's manners. Both of which are very nice but don't amount to much.

Paul Borg

Jul 6th 2012, 07:35

Yesterday I saw one of the White second hand arriva buses in Pieta . It had a huge black cloud of diesel exhaust coming out, no air condition and was full of commuters packed like ardines. Happy Anniversary

Anthony Arpa

Jul 6th 2012, 06:11

Alfred Cassar many are Enjoying rides on Arriva with their AC .... One have to pay a lot for going on a Sightseeing Busses .... So why not we do on Arriva ..... Arriva nearly goes Everywhere ... All pensioner must get the 2.30cent ticket for 7 unlimited rides and spend more time ON THE BUSES...... Touring around this beautifull Island ... Pensioners have the opportunity to go to nice historic places in Malta ... Places they might never been ....

Alfred Cassar

Jul 5th 2012, 16:29

Met Office warns of 'heat spell'

The Met Office has warned of a 'heat spell' over the coming days, with the maximum temperature expected to rise to 36°C over the weekend and may go up to 37°C on Monday and Tuesday.

Will the air con on these days be working as usual?, if yes, ....
embrace yourself for a minimum of 44-46 degrees inside your bus, with the courtesy of your best friend Arriva (and friends).

marvic bartolo

Jul 5th 2012, 14:04

i think we should give arriva a chance good service keep it up.

Lawrence Fenech

Jul 5th 2012, 13:55

Arriva you next stop is 1,000 complimentary comments. LOL.

Maurice Cini

Jul 5th 2012, 13:18

Can Transport Malta/Arriva give us a reason why after a year in service we on BUS route no 3 are still suffering from the incompetence of the service in times of departure from Valletta Bus Station.

Last Tuesday, the bus that was suppose to leave at 12.05 has not arrived till 12.35.On Wednesday the bus that was suppose to leave at 11.35 has again not arrive we left at 12.10. Let alone that the 08.30bus from Kalkara never turned up.People waiting for the Kalkara bus are having nightmares.

After more than a year we still experience delays without a just cause. I have been using my mobile phone on all these occasions. I have reported numerous times ti Arriva Customer care. I have received all kinds of excuses,apologies etc and nothing happens.

We have the very nice illuminated signs showing the the bus is coming in 3mins,1 min and it shows that it ARR but no bus ever turns up.We only have a bus (suppose) every 30 minutes but the is NOT true.Please stop fooling the public with such signs showing the times of departure. Can Transport Malta sent Officials to check on these broken promises that are misleading to the General Public? No wonder there is a great deal of mistrust especially on Arriva Public Transport that is creating problems to our traffic system because you will never know when and at what time the buses leave or arrive.

Hope that by this something is done by the concerned Authorities before it will be too late!!.

Paul Sammut

Jul 5th 2012, 13:10

I must admit that there was an improvement but the name Arriva does not fit the compnay running the service since a year after its inauguration the bus always comes late and sometimes does not come at all ! So Arriva does not fit the company name.

Alfred Cassar

Jul 5th 2012, 11:49

Dear Mr Smith,

I dearly apologize if I got true that I have qualms with Drivers, I don't. The message was , is, and shall always be :

Give back the perpetrator some of his own medicine, Arriva is going unpunished for Agonizing the whole Population of Malta.

In the name of good sense and for the well being of the country, we are moving towards:

A Total Standstill, Malta will soon come to a Stop, wait until , those acclaiming to take the Law in their own Hands, and I am speaking of one or more of, your fellow drivers , who are willing , in view of a failed financial package and change in Conditions, to slash every tyre of Arriva Buses, wherever they are, 'They will hunt them Down', like wild beasts.

Now when you have this sentiment, from Drivers and coupled with it, Bomb Threats, alleged threats of some nut who promised to Shower the TA or Arriva will Lead, and these youngsters, all carrying a penknife, or the more mature, experienced in bus seats destruction, who all are willing to see Malta from the Air, with all its streets blocked for days on end,

how can one not express his or her desire to get these minute things in order.

What if that nut, blew a bus, and you kids where on it?, the frustration is boiling,

Commuters have had no word from Arriva, the TA, or any Deputy, whether Commuters will have another 'Winter of Hell Rides', having all the Engines Heat Transposed into the Closed Environment of the so called Bus!

Frustration and more Frustration, embrace yourself for the worst.

Anthony Pace

Jul 5th 2012, 09:26

If Singapore, an island our size has an underground, then so should we and we can get around fast with fewer cars on the road. It just needs to take shape and money from the EU instead of wasting it on a City Gate Project.

V Mercieca

Jul 5th 2012, 08:08

Arriva should organise and train their drivers to keep up with the schedules. We cannot plan a proper trip as we do not know if we are going to be late on the bus stop even if according to the schedule we are on time.

After one year, Arriva has now enough information to know the correct timings for each and every trip they make.

I am using Arriva when I have time to spare, otherwise I use my car as I cannot relay on Arriva for punctuality.

Alfred Cassar

Jul 4th 2012, 20:07

If with regarding to Air-conditioning on the buses is all OK, then I will file against even positive discrimination in favour of Drivers.

If at my seat I had my window removed, the window at the Drivers seat, should be removed or bolted, as many commuter windows are.

Then, we will truly see, if the driver would drive on in that heat.

The Driver's only break to breathe, should be like that, of the rest of us, ie when ever the Front Door opens.

I think Fair is Fair.

Lorna Vassallo Pace

Jul 4th 2012, 19:16

The only thing positive about Arriva is the low emission. The rest is a complete disaster:
1) Not all of them on time.
2) The buses have become very untidy
3) Aircondition systems are not being cleaned appropriately and you can smell the bad adour inside.
4) Not all drivers wear the uniform prim and proper
5) Some of the drivers are not well prepared to drive
6) We had a handful of accidents in ONE year
7) and we had a handful of breakdown buses in ONE year
8) from statistics abroad, Arriva is the worst company.

Philip Cole

Jul 4th 2012, 18:42

This will save me from writing a letter that would not have been printed:
I visited Malta again this year with my Maltese wife. I hear with incredulity that the bus service is better than it was a year ago. In short it is appalling and next time I come I will hire a car. The problems are obvious - circuitous, complicated and long journeys along with dangerous, redundant and oversized buses.

Mosta is virtually cut off from Rabat. We decided to visit the Trade Fair at Ta'Qali. Mosta being the nearest large village I would have expected ,say, a 20 minute shuttle service. We waited from 18.30 (hoping to catch the 18.40 205) It didn't come and neither did the 19.40. So after waiting and hour and a half we walked. Where can I get a refund for my day ticket? To rub salt in the wound, at one time THREE 31s came together virtually empty for Bugibba.
Another time we were travelling back from Hagar Qim when the route indicator was switched off and we speeded for Marsa. Apparently the bus was nearly out of fuel! Then, having dumped us at the depot whilst refuelling we reboarded, returned to Siggiewi (passing Rabat) in a half-hearted attempt to regain the route (backwards) before eventually making it back to Rabat for our change of bus. Pathetic.

I am also really scared by the overcrowding on the buses which is clearly against Health and Safety regulations and probably illegal. How many should be standing - 20, 30 or 40? Obviously by cutting the service and packing the buses Arriva is going to make a success (a profit) in this manner.

With the drivers I have some sympathy they in most seem to be trying to make the best of a bad job.

Positive comments on here are either by car drivers, non or short commute users, or vested interests. To the rest of Malta I say: rise up! Dispatch this failing monstrosity before it becomes the third siege.

Alfred Cassar

Jul 4th 2012, 17:11

Dear Mr.Kenneth Galea (below),

Regarding Temperatures:

I wish you go to this link:

http://www.maltairport.com/weather/page.asp?p=17148&l=1

Here you will find the highs and lows, normally temperature difference is by 9 to 10 degrees Celsius, so rightfully, for example today the 4th of July 2012, the day's Temperature is 28 degrees Celsius.

It is not always over thirty, especially after sunset, where air outside cools.

The only guarantee of ten degrees over the highest temperature established by the Met Office, one only finds it exclusively, on Arriva Buses.

Do not forget, these 'Ovens on Wheels', are suppose to keep their temperature between 19 and 23 degrees.

The fact that the Minister in concern reads out statistics, and tells us the Company was fined 500.000 euro, means nothing.

There is no deterrent, no fear of Rules, Regulations or The Law itself, they continue to operate with impunity.

Moreover, they take away the most important routes and we the Plunkers of Tax Payers, go on to be forced Subsidize , our own Agony.

Having Arriva around, that operates out side the Rule of Law, is plain simply, a form of Dictatorship, approved by a democratically elected Government, who will definitely NOT get my approval, next time round.

Sarah Grech (Zebbug)

Jul 4th 2012, 16:32

Have never made use of the service as I believe nothing compares to the convenience of a private car. And I have always managed to park, one way or the other, and it was always legal parking. Not even one ticket!

....and this is surely not the right time to try the service out, considering there are some buses whose air-conditioning is not working.

Sorry guys. Buses are just not for me!

Tonio Bugeja

Jul 4th 2012, 15:18

Never ever used the service and hopefully will NEVER need to! But the advert to convey you to the Airport takes the cherry! Buses do not turn up on time! or never turn up!
Certainly not good enough to offer an airport service for departing passengers Maybe going to the airport 24 hours in advance will be safe enough!

Alfred Fenech

Jul 4th 2012, 13:18

Have not attracted my interest yet. Might is right on out narrow and haphazard roads.

Anthony Borg

Jul 4th 2012, 13:00

When I comment here regarding Time Schedules with Arriva, which contrary to what the Commercial Manager stated on TVM News yesterday (Tue 3 July), are very LESS than 90% on time, I try to be fair and honest.

I keep a very small notebook and daily jot down the route, bus number and time of arrival.
These are REAL times on which I can take an affidavit to their accuracy, not some non-sense statistic for the sake of propaganda.

David Dingli

Jul 4th 2012, 12:35

One year later and the service is nowhere near international public transport services. I live in Swieqi and the service is a complete disaster. We used to have the 33 & 34 lleaving Valletta at 15 to and 15 past the hour. Now there is only the 33 leaving Valletta at 15 to the hour and that's if you're lucky enough that there is a bus leaving Valletta. It either does not run at all or is always late - totally unreliable. Calling Customer care does not always help - often they do not know where the bus is. Dispatchers in valletta cannot tell you when the bus is coming. So much for tracking systems and modern technology. How is it possible that they have not yet got the electronic screens functioning yet? Why have they not introduced swipe cards instead of tickets yet? Please benchmark with the Dutch transport system and maybe you will learn something.

Alfred M. Falzon

Jul 4th 2012, 12:19

One year after the new Arriva buses started operating, the Rabat route is still the worst route particularly with keeping the time schedule. Last week, I spent 55 minutes waiting for any of the following route buses, i.e. 50,51,52,53, 54 and 55. There were 3 other passangers waiting for the Rabat route buses before me on the Valletta bus terminus. Keeping their time schedule is still in shambles.
The Malta Transport Authority have installed shelters near each bus bay for waiting passenger, but these shelters are not close enough to where one alights on the bus. How about moving the shelters closer to the bus bays to provide shelter from rain or sun to waiting passengers.

j brincat

Jul 4th 2012, 12:15

An improvement over the previous service in some aspects but certainly not in all especially as regards frequency of service - at least in my neck of the woods!

Certainly not as we were made to believe, more so since it is now costing us more both as regards bus fare and subsidies!


(jb)

J. Debono

Jul 4th 2012, 11:58

Personally i have only words of praise for the new service, and i am one of those who have left my car at home, and go by bus nearly everywhere, at any time of the day. An easy calculation, based on using the bus for 4 times daily (a very conservative estimate), have brought me to the conclusion that in one year i managed to save Eur 372 (if i had to travel by the old system) and i am saving Eur 1,200 if i had to use always my car. Its true, i need more time, compared to the use of a private car, but i reach my destination hassle driving free, and having time for reading or whatever i would wish to do.

Here are some points which still i consider, Arriva must take seriously into consideration:

1. Punctuality yes its a problem at times. This is not necessarily due to the company, but at times its due to drivers. At times buses reach a destination like Rinella Forti early (due to less traffic or early or late trips) and drivers just drive to Valletta, without waiting for the right time of departure.

Drivers SHOULD be trained to watch how late or early they are, and try to be more punctual (especially if they are early).

2. Secondly its a shame that monitors are still on a trial basis after a year. Oh no !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How long will this trial take ? Its more then 3 months now that they are on trial, and they still only give a vague idea, of whether a particular bus will be on stage or not. Please Arriva do something regarding these monitors.

3. Its a pity that the Kottonera area don't have one of these monitors. Its as shame. Wha'ts the use of the monitor at Bombi (near Museum library) when all buses there will go to Valletta ?

4. There are still many bus stops without the timetable of the buses that makes a stop on that particular bus stop.

5. In my opinion, MANY are just getting on the bus without paying. Recently on bus 44, out of around 20 passengers, a diligent driver found 4 persons (tourists) who had a non-valid ticket. Some tourists may think that its a 24 hour ticket, not a day ticket. So some tourists that buy ticket at 10 am, may think ticket is valid till 10 am following day. Drivers can't do more then they do, so Arriva MUST employ more employees who control tickets. In one whole year i met only three times such controlers. Its not fair that people ride the bus without paying.

6. At stazzjon B'Kara, it doesn't make sense that buses have to get in the parking area, when a bus stop can easily be placed on both sides of the road. Sure, if these bus stops are placed on the main road, traffic will have to stop while bus is loading/unloading passengers, but traffic is just the same jammed, while poor drivers try to get in and out of the bus terminus. If Transport Malta wishes to maintain bus stop as it is now, then central strip must be made smaller.

7. Finally i have written and asked for the need that X 3 stops on the only two bus stops (in each direction) at B'Kara centre. It will only avoid people from using the already crowded 41, 42, 43 and 44. Please take care of us commuters. At B'Kara we no longer have the 120 that takes us directly to Paola. We need these stops.

As said, i am happy with the service, and i hope it will get better and better. Service is at its best when you have the right number of buses and employees.

EMAN MUSCAT

Jul 4th 2012, 11:32

What are the timetables on bus stops for? Times are rarely kept by as much as 20mins and sometimes, like two weeks ago the scheduled bus does not arrive. You should see the consternation and exasperation on Tourist faces. So much for reliability. The joke is
'Arriva' yes, but when?

Mrs M. Attard

Jul 4th 2012, 10:49

Pluses = Cleaner buses, drivers in uniform, majority of drivers polite, air condition - when it works.
Minuses = Buses still unreliable as to timing, they either arrive late or early, or even miss a trip leaving commuters stranded, routes are too long in some areas, timings of buses is a farce as in eg the X5 and the 135 both leave airport for M'Scala at 15 mins past the hour, arrive at interchange 3 mins later and you have a whole hour to wait,, night buses are not extensive in some areas they are even worse then before, eg in Marscala the night bus from Paceville no longer stops near Cerviola and jerma areas. Some areas like Paopla, Fgura, Zabbar and Marsascala are served with one bus route - this is inexcusable as people are suffering from overcrowded buses in these areas. A radical overhaul is need on many routes in the south of Malta. Commuters need to be listened to and not ignored, they are the ones suffering a shoddy service.

Lawrence Fenech

Jul 4th 2012, 09:20

1,000 comments here we come.

Charles Saliba

Jul 4th 2012, 08:59

A big improvement on the previous service but punctuality is not one of them.

Alfred Cassar

Jul 4th 2012, 01:54

First Year of Agony.

More pleasures still to come.

ad multos annus.

Robert Zammit

Jul 4th 2012, 01:28

Worse than before. HAVE YOUR SAY...

1. E1.50c too high cost and E1.30c = 2 hours this Sum are funny ?
2. NOT perfect time
3. Missing time arrival?
4. Long wait and almost bus stop without box & chair

But Minister Austin Gatt think are No problem, everyone okay ?

Alfred Spiteri

Jul 3rd 2012, 23:18

No No NO I am not satisfied I come from fgura and i use to stop near poala Church now i have to stop near the Prison I still have to walk it back to Church

Michael borg

Jul 3rd 2012, 18:50

Well as a first comment I personally would say that the drivers are much more behaved even though some are still quite rude . The service as a whole still seems not that satisfactory due to long time it takes for the bus to arrive at the Bus Stop and also the routes are too long and if there were more buses than it would have been a different story. Some of the buses are still those that were used in the old system and thus these must either be rearranged or changed to more modern ones. Thanks

Peter Xuereb

Jul 3rd 2012, 17:58

Much could be said but in a nutshell: A more "formal" service was achieved with the cost of worse routes, less character (tourists are the ones to point this out most strongly), suspect management and numerous debacles.

