Arriva’s bumpy first year
A year ago, when Minister Austin Gatt unveiled the new public transport service, he did so in a blaze of promises.
People who did not want to use the buses, he pledged among other things, would no longer be able to use the excuse of unreliable timings.
But, one year after the smart, aquamarine Arriva buses replaced the old yellow clunkers, commuters are still complaining that the service often does not run on time.
It is just one example of how it has failed to live up to the hype – although there have been distinct improvements in several areas over the past few months.
An Arriva spokesman gave the company’s own excuse for the new “unreliable timings the service was “at times” disrupted by traffic congestion, road works and badly parked vehicles.
“Arriva respects and keeps in line with timetables and to this effect we can confirm that 99 per cent of routes are completed,” he said.
In April Dr Gatt said Arriva had been fined €284,250 since November over shortcomings in its service, including delays. During his speech on July 2, the eve of Arriva’s first day of operation, Dr Gatt did prepare the public for teething problems.
People flocked to the bus terminus in Valletta last year as they tried to figure out how to use the new system. Photo: Chris Sant FournierIn fact the new service got off on the wrong foot, with some 100 drivers surprising everyone by not turning up for work because they disagreed over their work rosters. The issue was eventually ironed out but not before making it a nightmare for Arriva.
However, the drivers have remained somewhat volatile as yesterday they set up a new union to fight for their rights and handle the collective agreement, still a bone of contention.
During his speech, Dr Gatt had also said people would be experiencing more comfortable and environmentally friendly buses. Most are glad to see these two promises were, by and large, kept. Two exceptions are the lack of air conditioning in some vehicles and the occasional bump and delay experienced by commuters from countless minor accidents in which the buses have been involved.
Improved routes were also among the promises – a claim that turned out to be fiercely contested by commuters for the first few months of the service.
They complained bitterly that they were taking far too long to get to their destination.
Since then, Arriva has revamped its routes, re-introducing the direct buses to Valletta from every locality that everyone was used to from the old system, and the complaints seem to have died down.
A spokesman for the company said there were no further new routes in the pipeline.
So what are the plans for the year ahead?
“Arriva’s main challenge this year... is to increase bus usage on the Maltese islands,” he said.
“We will be promoting bus use and the services available such as airport routes, routes to popular beaches, the night service, connections to Gozo and much more.”
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Alfred Cassar
Jul 5th 2012, 12:52
Most of the time the bus takes to travel from A to B, is mostly issuing the bus ticket.
Travelling by buying a ticket should not be the norm, but the exception.
Arriva should mail to every member of every household in Malta and Gozo, An Arriva Commuter Card, which in turn is charged at Arriva Centres , Boots, established outlets like Stationeries, bank ATM , so on so forth, the waiting should be everywhere but not on the bus.
For Commuters who do board a bus with no credit on their card, could buy credit, for for example a minimum of 30euro.
The charges on these cards should, run as one uses them, ex: if one steps on a bus at 04.00 am he is charged automatically 1.50euro, but not charged for other trips, before 04.00 am of the next day, Monday through to Sunday.
And if Arriva wants to really do a fine job , commuters need not even swipe the card, it could be done with an electronic reader upon boarding.
This way, trips will be done in a much, much shorter time.
No one seems to have done a study , based on a month, to see how true this is, but it is so obvious that I think no one needs to do further studies, that could cost the country Hundreds of Thousands, it is time to do rather than see what to do.
Michelle Buhagiar
Jul 3rd 2012, 19:25
dizastru ta' sistema ... jekk tista' ssejhilha "sistema"
xi haga li ddejjaqni pero' hi li hafna nies generalment jehduha kontra x-xufiera minhabba s-servizz hazin, meta x-xufiera m'ghandhom tort ta' xejn. anzi, taht ic-cirkostanzi, nahseb li l-maggoranza taghhom huma nies ta' pacenzja straordinarja!
Ronnie Callus
Jul 3rd 2012, 17:35
Dr.Austin Gatt to be fair should recall that 'Arriva' did some improvement when it was taken by his Boss Dr.Gonzi . Can Dr.Austin Gatt tell us how much subsidy is being given to 'Arriva' so that one can make his homework more accurately. We were told on its inception that it is going to be the 'State of the Art' transport around the globe, same as for 'Mater Dei - Hospital.
Maryanne Camilleri
Jul 3rd 2012, 16:36
One year ago we were promised with much fanfare FIVE things.
1.Buses would depart at 10 mins. intervals.