I was initially one of those who very strongly supported reform of the public transport in Malta but the way it was handled and what actually resulted is hardly a step forward. Given that the term "Arriva" hardly contains positive attributes under the Maltese vocabulary, I shudder to think what the transport service will be like within a decade, when this service will inevitably suffer the same complacency as the one before it.

Francis Attard

Jul 3rd 2012, 17:15

Routes 62, 72 and 82 are worse than they were before Arriva took over.

Anthony Borg

Jul 3rd 2012, 14:01

" Happy Birthday" Arriva !!!

This is your first year of operation here!
I wish I could have brought a creamy birthday cake over for you... but then I thought, better not - could not trust myself what I would do with it.

Mario Aquilina

Jul 3rd 2012, 10:27

Tried to find a simple route this morning using the Arriva website: Mosta-Sliema. There is NO automatic route planner but only a countless list of pdfs that are very difficult to interpret. You have to scroll down route by route to see if you can find a route that includes the destination and arrival you want. How can Arriva expect people to use the interchange system if there is no appropriate automated system that can guide you through the routes?

Secondly, in order to get to Sliema, from Mosta, you apparently have to go to Technopark first. Which means, waiting in Mosta square and then waiting again at Technopark.

The service is time-consuming and the website is not user-friendly.

B. Storace

Jul 3rd 2012, 10:10

I must admit that to date I have had no reason to board an Arriva bus. However, I drive around the Islands frequently and often when there is a hold up it can be attributed to a couple of Arriva buses which block one another's way. The bendy buses are the worst culprits and during the summer months they tend to break down more often than the shorter version. A number of the bus drivers do not bother to stop in the allocated spots to pick-up or drop-off passengers and here the bendy buses do not fit in the space causing jams and traffic chaos. The air-conditioning system they have fixed on the roof of the bus is a noisy infernal machine which can nbe heard from quite a distance away. All in all my experience as a driver is not a very pleasant one.

keith chetcuti

Jul 3rd 2012, 08:30

disaster karozzi kisruwhom kollha air conditions ma jahdmux u servizz zero tuwhom il multi ha jitalmu jirangaw is servizz u inwaqfu is sussidju

Johan Grech

Jul 3rd 2012, 03:34

I am a frequent road user due to the nature of my work, as I have noticed that most drivers possess worse road manners than the drivers from the old service. Entering roundabouts without any care, failing to stop at stop signs and not even bothering to use bus bays in order to let people on or off.
Long waiting times are still evident.

The only reason that no improvements were carried out on the old service was to get rid of the old system and introduce a company with total disregard to their employees, all with the blessing of the Government.

Alfred Cassar

Jul 3rd 2012, 02:11

Hey everyone , listen here, I am here to confirm Arriva buses all had 'Air-condition Units' today. The gauge above the driver read 37,38,39,40 degrees, plus as a bonus, if anyone wishes to go to work or home, or to see an ear specialist for the ringing, coming from these WW2 blower fans on Bendy Buses, then you are in the right place.

Just to remind you the temperature outside was 25 degrees Celsius.

Honourable PM can you please send the Transport Authority Public Transport officials packing, please? or do we have to wait till after the elections?

Steve Zammit

Jul 2nd 2012, 23:59

The service offered is much BETTER....those that complain only either rarely use them or never used the old buses

But nonetheless I still miss the yellow buses, not the service but their warm character, they were part of our identity and tourists loved them

While waiting to catch a bus today at Valletta, I remembered a year ago, the terminus was full of yellow buses and bustling activity, now its practically dead

Carmel Vella

Jul 2nd 2012, 23:58

Someone needs to look into who brought these monsters onto our medieval narrow streets. They need to take these behemoths back where they came from, and replace them with many mini buses, a good schedule with very frequent stops all over our island, driven by well regulated drivers at a reasonable price. Aircon is not needed, but good ,safe drivers ARE. If we get this, I am very sure , many will leave their cars at home most of the time. It will be a WIN / WIN situation. We shall also have fewer "accidents".

Anthony Arpa

Jul 2nd 2012, 21:24

Tajbin mahniex 100% bl-Arriva imma kemm qedin ahjar ta min qabel .... jissemmew li xi xarabank minajr Airconditioner ... veru imma kemm kelnha buses li kellhom l-aircondition u li fuq kollox kienu ihadmuh ... Nisimaw nies igergru jistennew fix xemx ... veru ukoll ... Imma l-Arriva naqset Bus Shelters mill kelhna jew l-Arriva zidett min dawn il bus shelters ... Li il passigieri zdiedu jaghtu ftit tar ragun li progress sar .... Kemm kien jahdmu ufficialment mat kumpanija li kellhna u kemm qed jaghdmu issa ma l-Arriva ... vera ix xufiera haqghom jithalsu ftit ahjar ha jofru servizz ahjar ... imma jista xi had jajdilna ufficialment kemm kienu imhalsa ix xufieri tal kumpanija il qadima ... Dawn ftit min hafna li wieghed jista jistaqsi ....

D Vella

Jul 2nd 2012, 17:05

Not really . . apart from all the negative comments that flood in daily from my fellow countrymen, I am starting to note that standards are already slipping . . . bullish behaviour on the road by several drivers is a daily occurrance as is stopping the already overlarge buses more than half the bus width away from the kerb and blocking the road for everybody else . . . the list goes on but why bother, it's not as if anybody will do anthing about it . . !

Malcolm Mifsud

Jul 2nd 2012, 15:08

Not at all. We were promised a brand new fleet, whereas the bendies are all second hand, you either wait too long at the terminus or as soon as you board you're on your way home, air-conditioners are either not switched on or too cold/hot, full up buses still stop at bus stops when empty ones are following, waiting times are anyone's guess, the bus terminus is a complete nonsense with no suitable shelter come rain or shine, timetables are non-existent, and to put the cherry on the cake, Austin, the person responsible for this entire mess is still getting his fat salary as if nothing happened. One year on there's miles to go before one can say we have a smooth service.

Marika Fenech

Jul 2nd 2012, 15:05

I switched to Arriva 3 weeks ago. I used to spend Euro 30 on petrol per week to get from Marsascala to Pieta and back. Now I spend Euro 6.50 and the journey takes roughly the same time. There is always room for improvement but I won't complain just for the sake of complaining. Thank you Arriva.

Victor Buhagiar

Jul 2nd 2012, 13:19

The service offered by the drivers and the buses are by far much better as is the end of the termini in each village, but ticketing (especailly its waste of time) and much worst the duration required to reach from A to B in this tiny piece of land are horendous and were available were better off before.

Aldo Chetcuti

Jul 2nd 2012, 12:57

There are undoubtedly mixed feelings and opinions about Arriva but overall, it would be quite accurate to say that most people view the Arriva experience as one which has not worked. Not only has it not worked as a replacement for the old public transport, it has created another problem for people like me who absolutely refuse to even consider using it! Apart from the ever-increasing number of buses who drive past the red lights, non-users like me have to bear the brunt of traffic jams caused by the notorious bendy-buses which were no good for the London streets let alone our narrower ones.

I dedicate this sentiment to those drivers who like me were held hostage in their cars at Mellieha yesterday in the midday sun because two bendy buses going in opposite directions got stuck in the Mellieha to Ghadira bend.

The impunity with which TM simply ignores the constant complaints by the local commuters that these large buses are not suitable for our small country is deplorable to say the least. Many of the promised bonuses that should have accompanied this new "no buzulotti" service are nowhere to be seen and apart from the political shortcomings of the public transport reform, improvement does not seem to be anywhere in sight.

When something of this size looks inefficient, feels inadequate and simply does not seem to be delivering there is but one solution and one only and this is to rethink the whole darned business and scrap Arriva altogether for something more on the lines of the older system. How about smaller buses for a first recommendation?

John L Galea

Jul 2nd 2012, 11:48

Wara li tesperjenza l-Arriva, tispicca tghid kemm konna ahjar meta konna aghar.

John L Galea

Jul 2nd 2012, 11:47

It'a just an Austin Gaffe!!!

John Galea

Jul 2nd 2012, 11:33

The buses are simply GIGANTIC WHILST OUR ROADS GET NARROWER, they create all the havoc in the Sliema - St. Julians path, it takes you a whoppoing 40 mins for the little stretch of road, eg a bendy buses does not fit in the bus stop, thus leaving the end protruding and therefore blocking the road.

Ahjar isir task force iehor to see the confusion they are creating!!

O Galea

Jul 2nd 2012, 11:01

we were better off when we were worse off :-(


good point:... coaches are more comfortable

The rest should have remained the same except for more services in st. julians/sliema routes in summer (because of students)

Gianfrancesco Buttigieg

Jul 2nd 2012, 10:44

The biggest problem with the service is that we were told everything would work like clockwork from the first day. An operation of this scale (different buses, terminus, lines, drivers, operator, etc) has - to my mind - never been done before, so considering that hundreds of drivers left on the first day and all the complexities of the operation I'm pretty happy with the service now.

So, yes, there still is work to do, but it is so much better than what we had before - but the Minister ( and others) should really have been more conservative and humble in the way they 'sold' such a complex operation to the Maltese people.

Try getting around Sicily by bus. Good luck.

J Cachia

Jul 2nd 2012, 09:58

294 comments so far, overwhelmingly pointing out that the service offered by Arriva, piloted by Austin Gatt, is a mess. But hey, all of you out there! Save your breath and don't waste your time writing! ARRIVA, TRANSPORT MALTA and AUSTIN GATT DO NOT LISTEN TO YOU ALL! If they did, after a year, we would have a decent bus service. I bet in Congo they have a much better bus service than ours.

Criss Camilleri

Jul 2nd 2012, 07:34

Not all that good, meaning, not what we were told by the minister. BUT, please ask this question again in, say, 4 / 5 years time. I bet that by that time they will get even worse, especially some of the drivers, as some of them have already forgotten their manners.

Andrea Giallombardo

Jul 2nd 2012, 01:31

If you time your journey well you won't find any problems. I have been using their service from the start and I have to say there is a massive improvement from the transition phase to where we are now. I actually find it more convenient to go to work and university by bus than by car since there is a a massive parking problem in that area.

Mr Edward Caruana Galizia

Jul 2nd 2012, 00:22

The transport we have now is not that different from what it used to be. Waiting a long time for a bus. Not that smooth a ride. That is what it is like in most countries in fact. I hate the bus anywhere, so little can be done to make me thing highly of using that sort of public transport.

However, the night buses are great, the bus drivers are nicer than they used to be and technically it is cheaper now than it was before.

If i had to complain about anything it would be that a lot of the routes give you a tour of Malta before arriving at their destination. Waste of time if you ask me. And I don't like this business of Maltese people getting cheaper fair just by showing their ID. Ridiculous!

Nathanael Grasso

Jul 1st 2012, 22:14

Unfortunately, one year after it was introduced Arriva, things are the same but other things are changed. Summer 2011 it was a disaster, but I hope that Summer 2012 will change, not a bit but a lot!

Alfred Cassar

Jul 1st 2012, 20:31

how about all of us who own wheels, stop for commuters on stages, and on the road and in turn passengers pay something? Win win situation for all. I have seen it work wonders in Cuba.

Maybe Malta should start looking at these backward countries, for solutions. The propositions laid down, by the brains which cost us hundreds of thousands, have failed.

Claire Said

Jul 1st 2012, 17:10

The endless waiting in the sun and rain, the crazy driving and the amount of buses with broken A/Cs has made me want to ditch public transport and get a car....

Philip Caruana

Jul 1st 2012, 14:24

I would like to know an honest aswer. How much subsidy the government or the maltese tax payers paid for all these happenings or how much loss Arriva made in this past year???? But it have to be an honest answer which I have big doubt that someone will answer this. I remember mr Delia telling us that we will be going to church by bus and that the amount of passangers using buses will be like 10 times as much of the old system and all this kind of things but that shows how iresponsible these people were.
Public transport is a very sensitive and difficult issue to tackle and responsible people from behind the desk have to be careful what to say. Now everyone can see reality and know that things are totally different on the paper than from reality.

Thomas Rubicon

Jul 1st 2012, 13:55

I am looking forward to meeting one of the Bus Ticket Inspectors (no fault of theirs, please note!), who will ask me to show him/her my ticket.

On the pretext that I lost my ticket, will see if the inspector demands the printed warning to ask for a €10 fine!

I have a list, updated daily, in my wallet of the LOST time I suffered at various bus stops, often exceeding 50 minutes! If ARRIVA will reimburse me for all those lost hours since July 2011, then I will produce my ticket - or pay the fine.

P.S. I back the English football teams but I will bet the Italians will have done a better job at Public Transport in Malta ( ...or perhaps a Spanish consortium :-) ?!!

Mary Psaila

Jul 1st 2012, 11:57

Meta nistennew mil-Gharghur qatt ma nkunu nafu fi x'hin gejja tal-linja ghax qatt ma jzommu l-hin. Sa anke gieli dommna siegha nistennew. Din il-gimgha stess domt siegha nistenna ghax ma kellix aptit nimxi san-Naxxar f'din is-shana biex imbaghad jigu it-35 u t-36 f'salt ghal Belt, u gieli tant kemm qtajna qalbna naghmlu xi nofs siegha nistennew li jkollna nimxuha san-Naxxar. X'jiswa jekk ghandna it-35/ 36/ 136 bus route numbers jekk dawn mhumiex frekwenti?!! Min ha joqghod jistenna siegha jew iktar fuq il-bus stop?!! Qabel konna hafna ahjar bil-55 ghax kienu jitilqu fil-hin mil-Gharghur. U qabel kienu regolari, qatt ma hallewna nistennew iktar minn 20 minuta. L-unika haga tajba li ghandhom l-Arriva hi li x-xufiera huma iktar edukati, iwegbuk lura meta tikkomplenja u l-vetturi huma mghammra b'arja ikkundizzjonata. Pero hemm hafna x'jirrangaw bir-rotta mil-Gharghur ghal Belt. Qed nispicca niprepara saghtejn qabel biex nitlaq fil-hin. Dik li naghmel siegha nistenna qed taqtali qalbi li nuza l-Arriva. Hekk u hekk issa l-petrol u d-diesel rahas u t-bus ticket fares ma rahsux! i.e. comparing like with like bil-karozza issa jaqbillek comparing the time wasted to wait for this Arriva to arrive! Plus l-bus shelters ma jiprotegukx mix-xemx/xita, anzi thossok qisu qieghda go sauna mdawra bil-perspex jew hgieg!!

Andrew Pisani

Jul 1st 2012, 11:51

I think one cannot compare the old system with the new system. For one to compare, you have to compare like with like. If that were the case, I would still say the old system was better. But considering that TM did so much to help Arriva and always ignored ATP's problems, it becomes really evident how Arriva have failed so miserably. TM fixed roads and bus stops for Arriva, gave them the right of way when exiting bus stops, moved the Sunday market for them and built them a new Terminus, reduced the parking in Sliema for them, built a task force to try and solve the problems and even sent army helicopters to report where traffic was to help them. Traffic Police and TM officials stopping all cars to allow Arriva buses to pass, all the propaganda, leaflets and documentaries on National TV, allowed them to increase fares by more than double and still be subsidized. Drivers were given their D license in a week. For the first time in history a Maltese member of parliament suggested to a foreign company to fire Maltese workers, when Transport Minister A.G took sides and ignored the worker's and trade Unions protest of working for 8 hours with a 4 hour gap in between. So considering that Arriva have TM's full support and still failed so miserably, I think it is quite obvious what should be expected. Had ATP got at least half of this special treatment and training, I think we would have a far better transport system whilst leaving our money circulating in our own country

JJ Agius

Jul 1st 2012, 11:11

From a driver point of view.Busses dont smoke but Most bus drivers are as arrogant as old busses.They dont use the indicators,they dont go into bus stops properly leave their backs out stopping cars from keep going,etc. True some bus stops are either small or blocked from small cars as arrogant as bus drivers.
Fom a passenger point of view.Drivers in nice uniforms.Comming from Rabat had to wait an hour on the bus stop than the bus broke down half way waiting another half hour for other bus to come.Than changed to a Bendy bus in Sliema & as the bus caught the pavement full brake & all standing passengers fell foward thus one hit me on my feet with blood streaming out.Two days in pain.
Last the bus stop above St Julian's waterpolo club is either full with delivery vans or scuba Vans.
No Not all arrivas is at fault !!
J.Agius

robert pace

Jul 1st 2012, 11:07

Hopless case !! Uk threw the bendy buses out and we took them in like a third world country. There is a smell of filth behind all these buses and sorry but most of the drivers are still if not worse than they were , relating to attitude and some manners please???