2.That ALL the buses would be new with the latest technology including TV entertaining systems.
3.ALL buses would be airconditioned.
4.ALL buses would be environmental friendly within EU emission standards.
5.Computer estimated arrival time at major bus stops.
The vast majority of these promises are far from being kept.
One further point, whilst the physical appearance of the drivers has improved, their mannerisms on the road is worse than before:
1.The vast majority do not stop at paedestrian crossings.
2.They do not give way at roundabouts.
They give the impression (with Government's blessing) that they are the kings of the road.
To be fair on the drivers they are being pressured to make their trip within a very tight schedule due to the lack of adequate number of buses. Furthermore, I noticed that the bus drivers waiting to be assigned a bus at Floriana have to wait in the scorching sun and the shacks that they have been allocated are not airconditioned but are more like ovens.
cesco di luigi
Jul 3rd 2012, 19:22
I have observed exactly the same things in one year of using Arriva.
Francesca Abela
Jul 3rd 2012, 16:34
Marsascala residents are STILL without the N91 night bus from Paceville in the Jerma area. Before 3rd July 2011 we had a bus at night to this area, now Arriva and Transport Malta removed it. Who will ' carry the buck ' if a woman is attacked on her way home from the terminus - a walk of at least 15 - 30 mins late at night.
Victor Pulis
Jul 3rd 2012, 16:13
Now that Arriva has been with us for a year how about a repor ton its performance?
How many breakdowns?
How many accidents?
How many fines?
James Dewar
Jul 3rd 2012, 16:33
And HOW MANY TIMES does the travelling public have to ask before there is an informed, honest and accurate answer to these and many other questions?
Marc Freedman
Jul 3rd 2012, 16:05
As Someone who has used buses all his life, this service is nothing more than a joke, Arriva gets blamed yet they did not design the routes MTA did! The only people who are benefiting from this are the New Taxi companies who if rumours r too be believed have business partners who are the people making the decisions!...
Buses taken off the road as now found out air cons don't work! (Did they need a Year to work that out)
The Loony old driving is back but now these drivers have new Buses to tear down the roads in.
If the drivers don't like working for Arriva then get shot of them and replace them with immigrants who would be polite and well mannered.
S. Azzopardi
Jul 3rd 2012, 15:52
Arriva is a farce. For one thing when are they going to remove the bendy buses which are the rejects of other countries and a very serious threat to public safety? Do we really need to wait for a serious accident to occur for these huge vehicles to be removed from our tiny roads?
Anthony Borg
Jul 3rd 2012, 15:41
The single, most annoying aspect since Arriva took over a year ago, is that, with all the technology it has brought to the public transport system, it cannot keep to TIME SCHEDULES.
This is what annoys me most!
* I can disregard a non-functioniong AC ....
* I can disregard an ill-behaved driver ...
* I can turn a blind eye to dirty buses ...
....what I cannot accept is that no matter how early I go to a bus-stop, I cannot arrive to an appointment in time.
Happy 1st Birthday Arriva Malta Ltd ... I have not yet lost hope that the British management will bring some sense to all this nonsense.
J Cassar
Jul 3rd 2012, 15:35
'In April Dr Gatt said Arriva had been fined €284,250 since November over shortcomings in its service'
any how much increase in subsidy was the company given?
E. Azzopardi
Jul 3rd 2012, 14:19
If you go on like this, people will be using LESS the ARRIVA buses. I do not know how you can promise that buses can be on time. They can never be on time. Near the time, maybe. How can a bus be on time when15 people board the bus without a ticket? God gave us brains and we'd better use them. After twenty years of planning, I would have thought that a person boarding a bus MUST ALWAYS ha ve ticket. But nay!!
For a bus to be on time it MUST leave on time. Example, bus 225 is never on time and the times I used it, it was 35 or 40 minutes late, which is unacceptable. Now if you are on a bus stop in Sliema and you see the 12 and 13 going through regularly and bus 225 uses same route, then you start wondering what the hell is happening.
Why is it that indictors are being used less and less?
Why is it that many buses do NOT go into the bay. The bendy buses do not fit (!!!!) and others fit but still.... with the result of traffic jams.
Why is it that there are times when drivers STILL stop to talk to each other on the roads?
Again, why is it that tickets are not bought beforehand?
We can go on.
No SIR, we are far from all those promises and this after twenty years of so called planning and one year in action. When shall we get this right?