Carmel Dimech

Jul 1st 2012, 10:15

When I heard that Arriva was going to be introduced I was looking very forward since I live in Qawra and the last bus from Valletta to Qawra was at 9.30PM. But now Im not... to arrive to Valletta from here it takes you 1hour 20 mins as we dont have a direct route No 31 it goes round and round and round you'll get dizzy in it and no 12 which is a little shorter wat stops at every bus stop. Suppost as scheduled they pass evey 10mins but sometimes I do wait for 30mins with the result that they pass full up. And what about the way back from Sliema to Qawra. Nearly all the No 12 busses are full with youngsters going to Paceville and its not fair for us residents, to go back home I have to walk to paceville and catch the bus from there. My last point is that before it was very hard to see a bus breakdown, nowadays it's very common. Good luck Arriva but you have to improve alot to get peoples' trust.

Thomas Rubicon

Jul 1st 2012, 10:11

[ ]


Since January of this year, Mr.David Kaye has taken over from Keith Bastow, as Managing Director of Arriva Malta Ltd.

As the top official and an Englishman at that, I expected much more from his management.
His profile is impressive http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/dave-kaye/25/242/277 but with all this expertise, Arriva Malta Ltd. is not yet delivering what it promised, basically that:

........ BUSES RUN ON SCHEDULE and arrive on time.

The Maltese public did not print those schedules – Arriva did.

So please Mr.Kaye, as managing director of Arriva Malta Ltd., make sure that your commercial manager(s) deliver.



[ ]

Mark J. Magri

Jul 1st 2012, 09:22

In my way of seeing and experiencing ARRIVA......a mere improvement was made regarding the behavour of bus drivers...but the service is still awkward regarding the bus timing arrivals.
More things have to be done for mentaining one's desire!

Hamrun

Anthony Pace

Jun 30th 2012, 18:27

Let us hope that to-morrow more people will put in their coments as it is Sunday. We were better off when we were worse. I think that this is a Maltese idiom in English.

Previously:
1) We got from A to B in record time with no time lost
2) The buses left on time every 15/30/60 minutes as per schedule
3) The buses went from a central hub, Valletta with two other peripheral hubs at Bugibba and Rabat
4) The buses had windows for the summer which were closed in winter
5) There were few accidents as the buses were mainly driver owned and therefore careful in driving
6) People sat down on uncomfortable seats with about 12 standing passengers but journey times were short in comparision!

Now:
a) We wait intterminably at bus stops
b) A/C that doesn't work with no windows for the summer
c) Fares are up by 50% on most journeys
d) Comfortable seats if you can get one!
e) Journey times have doubled on most routes
f) Numbers and routes are no longer straight forward
g) Unhelpful staff at Arriva who do not understand what has happened.


End Result: Utter Chos for one year with constantly changing routes and numbers.


CONFUSION!!!

Ray Pizzuto

Jun 30th 2012, 17:39

I have just returned from Italy. Rome where I lived for some years. I used to complain about ATAC, the bus company in Rome because they were never on time. But I assure you that Arriva is much much worse. As was said before, sometimes you have to wait for 30 / 40 minutes for a bus and all of a sudden 3 buses going in the same direction pass together. Arriva non arriva mai.......is it so difficult to plan bus hours? After one year, in such a small country, the bus service should have been excellent. So Arriva..o arrivi o vattene.....

Anthony Borg

Jun 30th 2012, 16:10

I challenge all those who are praising Arriva ( only a few yes, but they dare), to go in front a mirror, put their right hand on their heart, and state:

(1) Am I telling the truth in what I am writing?
(2) Am I a daily commuter that can rightly judge Arriva's services, or just happened to hop on a bus for the sake of the ride?
(3) Are these commentators being honest or just shoring up a sorry state of affairs brought about by our short-sighted transport ministry?

I have no axe to grind, political or otherwise....and I will not compare Arriva's service with the former ATP - that's dishonest.

The Maltese commuter is demanding a proper Public Transport service that runs on schedule!
No excuses!

Arriva Malta Ltd ( Arriva UK + Tumas Group ), deliver or disband!

Ivan Falzon

Jun 30th 2012, 13:52

dear Adrian Pavia
first of all i am not a Labour fanatic nor for that matter a PN one. I make up my own mind and not get spoonfed by politicians.
secondly i live in balzan and go to bkara to have a better chance of catching the bus but i am realising that time saving is minimal since instead of 1 hour waiting at a bus stop in balzan i am spending slightly less at one in bkara - maltas biggest town. and if this happens at bkara then i tend to believe those that live in small villages when they say they spend up to 2 hours waiting for their bus to pass.
finally as ive already said i live in balzan so why would i come to paola? I very much prefer here thank you

ivan falzon

Karl Consiglio

Jun 30th 2012, 13:21

Yes very happy.

Dominic Micallef

Jun 30th 2012, 13:19

It is hard to give a simple yes or no as an answer.

If one has to look at comfort whilst travelling, then there is a yes due to airconditioning (in summer only) and even the seating is better. Personally I do not mind if the driver is in uniform, tattooed or in the naked as long as reckless driving and rudeness is not part of the package ! i think that cordiality increased but there is still much room for improvement. However, definitely on the right track. Another plus is the fact that whilst the initial routes were never ending these have been revised to the benefit of us commuters. Whilst it could be pleasant to go sight seeing when you are on holiday, it is not at all convenient having to go around half of Malta on your way to work or going back home !

What is surely off track is the timing !! One year on and you cannot plan on what time a bus is going to pick you up ! Still to-date, there are rare occassions when the bus does not even turn up at all. I'm not complaining about the odd 5 minutes timing difference but 20 + minutes on a regular basis. You cannot establish a pattern because you find out that you're either late to-day compared to yesterday or too early. I do not care if the electronic display has been installed if all it shows is incorrect information. Why raise hopes with a 2 mins to arrival when after after count-down is over another 9 minutes commence their turn. In this aspect, in my opinion as a regular user, progress has definitely been backwards and not forward.

All in all, a works in progress tag is more appropriate for whilst improvement has been noted on one side, a regress was definitely registered on the other. To be reviewed once again at a later stage.

Simon Polidano

Jun 30th 2012, 13:00

last thursday I spent from 17:50 until 18:35 waiting at Bombi bus stop for the 82 to birzebbuga. In the sweltering heat, with no water I felt like I was going to faint. In that time 3 81s came out (marsaxlokk) and an 84 or 85 (also for marsaxlokk but takes a different route), 2 of the 81s literally where back to back, they may as well have been a bendy bus.

Keep in mind that 81s and 82 should alternate every 10 minutes, meaning that there should be an 82 every 20 minutes and an 81 every 20 minutes. I spent 45 minutes to the dot waiting on a bus which showed up with no AC, and the bus driver had no answer for me (I did ask politely, and he did admit that there is 'xeba tahwid qas naf min fej nibda infehmek!')

Arriva are going backwards instead of forwards - they are still somewhat of an improvement than the other buses we had... but it shouldn't take me from 16:30 until 19:00 to get from St Julians to Birzebbuga... Im sorry but when I lived in London I used to travel twice that distance in 20 minutes ON THE LONDON BUSES not the TUBE!

there is no excuse... arriva need to get their act together NOW! not soon... NOW!!

Francis Grech

Jun 30th 2012, 11:48

I do not wish to submit my comment after a whopping 265 comments had been send but one thing I would like to add,they had been here one year too long.

Joe Scerri

Jun 30th 2012, 11:03

It seems that one year down the line there is still much room for improvement.
Why do we still have rude drivers?
Why are some drivers not following the actual routes?
Why is the online system a mess?
Why is the terminus in Floriana not yet complete?
Why does it take weeks to repair a bus shelter like the one near Mithna B'kara?
I still have yet to see l a bus stop displaying the electronic arrival times.
Why were there 1300 accidents in one year?
When are those crappy bendy buses going to be removed?
Why are there buses not displaying the route number electronically both on front and rear?
Why are some buses still without air conditioning?
Why am I wasting my time writing these comments when like everything else no one in authority gives a damn?

Patricia Glover

Jun 30th 2012, 10:10

As a regular visitor to Malta who uses the buses I was dismayed this year when I asked which bus went to the Aircraft museum as I was directed to to bus I needed. On approaching Rabat I realised we were in the vicinity of Ta'Qali so I asked the driver again if this was the bus for the museum. He stopped the bus and said "You walk" and pointed across the road. My friend and I got off the bus which turned out to be the Main road into Rabat. We therefore had a long walk(for two pensioners) to reach the Aircraft Museum.
He was curt and rude so I believe a customer relations course would be in order to include not fobbing visitors off and putting them on the wrong bus.I now know thereis a bus to drop off outside the museum.
I much preffered the old buses.

Ivan Falzon

Jun 29th 2012, 23:52

all these people who are saying that the service has improved are either PN fanatics or non bus users.
these are the only logical explanations why someone would say that he/she is happy with the type of service that Arriva is offering.
try spending 45 minutes waiting for a bus to pass through THE main road of Malta s biggest town and see if you wont change your mind.

Terry Stride

Jun 29th 2012, 23:44

"Arriva Gozo" has most certainly transformed the Island Of Gozo with its First Class reliable bus service which runs from 5.30 am till 11.00pm. It has completely changed the way people live, now we are able to go out of a evening without the worry of not being able to get home of a evening. the bus's are clean and totally reliable. The staff and management could not be more helpful. So without a shadow of doubt its one great Big thank you.

Anthony Borg

Jun 29th 2012, 22:53

Friday 29th June 21:04
WOW!
255 comments so far, mostly negative about Arriva's poor performance.

Hold on guys - in this way, we would be "grumbling for the next 10 years"!

I sincerely hope for Arriva's sake and most importantly, our sake, that it would not take another 10 years for Arriva to get their act together.

R. Vella.

Jun 29th 2012, 22:31

- buses leaving the Valletta terminus already full-up
- long waiting times
- buses never on time
- wrong names on bus-stops
- Faulty IT system
- lack of AC (or windows)
- some buses (especially bendy-buses) already falling to pieces

plus, other buzullotti still going on !

Satisfied?...ABSOLUTELY NOT !

Carmel J. Caruana

Jun 29th 2012, 21:04

I would consider Arriva to have attained its' objectives when:
1. Buses arrive according to schedule in a CONSISTENT manner such that I can depend on them. This has not yet happened. When I have an appointment I have to leave home at least two hours before as you never know what happens - and what happens varies from day-to-day and according to season e.g., I have noticed that the number of 31 buses from Bugibba to Valletta have suddenly gone down whilst the number of 12s has shot up. Two weeks ago I waited for 1.5 hours for the X3 to the airport, if I hadn't allowed for such an eventuality I would have missed my plane.
2. They find a way for people to buy tickets ahead and punch them themselves on the way in so that buying tickets with the conductor becomes the exception not the rule.
3. All drivers actually know how to drive - skossi, skossi, skossi!

Eddy Privitera

Jun 29th 2012, 20:34

Ganninu Saliba: When I mention the EU and Malta's membership, I am not writing about the "past" but about the present and the future ! We hear the word "European Union" every single day on all the news media, local and foreign, just in case you have forgotten !

Ms. P.M Graham

Jun 29th 2012, 18:43

Arriva one year on - are you satisfied with the outcome a year on?

Yes actually. It was never going to be easy for ARRIVA to come into Malta and most knew that hurdles were going to be placed that would test the patient of a Saint. In all honesty I thought it would be ARRIVA ditching Malta, but they stood their ground and personally against all odds they have pulled it off.

Imagine what it would have been like if obstacles had not been deliberately set to scupper the set up and imagine how well the service would run if they got just a little bit of consideration from the other drivers on the road.

Lawrence Fenech

Jun 29th 2012, 18:39

249 compliments of the day!

Twanny Apap

Jun 29th 2012, 17:30

the old 169 route back please the 123 route is not good ,the 15 min to Valletta naw 50 min not nice.

S. Azzopardi

Jun 29th 2012, 17:23

"Much was promised, and much has changed including the buses and the routes, but are you satisfied with the outcome a year on?"

My answer is a big fat NO. Arriva has given this government a one way ticket to loose its seat in parliament. The government should chuck Arrriva out once and for all.

Daniel Laus

Jun 29th 2012, 16:53

If Austin Gatt have never managed to get anything right I bet he got this one right when saying that even after 10 years of Arriva Service the public will still complain! :-p

Alfred Cassar

Jun 29th 2012, 16:52

Now, who said these buses had dents?

Alfred Cassar

Jun 29th 2012, 16:51

Well done as always Dr Bezzina,

.... of course this list is not exhaustive, drivers should be given every right to strike and get paid, but also to be kicked out of the Company and fined heftily if in breach of laws that have been drawn up exclusively for them, laws which, with the advent of Arriva have been set aside, for a whole year.

Courtesy to passengers, ... as they say Charity starts at home. Unless, Arriva starts treating Drivers like Human Beings, we can't expect any better, those who are 'Nice', have families and are struggling, with the peanuts they receive.

Drivers should, protest in one drastic way, and face any consequence that they could encounter.

They ought to take passengers , on all buses on any given day: FREE, maybe a point hammers it's way home.

This Company needs some of its own medicine.

Twanny Apap

Jun 29th 2012, 16:40

please all the old routes back, for Malta to be happy,disastru naw

Twanny Apap

Jun 29th 2012, 16:30

NO NO NO for SWATAR, we want the old 169 route back , the 123 route is not good, from SWATAR

Daniel Farrugia

Jun 29th 2012, 16:20

I regularly use the arriva service and i think there is a plenty of room for improvement.
1.I spend 3 hours sometimes up to 4 hours on a bus/waiting a day to get to work and back. Before it only used to take me an hour and a half. Meaning i spend a whole day on a bus/bus-stage for every 8-6 days on this planet.
2.I think the ticket system has remained mostly the same. Most people still get their ticket on board.
3. The routes i make use of are just plain garbage.
4. Buses do not make it on time.
5. Drivers attitude has changed but still has not reached my expectations. You still get the rude reckless driver who drives like a mad man.
6. Platform at valetta where i board my bus from is invariably laden with people and all hell breaks lose when the bus arrives.
7. Drivers still experience difficulty in changing bus numbers. sometimes changing them halfway through a journey meaning i have to get off the bus and wait for another one.
8. Maybe arriva is not directly involved in this... but those modern bus shelters turn into this glass microwave in the summer months in which you have to wait for a looooooong time.
9. The list is of course endless...
10. I need my driving license.

Anthony Pace

Jun 29th 2012, 16:03

Can the PL give us their views on the bus system. What are they going to do with these big and bulky buses? It is ok to get rid of the bendy buses most EU countries are doing that but the 11m buses are way too big for the island as well.

C Busuttil

Jun 29th 2012, 15:17

With the old system that of those dirty and rude drivers it used to take me about 25 minutes from St.Julians to Valletta
With Arriva the disaster on wheels, my travelling time has increased for the same destination from 25minutes to 45minutes.

People have gave up complaining, as things remain the same. I used to hate the old drivers but TODAY if it was possible I would bring them back.
An Arriva bus full of people beyond safety limits and without aircondition yes without Air Condition and not on a single occasion. This summer alone it happened about 6 times to have this mistfortune, on such buses without AC is a crime against humanity.

Philip Jackson

Jun 29th 2012, 14:52

Living in Mellieha near the Belle View terminus it's not really easy to get on the bus as they are mostly full up from Cirkewwa and in the opposite direction buses are slower than walking since the high street is usually blocked nowadays

Mr andrew xuereb

Jun 29th 2012, 14:38

ITs a shame for Arriva going from Valletta to Cirkewwa withought AC! Some of the tourists were very angry and they have a reason at a certain point.

S. Zahra

Jun 29th 2012, 14:23

I do not use the service, but what I hear is that during rush hours schedule is not kept with delays up to one hour. If this is solved, I think the bus service will be great and i might start using the bus to/from work.

Mark Anthony Sammut

Jun 29th 2012, 14:11

I actually started using the bus in preference of my car whenever possible since around April, and I have to say that my experience has been quite positive.

http://markanthonysammut.blogspot.com/2012/06/public-transport-reform.html

m borg

Jun 29th 2012, 13:58

Kemm hu ferhan Pavia bl-arriva ... ma' kienx hemm kumment li ma' ndahalx fih. Mid-dehra qed jorqod mal-computer bhalissa biex ikompli jaqbez ghall arriva crash boom !

David Borg

Jun 29th 2012, 13:43

It used to be a very cheap and (more importantly) reliable bus service. Not any more.
€2.60 for a (non resident) day ticket is not cheap at all. Who wants to ride a bus all day?
I would want to go to a place, then return home later. That's two bus rides. I would have paid 47c or 54c each way under the old system. Arrive has increased the price almost threefold. That's just one reason why I now hire a car when in Malta.
I know I should not compare Malta's bus service to other countries, as Malta is unique. However I would like to point out my local bus service in Scotland costs £1.10 per journey regardless of where you get off on the 30 mile trip. Or £8.60 for a weekly unlimited ticket.

There are many possibilities to ensure a good and reliable bus service in Malta. TM need to take their earplugs out and listen to the people.

M. Attard

Jun 29th 2012, 13:19

I have never used the new buses so far. From the street they look much neater and organised. Drivers look smart as well. At least the icing on the cake gives you a very good impression. You dont hear people shouting from the buses as they used to do before with all windows opened and you cant see inside most of the time. Before everyone used to complain about the emissions of the old buses whereas now we dont even notice them. So to me is a big PLUS even though i never used it so far but its part of my environment.

George Azzopardi

Jun 29th 2012, 13:07

.. have we decreased traffic on the road .. NO .. now seeing even more cars on the road.
.. success story .. NO.

Victor Pulis

Jun 29th 2012, 13:03

One year on and Arriva still has teething troubles. These problems will persist indefinetately unless the routes are brought to their original system. To travel on arriva now one must plan as if he's going to war. The complex interchange system is too complicated. We had a perfect system where one could take a bus to valletta and from there direct to his destination. Besides this, other shortcomings are coming to the surface like lack of AC, Arrogant drivers, incompetent customer care, uncooperative officials etc.Arriva is a failure where service is concerned.

Stephen Galea

Jun 29th 2012, 12:47

The service is definitely VERY MUCH inferior to that we had before.
They do not keep to schedule.
Before, the buses rarely failed to leave the Valletta terminus on time; and the same from towns.
Before, there was a dispatcher to whom one could draw the attention and/or complain, and normally he would take an action to rectify.
If one compares the negatives of the previous operators and Arriva, one finds that Arriva has repeated all the negatives - there still are gruffly and quarrelsome drivers, there are many old buses with all type of rattling noises and vibrations, etc.

The only positive is that many buses, NOT ALL, have air condition.
But during the temperate times the buses lack ventilation.

WE are not very concerned when the bus arrives at one particular bus stop, AS LONG AS the buses always leave the terminus ON TIME, whether from Valletta or from any town or village.
The Keeping of the Departure Times is IMPERATIVE.

Marc Alan Spiteri

Jun 29th 2012, 12:41

All these complaints....putting aside the very occasional arrogant driver, the unfortunately still very faulty IT system and buses without AC (and yes, if there are delays due to drivers not driving buses with no AC, i am in FULL support of this since they are doing it for their AND our good), the service has good routes and good pricing. As for timetables, ARRIVA have no fault whatsoever since due to our narrow roads (and hence, lack of space for bus lanes), drivers can only do the best they can! As a daily commuter, I can tell that at times when traffic is not so busy, or on Sundays etc. most routes operate on time or with an acceptable 5 minute delay. Other than that...buses cannot fly over cars!
I take this opportunity to congratulate ARRIVA for, despite having started on a bad note, they have managed to overcome many many difficulties and are now providing the Islands with the service they deserve.

Carmel Grima

Jun 29th 2012, 12:32

18th June Outbound: 07:08: Board bus to Mater Dei from Ghar Barka Rabat (203); 07:36: Exiting Saqqajja hill, Rabat; 08:00:Arrive B'kara interchange (bus had to reverse both to enter and exit due to its physical dimensions): 08:20: Arrival Mater Dei;
Inbound: 17:43: Waiting @ Mater Dei for return bus; two 203 buses both in Sliema direction pass in breif succession by but none towards Rabat (Scedule says that one should have passed @ 17:47). 06:10: decide to take bus to Valletta(31); No standby bus on Rabat lane 9 @ Valletta; 18:40: 51 + 52 busses arrive simultanously; board the 52 (no ventilation available) 51 departs lane empty. 19:20: Arrival Vjal il Haddiem stage. Total travelling time 170 minutes (including interval waiting for service)

Mark Wuntoo

Jun 29th 2012, 12:19

We have holidayed in Malta five times. Last year we vowed not to return, only because of getting around (or not getting around). We love the Islands and the people. We travel all over the Island, not the beaches. We hate the buses. Compared to the old system it is difficult to get around, the buses are crowded or don’t turn up, the drivers need to have driving lessons. In London we were glad to see the end of the dangerous bendy-buses: why didn’t the Malta government ask us why we wanted to get rid of them? To us it was obvious that they wouldn’t be suitable for Malta.
Very disappointed to hear that things have not improved since we were with you a year ago. Not surprised that there are lots of breakdowns – we noticed how rickety the buses were and thought they would not last. The sooner they all collapse the sooner you will get a better system, the sooner this tourist will return. Arriva has to go.

Mr Peter Korsten

Jun 29th 2012, 12:17

Well, I hardly ever take the bus, mostly really when I have to take my car to the garage. In those instances, I found the drivers courteous and the buses immeasurably better and more comfortable than the old ones. The routes have also improved: from Attard, you don't get the bone-jarring detour through Lija.

However, for me as a car driver, the difference is remarkable as well. With the old buses, I actually once had a bus trying to overtake me in Old Railway Track in Attard (a narrow road if you've ever seen one), and just going past me, going on the wrong side of the road at the intersection. Why? Because I was driving too slowly? That's not something one can accuse me of.

In contrast, the Arriva buses indicate that they want to leave a bus stop, and ACTUALLY WAIT for you. I give way to them (this is actually compulsory in the Netherlands), even though some drivers try to overtake a bus at every given opportunity, regardless of whether this is actually a good idea (95% of the time, it isn't).

The Arriva drivers are courteous. Compare this with the Death Race 2000 style of driving that we were used to, and I really don't know what on earth people are complaining about.

Pauline Peterson

Jun 29th 2012, 12:11

Thank you Times of Malta for allowing us to make comments and suggestions on this subject.

I don't support either policitical party, so my comments are not because I favour one side or the other, just my observations while using the buses.

A big relief to all travellers on the new buses is that of the low step to get aboard, unlike the mountain of steps in some of the older ones.

The fares need to be revised. Say 2 euros for residents and non residents, instead of the 2-tier at present. No searching for the right change - just one small coin.

More buses need to be brought into the system, as this is what I believe is causing the long journeys around the Island, where previously, we used to get to our destination in less time.

Better information at the bus stops.

And start to use Birkirkara Bus Terminus again as it was before, instead of a free-for-all car park. Thank you.

Joseph Micallef

Jun 29th 2012, 11:46

Some words of good advice to Arriva. If you want people to use your product make it reliable. From what I observe drivers never bother to keep the time tables shown at every bus stop.

Peter Bonnici

Jun 29th 2012, 11:42

7th July 2011, had to be the rolling of a service which was pegged to the citizens' high expectations. The service has been a disaster under each and every aspect, exposing Arriva to its lack of professionalism coupled to MITC's arrogant handling of its delivery as a holistic service . After almost a year, Arriva is still showing its inability to pull up its socks to its shortcomings, the latest being its stand to bus drivers to drive buses without airconditioning-an unjustified disservice to its clients, primarily. Time Schedules are far from being met. Buses are also seen travelling with one or two passengers meaning that the basic principles of operations, to maximise on resources is not being exercised. Not everybody is aware that it is us taxpayers that are paying for subsidies requested by Arriva as [per trip basis, whether these trips are operated economically- A PURE CASE OF PUBLIC FUNDS' SQUANDERING- PASSENGER RIGHTS
ARE FAR FROM BEING HONOURED.
IGHTS ARE FAR FROM BEING

Joseph Camilleri

Jun 29th 2012, 10:37

...and an other thing, please for everyone's sake, get rid of those bendy busses! Our roads are too small for them!! Every week there is an accident which involves one of these bendy busses. Remove them... yukk!

Joseph Camilleri

Jun 29th 2012, 10:35

Keep the routes the old bus service had, and Arrive will be offering a STERLING service. Just add 2 ring services, and full stop!

If Arriva just changed the busses, and the drivers... and dolled up the image of the public stransportation system, like it did, there there would have been no problems.

Please put back the old routes, and that's it! Everyone will be happy then, i'm more then sure.

Anthony Arpa

Jun 29th 2012, 10:23

Regard the comments of few objecting and saying that holiday makers are paying more then Locals this is a fact .
But still turist finds that the rates are still cheap for 12 euros for unlimited rides fot 7 days and 2.60 for full day ... With these Tickets the turist can also use the Airport Bus ... Few month ago i was in Bolgna ... airport bus fare was 5 euros from airport to Bologna Cebtre .... 10 euros return ... When here with 2.60 ticketa one can spend the day sightseeing then with same ticket turist can head to arport with same ticket. After all why the goverment must subsides the the turist too ... Still in my opinion local transport is one of the cheapest in europe ...

Anthony Borg

Jun 29th 2012, 10:02

In my opinion, we are experiencing a domino effect.

Because ARRIVA cannot keep to Scheduled Time Tables and skips journeys, commuters are FED UP with waiting for very long periods at Bus Stops and even at Valletta Terminus.

Therefore, in exasperation, we are returning to our private cars, clogging the roads with traffic. When we report for work 1hour+ late every day, when we cannot keep appointments, even when you try to catch an earlier bus, then yes, we have to return to our private transport.

This in turn is causing a loop effect .... Arriva buses cannot make the promised 30 minute journeys and arrive late .... very late .... and then you have most Arriva bus drivers driving as if the devil was chasing them, to be able to keep schedules ... and (I heard this from a bus driver) if they arrive late, this will be deducted from their "free or break time".

No, it's not the Mercedes Citaro "bendy or the big King Long buses that are causing these problems one year on .... it's the simple fact that Arriva DOES NOT have enough buses to cater for all the routes.
Arriva thought that the commuter will eventually settle down and accept their crap service just because they have a different colour an their drivers wear a uniform.

People want to arrive on time - that's the crux of the matter!

If you cannot deliver, go away ARRIVA and let someone else do it!

Jamie Cutajar

Jun 29th 2012, 10:00

The journey times are simply disgusting. Anyone with a brain could see that taken on a national level, the loss in productivity alone by workers delayed by sub-standard services will cost more than the buses.
Not a day goes by that I don't see at least one of them broken down in the middle of the road.
Absolutely disgusted. How could we have let ourselves be bullied into such a terrible decision?

m borg

Jun 29th 2012, 09:48

Whoever was responsible to bring these huge buses to such a tiny island either is blind or else what concerned him most was the commission. Ever since they had been introduced to our roads the traffic jams on the roads apart from all the stupid accidents have created chaos and ruined the whole system of the country. These buses are unacceptable for our roads because it is clearly obvious they are not practical. In England they want to get rid of them and xi bravu brought them here. Hopping on the back part of the bendy bus in the UK that is at your own risk and they won't even charge you if you want to use that part. Arriva has become the biggest Joke of the Country.

Mark Marmara

Jun 29th 2012, 09:47

One other thing about the Arriva buses.......They are a total hazard to motorcyclists. Besides filling our streets with air condition waste water which is a danger to motorcyclists now they are also filling our roads with DIESEL which I am told they fill their tanks to the brim so that they do not waste time going to fill up often. I who rides a motorcycle every day have to look at the road all the time to avoid riding over their spillage. PLEASE AUTHORITIES do something about this as soon as possible. If you contact the civil protection department they can tell you that they are out covering diesel spillage every day.

Mark Marmara

Jun 29th 2012, 09:37

I think that as regards to comfort and pollution the Maltese people and tourists gained from the new buses. What I totally cannot understand is that the authorities cannot see that the Arriva buses are causing havoc in our streets. They are too big for our roads. They cause nothing but traffic jams and accidents. I think that the government together with Arriva should firstly do away with the 'Bendibuses' and then reconsider the size of the normal buses. Driving through the Sliema front has become a nightmare since all the bendibuses go through there and the traffic jams they cause are extreme. Is it possible that the authorities do not see this ?

chris scicluna

Jun 29th 2012, 09:25

We would like to express our views regarding the traffic caused by the big bendy buses especially in our limited roads we have and truly, they should NOT BE USED on such a small island with narrow roads. Traffic is also jammed and delayed cos bus drivers do not pull into the bus stops as should be! the other reason is because of the old ticketing system, after all that investment in a supposedly modern bus service.

Martin Formosa

Jun 29th 2012, 08:57

Most of you always seem to complain over everything. Compared to the cancer causing, dilapidated, exhaust emitting, not forgetting rude drivers, Arriva is a very positive change to the island. Sure nothing is perfect, I too think the bendies are too large for such a small country, nevertheless on the whole it is a good thing. Try riding a bus in Rome, I know I have lived there for 2 years, dirty, never on time, people don't even bother paying as their system is so screwed up, the driver doesn't even bother checking who's paid or not.

Andrew Scicluna

Jun 29th 2012, 08:40

I am at my 50 years of age when I was in my 16 years of age we had no other option but to start to invest to buy our own transport buy purchasing a vehicle, my children already grown ups more than 22 till now using the new transport system they never mentioned of buying there own transport since the Arriva started operating.
My point is that the system is good and making good progress, with all these vehicles on our roads it is still going good and we need to change our future generation start to considering using public transport instead our own.If we had this option before the number of private vehicles would be much less.
Hope the public transport keeps on going forward and uninterrupted by the GWU or transport malta.

Paul Borg

Jun 29th 2012, 08:13

Drivers drive these buses as if they were dump trucks, braking suddenly and making sharp turns without reducing speed. AC not good enough on most buses......we are paying double for single trips after all. The trips from the airport are a RODEO of unstable bendy buses. They are a hazard to motor cyclist because of the ammount of liquids that come pouring out, probably from uncollected AC water.

Anthony Pace

Jun 29th 2012, 07:43

Where I live in Ta Paris and Swattar there is a bus every thirty minutes to Mater Dei coming from B'Kara and going on to Pembroke. It is always empty except on odd occasions when there are a couple of people going to the hospital. Such a waste of money and subsidy for a route that is hardly used at all.

Fifty metres up or down the road you can get a bus to Valletta from BKara Bypass or Mannarino Road!!!

Worse they have added a bus from Swattar every hour to Valletta which is practically empty!! When is the PM going to stop wasting money!!! on subsidies that aren't needed.

Maria Bartolo

Jun 29th 2012, 07:41

This is my comment, we used to see our previous drivers as they devils and one would be scared to tell them any comments, but believe me I was with my 10 year old daughter and six year old son and I did not have the courage to tell the bus driver anything either last carnval. The bus was full and we had to stand up, I was holding frantically my children as the bus driver thought he was at an F1 race, I thought that the pole to which I had anchored myself desperately holding my children around it would break off .

An old man who said to the driver that he had been ringing from two previous stages was answered in a very rough tone , " tibdilix il- gurnata , li ma nghidlekx kemm ilek idoqq, ejja inzilli mitt-truck!" The poor man had to walk back two whole stages, as I don't believe he had the courage to cross the B'Kara bypass by himself. By then my children were complaining with stomach pain as the bus was breaking very suddenly while it was going ' gas down '. My son was all the time telling me that he was going to feel sick and I was praying as I could imagine the bus drivers reaction already.
On our way back we had to ride the arriva buses again and this time we were seated but just the same I had to hold my son by putting a hand on his chest to keep him anchored to the seat and I was pushing my hands against the front seat to try and hold in my seat, while my daughter which was behind me was doing the same.