S Cachia
Jul 3rd 2012, 13:52
you want to cut traffic congestion? simple.... remove the licence fees for small motorcycles (up to 100cc) and you will see a drastic change, since they are economic and can get you anywhere around Malta.
Also remove the useless bendy busses. What is the percentage of the bendy bus being full of passengers on a daily basis?
Alfred Fenech
Jul 3rd 2012, 14:07
Old buses, new bendy buses, old patterns and new patterns that take one around in a circle
to get to destination. I thought that taxis did that. What a mickey mouse country. Viva Austin.!!!
pat muscat
Jul 3rd 2012, 13:34
Bhal ma ippromisja Dr Austin Gatt sehh! Tal-biki sar dan il-pajjiz zghir taghna.
James Dewar
Jul 3rd 2012, 13:23
Could it be that the mighty Arriva saw Malta as a "soft option" given the apparent state of the former fleet (notwithstanding that they provided a dependable service) and thought that they could con the governet and the fare paying passengers into believing their hype? I am sure that was the case and that once established the passengers would accept a much lower standard of service than they were initially promised as anything would be better than what they had? To an extent they may have succeeded in that but hopefully the Maltese communter and tourists will not settle long term for a second rate service and will do what ever is necessary to bring it up to standard or seek alternatives. Given the previous structure that was in place for many yearsit should not be too difficult for transport officials to come up with a viable alternative. It seems that although there was a need for some improvement and change the proverbial sledgehammer was used to crack the nut when a toffee hammer would have sufficed!
Raymond Micallef
Jul 3rd 2012, 12:44
A year gone by. It is good to have some statistics known after a year - like how many buses were involved in collisions with cars, pavements, roundabouts, and other? I was waiting for some time by the roundabout at Qormi, and out of 25 buses that passed through, 22 of them had, dents, scratches, broken parts etc.
It is because the imported buses are too large for our roads? or the drivers are still going thru their learning curve? Do please evaluate these aspects and let us know what was happening during the last 12 months. To conclude, do please acknowledge the fact that drivers are not pulling in the bus stops,lane , when stopping on bus stops!! Many a times I was kept waiting in a jam, why - the reason being that the bus driver did not bother to pull in the reserved lane but remained on the normal lane!!!!!!
Chris Vella
Jul 3rd 2012, 12:35
should the gov have invested all that cash he paid to former ATP and to Arriva In new buses for ATP along with intensive PR training the problem would not exsist.
All they needed was training and a decent ticket price as today we find ourselves in a biger disaster and we'r paying more for it.
Victor Vella
Jul 3rd 2012, 12:31
Li kieku L-Arriva qalet lil Wistin Gatt biex imur tal-Pieta biex immexi il-marketing machine imgengel li ghandu u ma jindalx fl-operat ta` l-Arriva li kieku illum it-trasport publiku huwa ahjar milli huwa. Veru froma kull fejn jidhol GonziPN.
Angelo Vassallo
Jul 3rd 2012, 12:31
@ M Sciberras
Actually you made me speechless as it seems that you cannot read and understand plain and simple English.
I made it clear that my judgement is based on what I hear from the people in the street, VOX POPULI, VOX DEI sur m sciberras.
Carmel Garcia
Jul 3rd 2012, 12:22
Maltese gemgem....gemgem.....gemgem....
Louis Saliba
Jul 3rd 2012, 12:16
The Service to and from the Kottonera area has improved since last year’s disastrous start. This improvement has been the result of numerous complaints regarding routes and timetables, which are now to a large degree on a par with what we had under the old system. The timetables, however, are still not being adhered to and, in several instances, one has to suffer an inordinately long wait at a bus stop. Not infrequently, after such long waits two buses arrive at the same time.
Under the old system, there were a number of outlying termini, apart from Valletta, and the number of buses available ensured that a bus was always present at any particular terminus for the scheduled time of departure to be observed. This is not the case now, and all the previous outlying termini are now really turn-around points, where one has for the incoming bus to arrive. The same can also be said for the situation at the main Valletta terminus. This is mainly due, of course, to the obvious incompetence on the part of whoever compiled the timetables. The scheduled durations only hold good when the bus in question stops at only a few stages en route. Otherwise…… The obvious solution is to re-estimate the duration of journeys (from a bus, not an office desk) and adjust the size of the fleet accordingly.
The new buses are certainly more comfortable than most of the old ones, and the drivers smarter and more polite. However, an effort should be made to ensure that the destination shown above the windscreen is correct. It is frequently wrong.