Well in conclusion, my daughter spent the next three days feeling stomach pain, I had my c-section stiches which may I say had never bothered me in six years and now were hurting like hell, and both me and my children shiver at the site of an Arriva bus and thank God that we do not need to ride one again. I pity the people that need to ride them every day.

Alexander Brincat

Jun 29th 2012, 07:19

On two occassions I tried to take Arriva, they never showed up. Luckily I got a lift.

On my way to Mellieha on the Manikata road the wide bus jammed the road for 15 minutes because the road is not wide enough for such a monstrous vehicle. Extra fuel waiting for the road to clear...

And just yesterday, one of the many occasions of the increasigly rude drivers of this company. I was on Constitution Street Mosta on my side of the road when an Arriva bus overtook and came face to face with it. I had to hit on the brakes to avoid a collision.

The above are just a few of the many negatives. Why are they still here?

T Mizzi

Jun 29th 2012, 07:05

Arriva has been one big disappointment for many travellers. My daughter missed an exam due to a mess up by Arriva and had to do a resit in September. She was not alone.

Many, many times she had to wait long periods of time for a bus to arrive since the other buses that passed by were full.

Just last week she and other passengers had to fork our euro 5 each to take a private minibus to Cirkewwa after waiting over an hour at Mosta.
The people running Arriva are not in touch with reality. After spending so many millions one would expect a better service.

joseph cammilleri

Jun 29th 2012, 02:05

Reading some negative comments about arriva and its drivers,does anyone ever ask why bus drivers are quitting their job in droves every week.It certainly makes one wonder about having to drive unapreciating commuters day in day out.A bus driver may give a sterling service for days on end and having just one bad day gets him mercilesly reported.Then again if a bus driver is reported,what would he really have to loose.Definatley not a well paid apreciated and comfortable job.Commuters having nothing to report but negative comments tend to be taken for what they are.Why don't I ever see a complain that his ticket hasen't been correctly checked and then having commuters complain because a bus inspector does check the ticket and in doing so makes commuters complain because they have to wait longer for the bus to start moving till the situation is solved,no one ever complains that the commuter should have got his correct ticket in the first place,or maybe why a commuter came with a fifty euro note and expecting to be served with a day ticket .The thing is a majority of commuters do show apreciation but a small percentage of commuters getting on a bus just to notice anything that is remotley negative without apreciating the fact that in the end they did get a service and got were they wanted to go don't really deserve a service at all.Not deserving a service at all does'nt mean they won't get a service,but they do make the job much more difficult then it really should be.

David Borg

Jun 28th 2012, 22:58

As a regular tourist to Malta, (I'm half Maltese and live in Scotland) I used to do all my travelling by bus. This is no longer the case for the following reasons;
I completely disagree at having to pay extra as a non resident.
The old hub and spoke system was easy to use, and very reliable. An interchange system is no good from a tourist point of view, it just causes confusion. Ok, I know many of the old routes have been re-intoduced, but there is still a long way to go before I return to using a bus.
I now use a hire car whenever I come over.

l vella

Jun 28th 2012, 22:56

i felt lucky tonight so went to 'mnarja' with arriva.....................have only one comment, it was an organised shambles.

Darren Bonnici

Jun 28th 2012, 22:53

From Ta'Xbiex I don't have a lot of delays and problems. There used to be only 1 bus that serves Ta'Xbiex area in the old bus service which was route 64, and sometimes the driver just decides not to pass from Ta'Xbiex. Now Arriva provided Ta'Xbiex with two new routes numbers 15 & 21, and they are quite good. Last winter to go to ITS from Msida wasn't a problem because every 7 minutes or so number 12 or 13 comes and it always served me great. But since summer started routes 12 and 13 are taking about 12-15 minutes to arrive... And even so now there are some bendy buses inside having their AC fixed (I HOPE), and now they are taking twice the time to come... I hope that when these buses are on the roads again they will be on time. However service from Ċirkewwa is a big problem.

henry caruana

Jun 28th 2012, 22:44

One day arriva will decide to quit MALTA
Bus service will return to MALTESE ownership as it was past 90 years

Andrew Micallef

Jun 28th 2012, 22:07

I find the Arriva service satisfying for myself although I must say the bendy buses must go and be replaced because they're too big for Maltese roads and create an inconvenience for traffic.

Alfred Grech

Jun 28th 2012, 22:06

ARRIVAno i nostri:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcyalGU99CA

Alfred Gatt

Jun 28th 2012, 22:03

I will comment from where I live., that is in Sta Venera. The routes to Cirkewwa, X6 and now 42, are very good. However, Routes 51, 52, 53 have much to improve as persons have to wait half hour on the stages of St Venera as these three buses come at the same time when there should be a span of 10 minutes in between. Also these buses take a long time to leave Valletta and when they do they are quite full. Commuters have long been complaining but to no avail. I think one of the problem is that there are not enough buses.

joe vella

Jun 28th 2012, 22:02

sadly they have failed in a lot of ways and it is all due to the mis management of people who have never worked in the industry and who do not know how to treat the people who are really trying to make it work and that is the drivers they would not be treated with so much dis respect anywhere else i know because i have worked for arriva for many years

A. Mizzi

Jun 28th 2012, 22:01

One just has to learn to live with Arriva... like one lives with an ULCER!

James Camilleri

Jun 28th 2012, 21:51

As a daily commuter, who has been using the public transport for over 50 years to travel to different locations all over the island for all my needs, I think I am in a very good position to comment about both our old public transport and the new service being offered by Arriva. I will therefore try to give my unimpassioned comments about both.
The old service offered routes to all localities across the islands. Buses were scheduled to leave for there destinations every 10, 15, 20 and 30 minutes depending on the time of day and on the routes themselves. Buses kept to their timetable reasonably well. New routes to cater for new areas were introduced from time to time. Our criticism of the service was centred round the attitude of the drivers and old and dirty buses. Now whoever wants to be honest knows that drivers were not all rude. A good number of them were quite courteous and helpful. However there was a handful who gave a bad name to the rest of them. A good number of them gave the impression of being uncouth and dirty. One must remember that they worked very long hours and they had nowhere where they could rest, freshen up or change. Most of the buses were definitely old and needed to be modernized. As to the buses being dirty, some of them were in fact so. However the great majority were individually owned and the owners took great pride in them and one often could see the drivers washing their buses while being parked in the village termini during what should have been their break.
Now to the service being offered by Arriva. The buses are modern, relatively clean and most of the bus drivers are quite courteous. A great improvement developed since the initial mayhem and whoever says otherwise is not being honest. The main criticism of the new service is that the buses are not always on time, trips are infrequent and bus drivers drive sometimes in a reckless way. This is all true in fact. Arriva has not yet found the formula to get its buses to run according to schedule. This is quite surprising since this company is supposedly an expert in the field. Drivers do speed drive but this is not always their fault since they are called to do so, so that they make up for lost time in traffic to be able to keep to schedules. Some routes are still badly serviced. The old Qormi route (91) used to have a bus leaving the terminus every 15 to 20 minutes. Now it is serviced by a bus leaving every hour. The old B’Kara route (71) had buses leaving every 15 minutes. Now it has nothing. The reason for most of the routes being scrapped was so that Arriva would maximize the service using the least possible number of buses. One must remember that Arriva is a big multinational company and its first interest is in making as much profit as possible. When in fact I contacted Arriva about the introduction of a route to service Fleur-de-Lys/B’Kara their answer was that the company would see whether this was viable for the company. The interchange system is not really that practical for Malta, in spite of what is being said by modernist apologists. One must remember that interchanges are used in big metropolitan cities which cover an area much much bigger than Malta. For those apologists (like Mr C. Cassar – who seems to suffer from a national inferiority complex seeing all Maltese things as bad or inferior) who maintain that for the service to improve we need to bring over drivers from other EU countries may I point out that having used public transport abroad, even in these countries one meets drivers who are unhelpful and rude.

Mr Mike Farrugia

Jun 28th 2012, 21:25

The bus stop names are still misleading as they were on day one. One expects the names to correspond to streets and landmarks nearby not miles away.

Anthony Arpa

Jun 28th 2012, 21:03

Mindu bdiet tahdem il kumpanija Arriva x'sar ghal l-ahjar u x'ghad hemm bzonn li jitjieb ....
X'sar tajjeb ......
Hlisna min dhahen u issa bilfors kellhna ilkoll nammettu li kienet hrafa dik li il kumpanija qadima kienet twahhal fid dhahen li kienu jhallu warajhom ix xarabanks taghom qabel kien ghax il gvern kien qed jixtri fuel ta livel baxx ...
Mindu bdiet Arriva zdiedu bil mijiet impjegati fuq dan is serviz tat transport .... zdiedu ukoll sew ix xufiera nisa fejn qabel kien hawn 4 xufiera nisa todhom fuq subajk ... Il gvern zgur li kabbar it thul min hlas tat taxxi u kutribuzjoniet mil haddiema kollha ta l Arriva li kull haddiem issa qed jahdem legalment ...
Ghana issa servizz mil u ghal Airport.
Ma ghadniex li kwazi li ghall kullumkien ikolna nithlu il Belt u naqbdu karozza ohra min hemm biex inkomplu lejn id destinazjoni taghna ...
Ghall Mater dei maghdniex xarabank wahda kull sija imma ghana xarabanks ghadejjien kontinwament li hafna minhom jithu Mater Dei ... Hemm hafna xarabank li jitilaw ghac Chirkeww.
Hemm hafna iktar titjieb imma ha naghlaq billi najd li fuq kollox issa spicca li thallas li wieghed kien ihallas fuq kull xarabank li wieghed jitla u b'1.50 wieghed jista jahrat Malta iddur... U 6.50 euros wieghed jaghmel 7 granet jivjagga bla limitu...... u dawk bil karta anzajn ... b'2.30 euros ta Ghima jew 50c gurnata shieha ...
X;Baqa x'jirranga .... iva ghad hemm xi ftit rotot li jridu jirrangaw ghax ghadhom batuti.
Ix xarabank nara li hemm bzonn jinzammu iktar indaf specialment il hgieg li qed jitlahalhu bl ilma u ma jitmeshux. Certi xufieri mumiex id dixiplinati u jekk l-Arriva mhux se tiehu passi mhux se ndumu li ma jkollniex hafna xufira bl istess manjieri tax xi xufiera li kellha qabel .... hemm bzonn sew li ix xufiera jkunu mhalsa xieraq halli dawn zgur jofrulna servizz ahjar ... jissema kemm dawn jithalsu is sija u jien stess najd li kieku jien zgur ma nahdimx jekk ma nihallas xieraq ... imma hawn ukoll ta nixtieq li xi hadd jaghdilna kemm kien jithallas is sija xufier mil kumpanija li kelhna dejjem dawk il xufiera li kienu jahdmu legalment .
Niextieq ukoll li xi mil l-Awtoritajiet jaghdilna kemm zdied il bejh tad diesel u kemm qed iddahhal izjed il gvern mid diesel ... Meta wieghed jaghmel il homework tajjeb jara li sar hafna progress pero baqa hafna x'jista jirranga ...

Tony Zammit

Jun 28th 2012, 20:48

I feel we should upgraded the old system, for such one thing the routes should not have been changed, used to pay cheaper ticket, less accidents. Used to leave Valletta on time or they get fined. I used to wait less time on the stage, now lately I even see white buses, I thought arrive is that green/blue color? Plus the heat on these aquariums is something else.

A pace

Jun 28th 2012, 20:47

I am still hoping to see Arriva follow a real schedule; also to have some air in the buses - when the ac is not working it is impossible - and ridiculous - to expect people to survive more than a few stops in Maltese heat. I also dare to hope for windows which let us see outside once the sun sets. I find that a number of drivers drive quite recklessly; most are well mannered but a number - not to be ignored - are far from courteous. I also wish their conditions of work and the available places of rest between shifts are of a decent standard. It is shameful to see drivers sitting out in the blazing sun now that the rain and the cold are over. I would like to say thank you to all those who offer their service courteously and respectfully, and hope to see more improvement.

Tonio Anastasi

Jun 28th 2012, 20:31

Last week I waited for the bus to Mgarr near the bus stop next to Ta Natu direction Mgarr. The 38 arrived, and when I asked if this went to Mgarr I was told that it did not. I checked the time table which stated that it did in fact go through Mgarr. This was confirmed by customer care who inofrmed that Yes the 38 does go through Mgarr.
Yesterday, the 27 July. I boarded the last bus to Gnejna from Cirkewwa. I am not sure if it was the 101 or the 102, but the bus license number was BUS 045.
The driver picked up some tourists from Ghadira misinforming them that this bus went through Mellieha. They in fact got off near the cemetery to walk to their hotel.
The bus did not do its normal route through St.Maria Estate, neither did it go through Zebbieh, where I and another passenger needed to get off. The driver was also smoking. When i approached him to advise him that he took the wrong route and that I need to get off at Zebbieh he said that he did not know that I wanted to go there. When I pointed out that there may be people waiting on the stops he said that he doubted that there would be..
he eventually drove the wrong way to my and the other person's stop, to then make a three point turn to get back towards Gnejna.
I did report this to Arriva customer care, but from what the lady told me all she got was that the driver was smoking.
While there have been many improvements with the service there are still too many cowboys being employed by Arriva.

Ms T Scicluna

Jun 28th 2012, 20:20

we could have a route from each persons home every 10 mins and people would still complain! i forgot the old service was so perfect for all!
Arriva has its problems but so did old buses. but then show me any company which is perfect! if you are asking for faults we will always find them.
i for one have had problems but that is part of life...at least i have a cool and pretty good reliable service. i often prefer the bus to the car its cheaper than driving and parking esp for valletta and in the mornings. with the crazy driving definately more relaxing. drivers are often courteous, but I always say thank you which I hear very few saying! They are smart and to be honest, there will always be moaners. Keep a positive approach.

cesco di luigi

Jun 28th 2012, 20:14

AT Valletta bus terminus NOBODY knows anything despite all the pompous marketing. The prize goes to the driver of a 21 bus some days ago who when asked (by me) of what scheduled time was his trip, he replied " we don't know these things sir".Yes of course at least he said "sir", but it still doesn't help to get you to your destination on time!! I wonder has Minister Gatt and any of his TM acolytes EVER travelled on public transport abroad?? They ought to do so somewhere like Germany or Sweden and get a lesson in what real customer service is all about. They will find it has little to do with rash and bombastic delcarations!!!

DR EMMANUEL BEZZINA,MA,MAG.JUR.[EU Law],LL.D.,

Jun 28th 2012, 20:05

BENDY BUSES MUST IMMEDIATELTY GO
DOWNSIZE THE REST OF THE FLEET IN SIZE WITH MORE FREQUENT TRIPS
BETTER WAGES TO YOUR EMPLOYEES
NIGHT SERVICE TO BE INTRODUCED
MORE COURTESY TO PASSENGERS
CLASSICAL MUSIC TO BE RELAYED ON THE BUS FOR CULTURAL EDUCATION
POLITICAL GOSSIP ON THE BUS TO BE BARRED FOR A SERENE & PEACEFUL JOURNEY

Eddy Privitera

Jun 28th 2012, 20:01

For the many millions Arriva has cost us, and the many millions we still have to pay Arriva for the changes that had to be made to the routes, I am not at all satisfied.

But the fault does not rest solely on Arriva. The government, particularly Austin Gatt and his Transport Malta must take a big share of the blame too. Since they had planned the original routes which created so much anger and frustration on countless thousands of passengers, Maltese and tourists alike !

The busses in general are an improvement on the old busses, but are still not ideal for Malta's roads. And the bendy-busses, without air-conditioning, are a disaster in this weather !

Sheldon Abela

Jun 28th 2012, 19:31

This week, i went to get on arriva. and i bought a 2 hour ticket it was used!!!! it was of 7.00 while the time was 13.30 and the driver couldn't drive at all i almost died! after i was going to stop ( to go home ) he asked me if i can give him the ticket back and gave me 80c !
this is the first problem i had with arriva.
SHAME

victor bonello

Jun 28th 2012, 19:17

I have never met with so many traffic accidents involving public transport since ARRIVA is here..

P. Attard

Jun 28th 2012, 19:14

In my case, being a pensioner and therefore paying only 0.50 for a whole day, I can only talk in favour of the new service. The buses are bigger, tidier and more comfortable, while the general service offered by the drivers is persistently very good. I am sure that the service will continue to improve in the future. I take this opportunity to thank all drivers of Arriva!

Samantha Abela

Jun 28th 2012, 19:03

Even though the Driver's personality/behaviour improved, the service is still lacking.

1) Routes get edited/cancelled and they just put a notice on the website or the newspaper. They also stick some stickers on certain bus stages. Why are Routes cancelled/changed so frequently? Do they expect us to check their website every time we plan to use the bus? I almost lost an exam because no such infomativ sticked was put up on the stage at marsa announcing that route 24 was to be cancelled.

2) Route 92 changed course without telling the people - same thing as above

3) Air conditions are installed yes but are they functioning? My sister almost fainted last week from Zabbar-Paola

4) What about Route 91? It still does not cater for certain stages such as near honey corner shop etc... People still need to go down to the main bus stages.

Anthony Borg

Jun 28th 2012, 18:46

I have just noticed this article and wanted to start off by saying "thank you" to the editor of the timesofmalta.com for giving us this space to air our praises and lamentations.

During this past year, many an article and letters on this subject were published here.

Thank you for giving us this opportunity.

Mr PAUL ALTON

Jun 28th 2012, 18:29

I'm an enthusiastic British tourist and last visited Malta 2 years ago. At that time I fell in love with the country and its relaxing way of life. The Yellow bus services were uniquely Maltese and changing them for a common international style bus with new management structure and timetabled services has completely destroyed the historic attraction of the islands. Were the old bus owners allowed to transfer their unique bus horns to the new blue buses, probably not? What happened to all those families who owned the yellow buses, have they ALL managed to find new employment, probably not? The yellow buses had unique sizes which were used when developing local village routes which passed through tight alleys and corners but the standard blue buses were not able to follow the same routes. BAD IDEA TO REPLACE THE YELLOW BUSSES

Saviour Fenech

Jun 28th 2012, 18:29

This very morning, I saw a minibus (the Red ones) being driven by an ex driver of the old system. He was still behaving the same as before, his shirt wide open, talking loudly, and using the moblie phone while driving. Generally speaking, Arriva drivers are properly dressed, good mannered, speaking softly(although still there are some exceptions) etc. Buses are more on time now and more frequent. Obviously, the system is not perfect yet, but the change is there.

Martin Busuttil

Jun 28th 2012, 18:19

I used arriva for a few weeks last year to go to work. I live in Paola, and work in Naxxar. I had to leave home at 5.40 am, spend about 45 minutes waiting for a bus at Paola, and then when I arrived at Valletta, spend another 25 minutes or so for a bus there, only to arrive at Naxxar after touring 1/3 of Malta at about 8.00 am. So for me arriva was a set back, so I am using my own transport again.

M Borg

Jun 28th 2012, 18:08

I am satisfied. Now that we have route 21, which replaced bus 63 we do not have to walk it up to the centre of Sliema.

Bus 222 which leaves the Sliema ferries and takes one straight to the Gozo ferry will prove very popular this summer.

However although things are better having 20 or 30 people waiting for a bus infront of M&S or Cara's is still a common sight.

Jurgen Rekkers

Jun 28th 2012, 18:03

I used the old bus system almost daily - Monday to Friday - for about 8 years. The drivers were terrible, but at least the price was cheap and the travel time short.

Since Arriva started, the price is 50% higher and the travel time more than doubled for me. Before I spend about 20 minutes from door-to-door, now it's almost an hour. This is unacceptable.

Once in a while I try Arriva again, but no improvement. So now I use my car to drive to work.

cesco di luigi

Jun 28th 2012, 17:49

Despite anything positive the fact remains that the state of the art timing and information system is non-existent, and worst of all...one cannot rely on the timings...this needs to be improved greatly. One thing which now will never be improved and was not taken into consideration by the highly paid consultants is the loss of many parking spaces in Sliema and probably elsewhere....Also completely disagree that these people also have a monopoly on parking areas such as park and ride. This is definitely uncompetitive (privders of public transport and providers of car parking should have been kept separate so as to ensure healthy competition, as it is it is now a monopoly) and am surprised (!!) that it was allowed by TM..

Maurice Cini

Jun 28th 2012, 17:48

The service by Arriva is far much more professional than the old system.However the service regarding frequencies and times of departure from the Valletta Bus Station leaves much to be desired.I am referring especially to bus on route no 3. I would like to suggest the following to improve the service.

At Valletta Bus Station.Next to each bus bay there will be Written Information with" ALL" the times of departure printed. If a bus fails to appear, another bus should be called to provide the service.

Another suggestion re route no 3,that I would like to raise is that regarding the service on Sunday and public holidays. This service was reduced to every hour. Is it possibly that, as it was in the past, this will be every half an hour? This will increase the number of users especially during this hot summer. I hope that Arriva will consider the above mentioned proposals. Thanks Maurice Cini.

James Dewar

Jun 28th 2012, 17:44

Interesting to note the number of correspondents who gratefully acknowledge that there have been "improvements" since the disastrous launch last July. Let's not forget the promises made by Arriva at the launch. Had they been honoured and Arriva had "done what it says on the tin" from the outset customers would not, one year on, be having to express their "gratitude" for improvements which were "promised" from day one!

francis agius

Jun 28th 2012, 17:39

I'm satisfied

T Camilleri

Jun 28th 2012, 17:35

A big step for transport in Malta. Clean air, air-conditioned buses and decent horns and moreover educated drivers, as there is still the odd one out!!! But most of all, try and be RELIABLE, REALLY USEFUL AND RIGHT ON TIME!!

Alfred Cassar

Jun 28th 2012, 17:27

Dear Mr. Crockford,

No fully disagree, most drivers are very bad, i say some again, are just against human mankind, for just being born a woman, some have severe depression, and driving a bus will not help.

On the other hand there are those who seem to have read their lines at home and try to be nice. I cannot forget one, probably close to sixty, he was telling everyone, 'Have a nice day', to everyone leaving the bus, including those, who were sweating profusely, out of breath, and sick to the stomach, alighting prior to their destinations!

Give me a break.

I have travelled the world, and if someone from the TA wants even to learn the basics of the basics, should see how the buses run in Germany, it is shocking, with what precision and timing , everything runs so smooth, and there is no talking to the drivers.

So, since I am not entering in any relation with the driver personally, something I don't need to, and don't want to, I would prefer to have what I contract with Company through purchasing that ticket, ie Safety and Comfort, rather that some pre-rehearsed line.

The rest, that are Gentlemen and Ladies, due to the pressure and ill treatment by Arriva, will either leave or become themselves victims of rage and bad attitude.

Being a driver is not a two minute joyride at the Luna Park.

Enough BS

Nazzareno Cortis

Jun 28th 2012, 17:16

It was a Sunday about a month ago----I and my wife decided for once to use the public transport-----destinationfrom Cospicua to Valetta.went on a "stage"---at about 9.30 am-----almost an hour passed and no Arriva bus arrived----result was---going back to my garage-----and to Valetta by my own means of transport!!!!!

karla frendo

Jun 28th 2012, 17:15

i am a regular commuter and i have nothing but praise for Arriva! clean buses, polite drivers and air-conditioned buses and most of all clean AIR!!!

VINCENT WILLIAMS

Jun 28th 2012, 17:07

As a regular commuter ( I do not own a private vechile) after one year I am still not satisfied with Arriva's service. There have been improvement which only came after so much criticism by the local passengers and tourists.

The Cottonera's service must by improved more. Buses should be more frequent for instance how can Malta Transport encourage people to use the public transport when on Sundays buses leave from and to Cottonera every one hour. When with the old system the service was more frequently.

Also why, for example, the buses travelling through Paola to Valletta don't stop at every Bus Stop to pick up passengers. At the moment the buses numbers 1, 2 and 3 coming from Cottonera to Valletta will only stop to pick up passengers near the Hibs Football Club. But they will not stop to pick up passengers, even when such buses are almost empty, infront of the prison and at the next bus stop. Such buses should pick up passengers more and more when there are no buses on the mentioned above stages and so there will be no confusion of traffic.

It is clear that Malta Transport lack common sense and efficiency.

Also some of the drivers drive so fast that passengers will be in real danger. Many thought that the old bad habits where going to end. But sometimes they surface again.

Maria Vassallo

Jun 28th 2012, 16:51

Yes, but too many accidents. This worries me.
And you still find rough drivers,
while blasphemies and rude words are rampant.
Just visit the Arriva Station on the Floriana Granaries:
one there learns to blaspheme etc.

Besides, thank you for the traditional added routes.

Christian Sciberras

Jun 28th 2012, 16:47

One year later?

I'm quite satisfied. Service still needs some improvement, mind you.

But it's been a completely different thing from the older system.

Dunstan Crockford

Jun 28th 2012, 16:46

The buses are being driven too fast! The suspension is so sensitive and I ,for one,get `sea sick` on a long journey! Most of the drivers I met are wonderful and very co operative...smart and well mannered! On the whole it has been a change for the better.However I still hear complains about some routes!

Brian Darmanin

Jun 28th 2012, 16:45

Here is one idea that might, just might, improve the current public transport system once and for all.

It is quite simple. ALL Arriva employees, and I do mean ALL, from the Chairman down, should, as a condition of their employment, be made to travel to and from work by Public Transport.

They would then be able to really assess the conditions that we, the unwitting public, experience when using their service and it should make it that much easier for them to understand some, if not most, of the complaints.

These employees should also be joined by their colleagues at Transport Malta (TM) who are directly and indirectly involved in overseeing the Arriva operation.

I am quite certain that should this initiative be taken up, Arriva's service will improve drastically, if not overnight, rather rapidly.

I repeat, ALL ARRIVA EMPLOYEES, TOGETHER WITH THEIR COLLEAGUES FROM TM, INCLUDING THE CHAIRMEN OF BOTH ORGANIZATIONS SHOULD HAVE THIS AS A CONDITION OF THEIR EMPLOYMENT.

K Mifsud

Jun 28th 2012, 16:45

There were some improvements especially the extended times of the routes. But to get to some localities i'ts proving to be unpredictable becomes most of the times they are delayed..And routes 202 and 203 are taking way too long with the new modification to the route.

Patrick Sultana

Jun 28th 2012, 16:44

Used quite some times. Nothing much to complain. Also as a citizen who uses my personal car more often than the bus, I must say that at least we have more energy friendly buses without all that pollution which we used to have driving up main roads behind a bus!

My children use it as well - they're quite content with the service.

Anthony J. Camilleri

Jun 28th 2012, 16:44

One has to concede that there has been a marked improvement in the public transport. However, much more needs to be done. The true success for Arriva would be a reality when the majority of those who usually use private transport would start using "tal-Linja". we're very far off yet.

Gillian Snook

Jun 28th 2012, 16:39

I'm sure Arriva wouldn't have promised so much in such a short time with hindsight.

joe cutajar

Jun 28th 2012, 16:36

TRID TKUN BLA SENS BIEX TGHID LI MAGHANIX AHJAR U MHUX FTIT JIEN NISTA NGHID GHAX NUZGHOM KULL JUM U DAN GRAZZI LIL GVERN LI KELLU IL GAZZ INHAEHHI DAK IL HMIEG LI KELLNA U IL PASTAZATTI LI KONNA NARAW KULLJUM GHAD FADAL XIRANGA MELA LE IMMA GRAZZI HAFNA LI QEDIEN BLA ARIVVA

M. Bezzina

Jun 28th 2012, 16:31

Ma nistax immaqdar ghax jien ma nuzahiex iktar u iktar meta naf li is servizz beda flopp....

Franz Zammit Haber

Jun 28th 2012, 16:26

In one year a lot more could have been done. We have been dumped with bendy buses which nobody wants, we still have buses without A/c, the route indicators are not working, some route still need revision, and other things which Austin Gatt bragged about on the eve of their introduction.

Liam Caruana

Jun 28th 2012, 16:25

Jien sibtu komdu hafna s-servizz tal-Arriva, veru ghal-bidu kien naqra baghtut, izda din kull riforma ddum naqra biex tigi fuq saqajha, izda min maqdar dak iz-zmien nahseb hadu risposta. Ir-rottot gew trangati kif ridhom il-poplu, saru hafna tibdiliet u nahseb dan it-tibdil in-nies japprezzawh. Li nixtieq huma tliet affarijiet:
Is-Sistema tal-IT tibda tithaddem, minghajr problemi ghax ghadni nirkeb l-Arriva u qas ikun hemm id-displays mixghulin.
It-tindif kontinwu tal-karozzi tal-linja, kemm minn barra kif ukoll minn gewwa
Tidhol sistema, li d-drivers m'ghandhomx x'jaqsmu mat-tickets mhux habba serq biss, imma enka habba l-hin li jigi mohli biex joqghod jaqta t-tickets specjalment ikun hemm hafna nies.

Mr B. Fenech

Jun 28th 2012, 16:22

Much better than the old service. whoever says otherwise is just picking on the little and forgetting what a horrible experience it was to get a lift on the old death traps.

Mr G Psaila

Jun 28th 2012, 16:21

I recently called customer care and the man who responded was so rude....I had to ask him "what on earth are you doing at customer care?"

Charmaine Marmara'

Jun 28th 2012, 16:21

one year on and buses are looking dirty old and squeeky .....still not amused with these long routes , took us well over an hour from gzira to airport ..pointless

Marie Roberts

Jun 28th 2012, 16:21

Since the old route to Valletta from Birzebbuga was re-installed the service has improved immensely. Also the most important fact that the sick and elderly can now disembark at Mater Die's front door is a bonus.

The service itself is so much better than it used to be and travelling is now done in comfort.

We know about the breakdown of the air conditioning, but despite this we are very happy with the service that Arriva is giving us.

We are also pleased with the manner in which we are treated by the drivers and the supervisors at Valletta Terminus. We travel smoke free and with polite drivers.

For those who are over 60, the fact that one can travel across the entire country for just 50c is truly magnificent. In fact the 1.50 we youngers have to pay is really quite reasonable when taking into consideration that the ticket is valid all day.

Arriva has created for us a civilised method of commuting.

So one year one, and despite all the earlier problems we are happy to travel with Arriva.

Stefan Enge

Jun 28th 2012, 16:18

The new buses speed like hell in front of the primary school and verdala in Pembroke. Just a question of time that a serious accident will happen. At least the old buses could not speed that much!

Jon Fenech

Jun 28th 2012, 16:17

The change was needed but one think that irks me the most is the arrogance of certain drivers especially the ones of the stretched buses.
Is there a specific reason why they look away when at an intersection as if to say my car is bigger than yours so I go first?
Or why do they drive in the middle of the road from Msida all the way to Floriana and you have to wait that they stop at a bus stop to be able to overtake? No, it's not true that they are afraid of hitting tree branches, I have seen hundreds of trucks passing close to the pavement before.
And bus bays, do they even bother using them correctly? I have seen the bus that stops near Castille park half way in the road a million times blocking the flow of traffic going round the round about there because the driver decided to park 1 meter or more further out from the side walk!
The previous drivers might have had "King of the Road" stickers on their buses true, but these surely have the attitude of such!!

Louis Craus

Jun 28th 2012, 16:10

Nirreferi ghal kongestjoni ta' traffiku fil- Marsa wara l-erbgha ta' filghxija, specjalment fix-xitwa, minn fejn is-Salib tal Marsa, via Rahal il- Gdid. Din it-triq hemm 4 lanes. Hafna jmorru fil- lane ta' barra, u x' hin jaslu fejn Bezzina tal- cranes, jibdew jidhlu bil-mod fil- lanes ta' gewwa,bil -konsegwenza li jissikkaw lil dawk tal- lanes ta' gewwa u jikkawzaw slow Traffic, specjalment lil buses tal- Arriva, li jkunu fil- lanes ta' gewwa. Din xena ta kulljum. Ikun hemm kaos shih.
Tista l-Kumpanija tal- Arriva titlob lil Transport Malta, biex bhall ma hemm " Bus Lane " in-naha l-ohra.....via Valletta, jsir ukoll " bus lane " fil- via ta' Rahal il- Gdid, biex il- buses ikunu jistghu jibqghu ghaddejjin bla tfixkil ?

T.F. Busuttil

Jun 28th 2012, 16:10

Most of the old buses had some spray and they are back on service. The only thing that changed was the name of the price. We were promised AC buses. this is not being done. I know some new buses that their AC was faulty.