The major long-term problem which now has to be addressed is the matter of bus stop names, several of which are incorrect, either as to town or as to location, and a number of which are downright ridiculous. If one were to enumerate the incongruities along the Valletta – Kottonera route, this post would have to be at least twice as long. To give just three examples – (a) why is the stop in front of St Theresa Church in Cospicua called “Birgu – Zejt”? The stop is certainly not in Birgu, and the connection with oil is beyond comprehension. (b) The stop near the Band Club is called “Bormla – Bormla”, Whoever gave up hope of finding a location name must have been entirely unaware that the area is called “Ix-Xatt ta Bormla”, so the correct name would have been “Bormla – Xatt (or Ix-Xatt). (c) The stop near St Nicholas Bastion was first dubbed “Bormla – Huttijiet”, and has now been changed to “Bormla – Hattijiet”. Does the word “hattijiet” by any chance refer to the large Nissen Huts further up the Hill? I don’t think any comments in this particular regard are necessary.
Anthony Pace
Jul 3rd 2012, 11:57
If the minister is brave enough he would give Arriva four months notice of termination of contract, buy out some of the smaller buses and gives the routes and buses back to ATP to revet back to the old system with running times till 11.00 pm. and starting at 5.00 am.
The answer is so simple dear Minister but do you have the guts to pull the rug from underneath Arriva and send them & their bendy buses packing and bring smaller, more adaptable buses to our roads?
Mr Peter Korsten
Jul 3rd 2012, 12:18
And get the old drivers back? Please, no.
Adrian Pavia
Jul 3rd 2012, 12:24
Le ahjar kif qieghdin mill dawk ta L-ATP. Ma nistax nifhem kif tista' tfahhar id dizastru li kellna qabel. Kulhadd jinsa ghandikun!
James Dewar
Jul 3rd 2012, 13:44
Anthony, maybe not a bad idea (in fact maybe a good one) and whilst you quote a period of four months notice I wonder if in fact there is a condition in the contract that allows the government to rescind the agreement for contractual non compliance in certain aspects and if so I further wonder how close we are to that point or has it already been passed?
Anthony Pace
Jul 4th 2012, 07:47
Mr Dewar, the goverment can terminate the contract for breaches on a irregularities and bring in their own. It would take four months to organise something else, buy out some of the buses, order some more in(smaller ones, get the bus-drivers going again, etc) but this goverment hasn't got the guts to do it. The minister could easily have done it in the first month!!
tony abela
Jul 3rd 2012, 11:51
A year later we are still without the promised electronic displays indicating the timing of the next bus and in most cases we are still without adequate shelters for rain and sun.
Besides if the old buses were 'clunkers' some of the Arriva buses are not much better. the other week a 135 Bus was being used with the front suspicion faulty so much so that the smell of burning tyre was more than evident and it looked so much unbalanced that one took the impression that it was going to topple over.
Victor Pulis
Jul 3rd 2012, 11:45
An Arriva spokesman gave the company’s own excuse for the new “unreliable timings the service was “at times” disrupted by traffic congestion, road works and badly parked vehicles."
NO EXCUSES! these things existed when Arriva started. I laughed my head off when the new time tables came out! Example; Departure 9.03- Arrival 9.58!! Come on please! Did Arriva think that it was going to be the only road user? There are hundreds of thousands of cars on the road in Malta so traffic congestion is a probability! Road works? In Malta?! Never!! Admit it. Arriva was still born from day one. No amount of first aid will bring it to life. Start from scratch and get things right by leaving TM out of it . AND GET THE ROUTES BACK TO WHAT THEY WERE!
James Dewar
Jul 3rd 2012, 13:02
Victor, Whilst this will be seen by some as a drastic and unrealistic solution I tend to agree with you. What it needs is for those who are empowered to make such decisions to act rapidly and decisively as things are likely to get worse as the fleet ages and drivers and staff become further demoralised. The old saying of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" DOES NOT apply in this case and the "service" was broken from day one ( I witnessed the glittering launch, cringe cringe) for a number of reasons and needs "fixed" without delay. If the majority of customers are unhappy 12 months down the line I shudder to think how unhappy they will be in five years time or at the end of the 10 year contract. Maybe even the ever silent "Arriva" would now welcome a "get out" or tactical withdrawal on the basis that it is better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all! There is little doubt that there is a large element of failure associated with the venture that will be difficult if not impossible to recover from.