Tarcisio Mifsud

Jun 28th 2012, 16:07

I am not a frequent user of Arriva, but when I need to go to Valletta I use public transport. Regret to write that from Zebbug to Valletta it normally takes about 45 minutes, in the past with old route buses, although they were not airconditioned it used to take not more than 20 minutes and they were always on time.

Nowadays they are rarely on time. Last Monday 25th July the trip from Siggiewi to Valletta leaving at 08.10 hours was not operated and I almost lost the 09.30appointment in Court, due to this fact. I had to run all the way in Republic Street Valletta to ensure I am in time for this Court Case. Normally the trip back from Valletta either to Zebbug (61) or Siggiewi (62) is not that bad, and would require only 30 minutes unless there is a driver change at the Park and Drive at Marsa. I still think that overall the new public transport system is a regress over the old bus system and one has to consider the huge outlay of public funds being made to Arriva annually to subsidise the new system. The only good thing is that some 1000 new employees were enlisted.

Mr ALBERT LEONE GANADO

Jun 28th 2012, 15:58

After a disastrous start last July there was in the face of general public indignation a marked improvement in the ARRIVA service up to about January but since then I have noted a gradual but marked deterioration of service in a number of areas.
(i) Some drivers are acquiring old habits such as driving at speed , passing bus stops without slowing down and stopping and thus not giving time for waiting passengers to flag down the bus.
(ii) Buses are not senior citizen friendly often throwing senior citizens violently forward when braking. Also I have still to see a bus lowering its chassis or platform for senior citizens to alight comfortably.
(iii) Electronic boards on buses work very erratically and often what you see on them is only undecipherable characters.
(iv) Bus arrival electronic boards at bus stops hardly ever function and when they do often give incorrect arrival times.
(v) Our roller coaster roads have succeeded in reducing some of the buses to rattling wrecks and with their suspension a real treat for our spine and backside.
(v) Punctuality in schedule is a non-starter and often there are missed trips with no explanation or apology to the passengers waiting long at bus stops.
(vi) There is no proper climate control on many buses with some of them becoming unbearably hot. Air conditioners are switched at whim of driver or perhaps officials have told them to be economical in their use in order to save fuel
(vii) The only good thing about the ARRIVA service is the Gozo routes which if taken as a reference standard would give us a decent bus service with hardly any reason to complaint.
(viii) Overall driver behaviour is a marked improvement on what we used to bear in the old days although the same cannot be said of many of the route dispatchers who should be more informed and communicative with passengers by being in constant contact with the control room.
I have been on ARRIVA bus services all over Europe. The Maltese operation must rank as the service with the worst rating.

Mr mario aquilina

Jun 28th 2012, 15:57

I think that if Arriva were left to deal with the whole package on their own, (meaning without Transport Malta putting their finger in the pie, dictating) I bet that Arriva would have done a much better job on their own.

The very short training that was given did not produce much. Stand on a street corner, or spend a day on the buses and count the drivers that are either on their mobile phone or talking with the front passenger/girlfriend while driving, or that are arrogant and thick as two short planks.

We are not capable of doing something right on the first go, on our own. Everything takes years. Amateurs at most things. Just look around you. Shabby.

Louis Craus

Jun 28th 2012, 15:56

Why should the arriva bus takes one and a half hour from Valletta to Cirkewwa.?
Why arriva bus route 83, from Santa Lucia, does not pass through Tarxien, as it used to before Arriva started to operate in Malta?
Why routes 210, 206 and 204, still operate to Mater Dei Hospital, after 08.00pm, where most of them are totally empty of passengers. Who goes to Mater Dei Hospital after that time ?

Mario Muscat

Jun 28th 2012, 15:55

Drivers use their mobile phones all the time while driving. They manouver the buses with one hand while the other is dangling out of the window. One driver was also somoking while driving. A lot of accidents happen because of the drivers' behaviour. I expected some form of discipline from Arrriva.

Aprat from the service that is not reliable, they come and go when they please. From Gharghur we have to walk all the way to Naxxar to catch a bus as they either skip the village completely or are never on time. There were times when I waited for almost an hour for a bus and when it eventually came, the driver just sped up the road and did not stop leaving me stranded. I gave up on reporting as no one listens anyway. After reporting this driver he was doing the same route the following day. So much for Arriva!!!!

Maryanne Camilleri

Jun 28th 2012, 15:51

I frequently require to catch the 31 bus at the B'kara bypass near the lotto booth after 5.30pm.The bus either does not appear or if it happens to come it is fullup. It often takes me over an hour to get to Mosta. I have directly complained to Arriva many times about this situation but to no avail.

Chris Vink

Jun 28th 2012, 15:51

The Arriva service is still improving
But it is so easy to blame them from all the problems they experience
The major issue is that the other road users have no respect for those driver who are doing there best to put in a good service
Whow many times they can not park properly in the bus stops because other cars are blocking the road
Whow many times cars are blocking the roads doubled parked because the drivers do not want to walk a lite bit to do shopping?
It is al to do with respect for the other road users
And than the biggest problem is Transport Malta , road works that are not followed up properly
Diversions that have no sense
Wardens who are not doing there jobs
This is lack off planing and experience in that field

ARRIVA is doing is best to maintain a good service
Also people have to adjust to the new system
Busses do not stop anymore were the costumer wants,
so do not blame only Arriva

Jay Oatmon

Jun 28th 2012, 15:49

A vast improvement over the ramshackle dirty old buses with arrogant drivers.

Maryanne Camilleri

Jun 28th 2012, 15:44

This morning it took me an hour of travelling in a non-airconditioned bus from Valletta to Mosta with Bus 31, since Route 40's are not very frequent. What happenened to the 10 minute departure intervals? By the way I have also noticed that many of the bus drivers do not stop at paedestrian crossings.

Frank Abela

Jun 28th 2012, 15:41

When compared to the initial months of Arriva in Malta, the service has improved, and taking into account the numerous changes to the original routes, even the routes are much better than those designed by office sitting experts and for which the maltese people have paid through their noses.

As regards Arriva, I think that it is still far from credible because way back in November it had guaranteed that all the busses introduced in November would be carrying the company livery, having working air conditioners and have their engines changed to Euro IV / V compliance by latest May 2012. We are now at the end of June 2012 and we can still see a lot of WHITE busses running on engines which are not Euro IV and do not have ACs installed. Yesterday Arriva now promised that all ACs on busses will be operational in 14 to 18 days time. Does this also mean that ACs will be installed on ALL BUSSES? What is the new time frame for the changing of the livery and engines?

Franco Attard Trevisan

Jun 28th 2012, 15:39

I don't use the buses but i feel since arriva started operating traffic congestion has increased especially due to the bendy buses and also because many buses stop in the middle of the road without actually entering the bus bay... Another problem that I've noticed is that congestion worsens when more than one bus reach the same bus stop at the same time... The bendy buses in some areas literally block the road even if they do try to get in the bus bay because they are longer than the bay itself.....

I also noticed that I encounter many more Arriva buses halted in our streets due to mechanical faults than the old 50year old buses which I think is shameful to say the least... Yesterday at around 8pm i saw two buses on the same roads 5 minutes drive apart from eachother which had mechanical issues.

.... Another thing is according to an article in the paper this week it was reported that some Arriva buses were involved on circa 1300 accidents in less than a year... I think that is high!

On a positive note the drivers look much smarter and polite which is a big positive change...

Mr Alan Zahra

Jun 28th 2012, 15:36

Zurrieq service is very reliable. Direct destinations made a big difference for me. Courteous and professional service really appreciated.

Edward Clemmer

Jun 28th 2012, 15:36

The daily commute between Msida and Valletta is a pleasure: sufficient buses to catch & thank God for the air conditioning. I have definitely left the car at home, and buy my weekly 2.30 Euro Senior citizen pass. Great convenience, even though I walk the length of Valletta to get to my destination and back to the terminus: at least, I get some guaranteed exercise twice a day, and by choice of my stops and bus routes, I manage downhill walks going to the bus stop and returning home from Valletta to Msida. Now that it is summer, I am most relieved that the old buses with "windows" for air conditioning are gone forever. Thank you, Austin Gatt, for a transport system that allows transfers without needing to purchases another ticket.

joseph azzopardi

Jun 28th 2012, 15:35

Can Arriva enlighten us when the waiting time on bus stops will be done? What happened?

Marco Farrugia

Jun 28th 2012, 15:32

My opinion from my regular Arriva experiences:
- Service more unreliable than old system
- Many new drivers are very amateur in their driving and reckless (possibly because now they are not the owners)
- Buses are generally better, but not very clean and some are quite noisy
- In my area, routes are very similar to old service, with less frequency and rarely on time.
- More waiting times. 3 or 4 times waiting over an hour and half for bus 72. Most of the times, wait is much more than 30minutes.
- Trucks are frequently stuck at Valletta terminus or near car park, when arriving
- in one year, i was on a bus that breaks down twice the total number of times than i was with the old system (used old system for over 15yrs)

C Cassar

Jun 28th 2012, 15:24

Yes, a huge improvement but it can't really be compared to the rubbsih that was there before July 1st 2011.

Just for the fact that the pollution has disapppeared it's been well worth the change. The bonus on top of that are more modern buses (yes, aircon works on most of them and never existing at all on the old wrecks), the network is much more comprehensive, there are dedicated airport buses from various locationswhich never existed befoire, there are night buses which never existed before.

The only downside is the retention of Maltses drivers who can't handle the sophisticated driving skills required for the modern vehicles. I'd like to see more experoienced foreign EU drivers brought to Malta to show the locals how to drive the vehicles and whata real work ethic and customer service actually is.

Joe Camilleri

Jun 28th 2012, 15:20

There was a lot of improvement since the start a year ago. Yet, the most important factor in public transport is still missing. This is reliability. You can never guess when a bus would be coming along. The route I use most is 54 from Attard to Valletta and back. A bus is scheduled on the hour and half hour from both ends. Early busses are often punctual or before scheduled time but during the day a 60/90 minute waiting on a bus stop is not unusual.

E. Azzopardi

Jun 28th 2012, 15:17

I still have the newspaper cuttings, before ARRIVA arrived. I had defended ARRIVA tooth and nail the first nine months, because in this country, to change something, needs more time than most of the whole world. But now, one year later, when the honeymoon period is three time over , I can honestly say, that we are far away from all those promises.
I had said before they arrived, that the buses will NEVER keep their time. NEVER. But, on the other hand, you cannot be 15, 20, 30, 35 and 40 minutes late either. Bus no 225 comes to mind. On the website it says that it leaves the Ferries ten past and forty past the hour. NO WAY ARRIVA! Why is that?
I boarded four buses without A/C and again why is that?
Why do some drivers not drive into the bay provided for them?
Why is it , that now all of a sudden, there are drivers who do not use their indicators? At first it was very good.
Why is it that certain drivers stop to talk to each other on the road?
Why is it, that we are still getting certain tickets on the bus? NO TICKETS SOLD BY DRIVERS PLEASE?
In tourist areas, it is taking ages for the bus to move. How the heck you want to be on time????
By the way, the buses have already started to rattle quite heavily.
For Malta's sake, I pray for ARRIVA to be a success, but the way we are going, I certainly believe, that in two three years time we shall be back to square one and this after twenty years of planning !!!!
PROMISES ARE THERE TO BE KEPT. IF YOU CAN'T KEEP THEM, DON'T MAKE THEM.

Albert Farrugia

Jun 28th 2012, 15:11

1. The service and the network gets you to A to B in reasonably good time. Naturally, noone can expect to arrive at a destination using buses as fast as when one uses the car. But I think travelling time is reasonable.
2. The routes, most of them, make sense. Many of those who complain have no idea what a bus service in a modern European city looks like. Some routes HAVE to be long because they need to cover as wide an area as possible.
3. Unfortunately, however, the interchange system all but failed. Using interchanges means that a commuter can decide how to use the different routes to find the one most convenient to him. However, since buses do not keep to any timetable, this system failed completely. Even if people learn how to use interchanges (a concept new to Malta), Arriva still does not do its part to get the connecting bus on time.
4. Passengers can only use the system and the interchanges on routes if they are properly informed how to use them. This cannot happen if the electronic information system is not working, or, even worse, if it shows false information. There has been some improvement, but mostly the electronic information system is of little help.
5. The website leaves much to be desired. Commuters should be given the possibility to enter a voyage from bus stop to bus stop, not from town to town. Especially since now all bus stops are named and thus have an identity. All public transport information website in Europe, including of those countries we tend to look down upon (like E. Europe), have such a system.
6. The buses themselves are problematic. Not because of their size. A skilled driver will have no problem gettin the bendy buses to their destination. But the company has compromised on quality. Buses used in European cities are usually Mercedes or Scania. I dont know about King Long, which buses already were present in Malta. And the second hand bendies brought over from London, those used on the "X" routes are becoming the new boneshakers. The rattling sounds inside them can be deafening sometimes.

Mary Spiteri

Jun 28th 2012, 15:07

the routes revision last May made more sense and now we are more comfortable. The service is satisfactory

Ian Vassallo

Jun 28th 2012, 15:06

I dont think one should lament when comparing to the old service, ok some things moight need more improvement but how can people say the whole service is a disaster....Have you forgotten that we didnt have any AC on the old ones? What about the pollution and the change for better drivers and more educated?? I think comfortability has increases, less pollution is being done and the service got far better than before.

Laurence Muscat

Jun 28th 2012, 15:03

There is always room for improvement, both from Arriva, and from the Maltese in general that have to accept the fact that we are using a New System, not just New Buses, but also a New Mentality of Transportation.

Arriva customers often complain about buses arriving late and not on time, true, however no one talks about the Arrogant people that park their cars either in bus stops, or in the middle of the street with many excuses, being a poor delivery man that has to squash so many deliveries in a day, with no appropriate parking, so he is forced to leave his van / truck in the middle of the street, or others with the excuse of " u minuta biss kemm nioxtri pakkett sigaretti" or " u ajma kemm nixtri il hobz"...

It takes two to tango, so for the system to work smoothly, there needs to be also our cooperation.

L. Muscat

Tony Borg

Jun 28th 2012, 14:59

When having to take two different buses to arrive at your destination it is taking us longer to arrive.
The Bendy buses should be used only on long legs only..........leaving out Sliema and Gzira.
Drivers should be trained to handle buses better......so as to reduce accidents most of which were avoidable.
Certain villages need a better frequency of buses too.
Electronics should be up and running by now. 1 year later and still half backed!! WE still see buses with a paper display........Why??

Where are those 9 million Euros, that the Maltese Government is paying Arriva, going??

Mr Louis Bartoli

Jun 28th 2012, 14:58

Iklin residents have never had it so good. Bus 31 which passes through Iklin is very reliable, not forgetting that several other buses, which can also serve Iklin residents, pass through Naxxar Road. The complaint that buses are wide does not hold water as they are modelled to carry wheelchairs, which the old buses never could. It is a pleasure to see wheelchair bound persons commuting on their own using buses.

Denise Vella

Jun 28th 2012, 14:57

Some drivers are manic. And are they supposed to overtake each other at bus stops? I saw a bendi overtaking another bus at Msida at the stop opposite the Police Station in Msida this morning. And they race down Tower Road in Sliema like crazy, really scary at the bends like near Dingli Street. Drivers seem to be under a lot of pressure to make the route on time, but safety is paramount.

Michael Camileri

Jun 28th 2012, 14:57

Lacking management communication.... Drivers sometimes dont know what is happeneing..when they clearly should

Jeremy Magri

Jun 28th 2012, 14:55

jien nahseb li tajjeb sejrin. Hemm bzonn li jkun hemm aktar dixxiplina fuq ix-xufiera imma s-servizz huwa hafna ahjar milli kien. Jien nuza t-trasport pubbliku 4 darbiet fil-gimgha minn tas-Sliema.

Mr Mario Gauci

Jun 28th 2012, 14:54

Bus stops are simply too small for the buses that are being used, further more the bus stop sign should be moved to the begining of the bus stop and not in the middle like at present as when the bus pulls into the stop the back half of it is sticking out causing traffic jams not to mention if there is another bus behind it.

PAUL BUSUTTIL

Jun 28th 2012, 14:54

There is only one problem with Arriva and that is the buses, they are not the right size for the roads on our Island and the quicker they are changed the happier every one will be and the conjestion on our roads will STOP.

Lawrence Fenech

Jun 28th 2012, 14:52

One year on, ask the people who sold us second hand Arriva buses and if they were happy to get rid of them at a good price.

A Anderson

Jun 28th 2012, 14:51

I like the AC - frequency of services OK too. But, re: fares... I've never been anywhere in Europe (at least) where a non-local is charged differently from a local. This is pure discrimination. Must admit, never felt more ashamed to be Maltese when my husband and I were charged different prices!!!

Jowey Brownie

Jun 28th 2012, 14:50

I can only say there was a positive quantum leap in all aspects of the service, but most notably is that the particulate emissions from the buses have improved a lot and now one can walk past a bus without getting suffocated on the spot .
So did the Arriva’s attitude to continuously improves the service – just call their customer service and one can see for himself - this was unthinkable with the previous service -rudeness was the order of the day with few exceptions .
Unfortunately the website needs to be updated more frequently and perhaps be more user-friendly – also some routes may be redesigned to shorten trip time , otherwise thumbs up.

J Cachia

Jun 28th 2012, 14:49

Not satisfied.

1. Bus journies have become longer.
2. Do not stick to the timetable. You cannot plan ahead.
3. No airconditioning on routes 12 and 13
4. Buses in the evening are erratic in coming.
5. Route 31 is far far far too long when there is no need to.

B. Theuma

Jun 28th 2012, 14:49

As regards to the routes, I think they were far more better as they were. Also, I think these buses are too big for our narrow roads, especially the bendy buses. This can be corroborated by the number of accidents that these buses were involved in throughout this year.

On the plus side, I think that pollution from buses has decreased, since the engines of these buses pollute less. Air conditions are also a very good asset to the service.

Franky Jones

Jun 28th 2012, 14:47

I don't use the service because I like the comfort of having my own car, but as a pedestrian I can say that some drivers are very careless, I was very close to be badly injured once (if not killed).

Fran Abela

Jun 28th 2012, 14:45

Overall I would say the service is good. Not that there is no room for improvement. However what I like about the new buses is that at least they are decent buses, with air-conditioning (except for the odd occasion when the ac does not work), drivers are in the main polite and helpful and wear a uniform. Most important of all, to me, is that when I board a bus, I do not meet tourists who, in the past, used to laugh at us at the ramschackle buses, drivers without uniform and the arrongant attitude of some drivers. I really could not stand being laughed at by the tourists who looked down on us as if we were some third world country. I never had to wait more than 15 minutes to catch a bus both in St. Julians/Valletta/St. Julians, or travelling in the north and south, and when there were delays on the road, these were mostly due to the excessive number of private cars on the roads, and delivery vans stopping in the middle of the road. A problem that has to be sorted out pronto is the driver handing out tickets. THIS SHOULD BE DONE AWAY WITH IMMEDIATELY because it is one of the main causes for the delays. Again, I say more needs to be done but one has to admit it is rather difficult to please everyone.

James Wightman

Jun 28th 2012, 14:41

The bicycle advocacy group asked 3 times to meet Arriva, the first time over a year ago. Mainly about road safety issues. Still waiting.

Paul Azzopardi

Jun 28th 2012, 14:41

To many things to mention....The idea of having ''NEW'' Buses would've been a good idea BUT they are far off from new, unless new means they croak after a few months , stopping or breaking down in traffic causing mega chaos. Again these ''new'' buses seem that they where not designed for Maltese roads hence we have the pleasure of recording well over 1000 accidents in one year !!! All together now! AWESOME!!

Third..the fact that some of these windowless ''crates'' have no aircondition in them is a health hazzard automatically approved by the Health department simply because they don't object to it. Needless to say its like have your own microwave on wheeels :) ...Pure and simply the logistic behind this VERY EXPENSIVE venture are Hopeless and who ever came up with the logistic concept and approval should be placed infront of a firing squad for crimes against common sense.

I won't go into who are the respectfull corporate boys as we could be here all day but for those that know and have the sense to read between the lines, care was not dedicated as much as it was to contribution and transaction to the suffering of our Maltese kitty box. Someone's been having a laugh.

IF you put the old bus drivers in the ''new'' buses, what do you get? Rude in a different package. Whats the point in educating a few new employees when you put them next to rotten apples?

It should also be the same price for all.

These KING LONG BUSES should be re thought and be made to be KING SHORT AND KING NARROW-ER.

And I'm curious why a perfectly good idea had to go so wrong when I'm sure there are brighter people that can figure this bus and bus route problem.

Lots of things just don't make sense.

Y Sammut

Jun 28th 2012, 14:39

No, I am not satisfied and I am not one of the usual gemgem maltese!!!

I finish work at 5 and at 5.05, usually I'm on the bus stop waiting to take a ride to Ghaxaq!
We have two routes which goes from Ghaxaq Bypass, which are X5 and X7. X7 is supposed to leave the Valletta bus terminus at 5.15. Most of the time (2/3) at 6 I'm still waiting in this freaking sun (because at the time the sun faces the bus stop, so the bus stop is useless)! At 6, X5 arrives (when it does arrive!) and it takes minimum 45 mins to get to Ghaxaq! This route (even X7) goes to Marsa park and ride, Luqa, Airport bus terminus (and usually stops for 10 min there), then all the way up to Gudja and Gudja centre, back to the same airport road again and off to Ghaxaq!!!!!

Something has to be done! And QUICK please!! All Ghaxaq commuters are tired of complaining every single day. We do not want the old bus route, we NEED it!!!! It's getting hotter by the hour, so please Arriva, do something!

Thanks

Adrian Said

Jun 28th 2012, 14:38

Regarding schedule and timings, I cannot comment, because I don't use Arriva that often.But I'm a bit disappointed with some drivers. Unfortunately, I'm still seeing buses stopping in the middle of the road instead of stopping in the bus stop space, causing long queues of traffic, especially in one lane roads (i.e. almost all maltese roads). Another thing is that some of them, do not use indicators especially when they move out of their bus stop, causing you to stop abruptly with the possibility of another driver crashing into you from behind. I would like that the Arriva officials take note of this.!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jo Camm

Jun 28th 2012, 14:38

I used Arriva since day-one and found it much better than the previous public transport we had.

James Scerri

Jun 28th 2012, 14:36

Servizz tajjeb hafna. Arja ahjar...Drivers tajjeb ukoll. Overall hafna ahjar minn tal-linja!

Uniku affarijiet li jdequni huma li ma tarax karozza wahda, li ma fihiex xi daqqa jew x'mkien mghattan!
Nibqa nahseb li certu minnhom (specjalment il-bendy-buses) ma ghandhomx jghaddu minn toroq dojoq.

Dejjem hemm lok ghal titjib..pero f'sena l-avvanz kien kbir!

Terry Psaila

Jun 28th 2012, 14:32

nispera li ma naqrawx qrid biss hawn (bhas-soltu). Jien nuza tal-linja kuljum minn Haz-Zabbar ghal Belt u dejjem inqdejt tajjeb. Barra minn hekk kemm ilu hawn il-pulizija tat-traffic filghodu qas niehu 35 minuta biex nasal. Grazzi Austin Gatt.

S.M. Cuschieri

Jun 28th 2012, 14:30

I think the old yellow bus drivers ere more capable as drivers than the arriva ones. But then they had the attitude.......

Jessica Smith

Jun 28th 2012, 14:30

Another PN disaster made by Austin Gatt.

joseph mifsud

Jun 28th 2012, 14:28

meta giet l-arriva u bdiet topera minn malta sipost kellu jinqata it traffiku ta filghodu.jien ghalija it traffiku mhux tali naqas mma zdied.dan juri li in nies mhux qed juzaw l-arriva ix xol u qed mmorru bil karrozzi privati tahom.

Jane Zahra

Jun 28th 2012, 14:25

its very good. i check the schedule and bus is always on time. my husband uses park and ride and is also satisfied with the service.

Mary Spiteri

Jun 28th 2012, 14:23

dejjem hemm lok fejn ittejjeb imma nahseb illum kulhadd jinduna bid-differenza ... anke l-arja hija ahjar ghax m'ghadhom idahhnu. Kont tifga wara tal-linja, illum le.

Pawlu Spiteri

Jun 28th 2012, 14:21

id-differenza hija kbira ... biss biss anke titla' fuq tal-linja bl-aircondition hija differenza kbira. Hemm hinijiet li s-servizz ghadu jaqa' lura imma over all nahseb li tajjeb!

Thomas Mifsud

Jun 28th 2012, 14:21

Everything the same like the traditional yellow buses, just for the colour, they're now blue and the fares, they're now higher.

Victor Calleja

Jun 28th 2012, 14:21

Nice buses, fully air conditioned (when working), but the most important is the time table. What happened to the computerized system to tell you the arrival time of the next bus on a bus stop?

It took one of my students to arrive in Paola from St Paul's Bay two hours 30 minutes.

Vanja Galea

Jun 28th 2012, 14:19

I am quite satisfied with the service. Only wish that the IT system starts working properly

Aaron Schembri

Jun 28th 2012, 14:18

I think it was a mistake to bring the bendy buses in Malta they only cause Havoc on our roads, If there was a reason why the Londoners complained to get them out of their capital who ever thought that they would fit our narrow roads was clearly not thinking properly.

Antonia Vella

Jun 28th 2012, 14:16

Nahseb li servizz rega gie vroma kemm ilha li qamet il-kwistjoni ta'l-air cindition nahseb li kinuilhom jafuu li gej is sajf u din il-problema solvewa qabel mux ibati l-poplu

Joseph Cuschieri

Jun 28th 2012, 14:15

Unfortunately after 1 whole year they are still miles behind the service we had before. And please don't mention the air-condition units, well educated drivers et al. All we daily customers need is a service running in time. At least that's what I want, nothing more and nothing less. I use the route 52 on a daily basis and it is never on time especially on my return from Valletta. Sometimes I tend to go up to Rabat Terminus to get 201 or 202 but even these two routes are never on time. This is not what we were promised for sure. Furthermore I have on various occasions tried to get my complaints through Arriva costumer Care but the only answer from them is an acknowledgement.

A Fenech

Jun 28th 2012, 14:14

is this a serious question? If one sees the amount of accidents that happened (Even the ones not mentioned on the news), and also the amount of people that are still stuck on the bus stops waiting in various places around Malta, the question is easily answered.

James Dewar

Jun 28th 2012, 14:13

Does the photograph above show the sun rising over Arriva or setting? I fear that there may still be many who may wish it to be the latter!

Joseph Cauchi Senior

Jun 28th 2012, 14:12

I am utterly satisfied when I compare today’s service with the old vintage service of yesteryear!

Although it is not 101% perfect, but moving in that direction; it’s like comparing day with night!

Keep it up Arriva, I am one of your frequent users as I have found out it is more convenient and economical to use the Arriva service than using my own transport.

Well done and thank you.

JC.

Alfred Cauchi

Jun 28th 2012, 14:12

Definitely NOT for Swieqi. Instead of Bus No.64 which arrived every half-hour to go, via Sliema, to Valletta, we now have Bus No.33 once every hour going via Hamrun to Valletta, and Bus No.233, once an hour, going ONLY to Sliema: I - and many other Swieqi residents - do NOT consider this an improvement!!!

Alfred A.Cauchi

Tyler Cassar

Jun 28th 2012, 14:11

I believe it still requires a large amount of work, starting from the buses themselves, the fact that most of them still have screens not working, broken buttons or the dirty floors, to the bus drivers who some, still prefer to swear and curse than try to reason out the situation. Also, the administration itself needs to be checked, for example, for Isle of MTV, first you had to buy a normal 2 hour ticket (the minimum) to be even able to go to VLT since the drivers were not stocked on the Special tickets for the event, then afterwards, you were forced to pay another 2.50, just to find out that the tickets were not being checked at all and everyone was allowed on.
My final complaint being against the ticket prices, how can you tell me that the old buses were less efficient yet charged cheaper prices? Shouldn't the tickets actually be cheaper, since now that fuel efficiency has increased, fuel shouldn't be that much of a problem? (Not taking into consideration, current rising fuel prices,granted). Final Comment being Arriva has a long way to go before becoming the proper service we were expecting.

Marco Meli

Jun 28th 2012, 14:09

Surely we have to thank arriva for the better service provided after a year but surely not for the guys at TM who came out with silly routes that had to take 1 year for arriva to sort them out!!

Henry S Pace

Jun 28th 2012, 14:08

THE FACT THAT THE COUNTRY HAS DONE AWAY WITH THE OLD SERVICE IS GOOD. hOWEVER, WE DID NOT EXPECT TO SEE SUCH HUGE BUSSES WHICH ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO MOVE ON OUR NARROW ROADS.

THE COMPANY HAS TO BE MUCH MORE ORGANISED ESPECIALLY IN THE CUSTOMER SERVICE.

bUSSES SHOULD BE MORE FREQUENT IN SOME AREAS TO RENDER APPROPRIATE SERVICE TO

THE COMMUTERS.

i HAVE TO SAY THAT WHOEVER DESIGNED THE ROUTES IT APPEARS THAT HE HAD NEVER USED

THE bUSES OF THE PUBLIC TRANSPORT.

Jean Catania

Jun 28th 2012, 14:06

I'm glad I drive. Students working with us arrive around an hour late. hopeless.

Joseph Micallef

Jun 28th 2012, 14:06

My comment in a nutshell:

Total disaster!! We were promised an out of this world service with perfect swiss-timed schedules, perfect service, perfect temperature controlled buses and where "zmien il-buzzulotti spicca" and yet we were given the worst service possible with buses causing over 1000 incidents on our roads, air-conditioning failings, schedule times unkept, severe delays, unreliable service, poor quality and fragile buses, unreliable buses, buses causing long traffic jams, unpractical routes etc.. A total failure!

Y Zammit

Jun 28th 2012, 14:05

Bus service became MUCH slower, and much more expensive too.

John Bonnici

Jun 28th 2012, 14:05

As it regards to routes and punctuality, i think we were better when we were worst!!

A. Sultana

Jun 28th 2012, 14:05

1. There should be no difference between residents and non-residents
2. Marsalforn route to Victoria Gozo should continue operating till at least 1am
3. Euro 2.50 for the Mtv Special route Valletta to Msida was way too much!

Anthony Pace

Jun 28th 2012, 14:03

A crap service! provided by a company that pays it's drivers a little above the minimum wage. Numerous delays throughout the year. Bulky buses that cannot manouvre our streets made of tin and stuck together with glue.

anthony sultana

Jun 28th 2012, 14:02

The drivers are the problem, not the buses, because they don"t treat the bus as their own.

Bernard Pollacco

Jun 28th 2012, 14:01

some of the routes improved for the better :) but i think some things still can be done on certain routes

c. hansel

Jun 28th 2012, 14:01

ooh this will be fun to read once everyone got their complains out.

Mark. Galea

Jun 28th 2012, 14:00

Service is better, but as a daily commuter to Cirkewwa, the removal of route X6 was a big problem for me - it has been changed to a bus that stops on all stages, and worst of all, passes through San Pawl.

Joseph Micallef

Jun 28th 2012, 14:00

Arrive service is worse than ever. Very rarely the times on the time-table shown at each bus stop is kept. Sometimes they even arrive early which is as bad. Sometimes they don't arrive at all.

Alfred M. Falzon

Jun 28th 2012, 13:58

Not surprised at all. Some of the Arriva bus drivers are the new bullies and road hogs as they tear down the roads at excessive speeds with total disregard to other road users. This morning, at 11.05am, Bus 105 beat the red light on Mdina Road junction with De Paule Avenue and missed me coming out of De Paule Avenue (I had the green light) by a fraction of a second.

J Farrugia

Jun 28th 2012, 13:57

Let's see. The lot of the bus drivers have forgot the highway code, they use mobiles, are rude to passengers and haven't a clue how to actually drive the bus.
The routes still have a lot to be desired and most of the buses are falling apart, i have not seen one shiny one without dents or scratches apart from the noise the engines are making,still using stickers for numbers on the front instead of electronic boards and still waiting for route changes.
So after one year i would say they are 35% on the way to getting it right. which is a long way off.

Paul Caruana

Jun 28th 2012, 13:56

Overall, a big step forward.

However, please do not forget that the new buses have sealed windows that cannot be opened. Therefore, during the hot summer months, no such Arriva bus should be allowed to circulate without a functioning airconditioning system - please note this is not a matter of convenience, but a potential health issue for commuters.