D Mifsud
Jul 3rd 2012, 11:39
I used Arriva 6 times in the last 20 days. and 3 out of 6 were on time. The other three times I waited for over 1 hour. Now for me, that sums up to 50% punctuality and nowhere close to Minister's Gatt claim of 90% punctuality.
There can be two things for this discrepancy...either I am too 'bezzul' and I am trying to catch always those 10% that turn up late or else minister Gatt is only counting those buses that arrive late and forgetting about those that do not appear at all!!
Yesterday I waited for an hour at Valletta to catch 94 to Xghajra. The 17:53 one did not turn up, the 18:23 neither then finally the 18:53 arrived to save us. Moral of the story....From Valetta to Xghajra total time 2 hrs which is approx the same time from Malta to Munich.
Last week during Isle of MTV..the last bus to Xghajra also didn't show up..leaving pax stranded in Valletta at night. A sure fact is that Xghajra seems to be the most chosen place to remove a scheduled trip when there is an absence of buses. And when you ask some arriva people around no one seems to know anything. I think we are really being taken for a ride by Arriva
Cinzia Fenech
Jul 3rd 2012, 12:42
I have only used the Arriva buses twice, first time I was waiting at a bus stop and the bus was coming at full speed and the driver had to brake really hard, and the good bus driver decided that it was appropriate to swear and shout as much as possible. I was the only person on the bus and was scared during the whole trip.
On my second and lastI was waiting for the Xghajra bus in Valletta, the timetable clearly shows that the service runs every 30 mins, but after i have waited for more than an hour, i asked at the desk, the reply was 'Don't worry Miss, the ticket is valid for another hour !!' I was completely speechless !!
I will be more happy catching a taxi, walk, or hitch-hike than experiance another Arriva failure.
S. Caruana
Jul 3rd 2012, 11:39
L-ARRIVA suppost inholqot ghax tant kellha taghti servizz tajjeb li mhux biss kellha izomm li minn kien diga qed juza t-trasport pubbliku, talli kellha taghtira passigieri godda u b'hekk il-karozzi privati kellhom jonqsu mit-toroq.........Nissuspeta li L-Arriva anke l-minn tradizzjonalment kien juza' it-trasport pubbliku tilfet ahseb u ara kemm attirat nies godda!! L-aqwa li minn kien iddur bil-Jaguar ghadu jdur bil-Jaguar!!!
Mr Duncan Scerri
Jul 3rd 2012, 11:33
All this will be fixed next July 1st. Promise. Vote GonziPN!
Sarah Agius Bezzina
Jul 3rd 2012, 11:21
We need more frequent trips from Siggiewi to Valletta. It is unacceptable to have only 1 trip in an hour on a public holiday or a Sunday. Before, with the old buses, we used to go to Valletta by bus on a Sunday, this enabled us to relax from the daily hectic life. Now this is not possible any longer as with two young children I cannot possibly stay waiting for a bus, in all types of weather, which only appears once in an hour. Therefore we use our car, it is more convenient and safe.
Anthony Pace
Jul 3rd 2012, 11:53
They are applying the same principles as in the UK - reduced services on Sundays and public holidays.
Francis Grech
Jul 3rd 2012, 11:18
On clear and simple comment ,why Arriva wasn't so successfull with the promised system of public transport was that they bought the wrong type of buses that were even regected by the city of London,too big and far too long.The Mayor of London Boris Johnson must have had the biggest laugh when tiny Malta bought those ugly bendy buses,Ha Ha.
Mr Joe Camilleri
Jul 3rd 2012, 10:59
Arriva is the worst thing that ever happened to Malta.
Nic NG
Jul 3rd 2012, 10:55
Arriva buses are way too big for the Maltese roads , also last week I was waiting 2 hours for a bus 1 did stop but it broke down and then when the other bus arrived it went down two one way streets. It may be me but my experience with arriva has not been great .
Paul Caruana
Jul 3rd 2012, 10:46
Punctuality still appears to be a problem.
Would it be possible if in the coming months a system can be set up such that one could, on the Arriva webpage, locate the current position of a specific Arriva bus in real time. In that way, even if delays on a particular route occur, the commuter can check on line and get an estimate when a particular bus will be at a particular bus stop before he ventures out to catch it, avoiding prolonged and uncomfortable waiting in the sun/rain.
James Dewar
Jul 3rd 2012, 13:48
Paul, good to see you have a great sense of humour in these troubled times! At least I hope it's humour and not a real request!
C Borg
Jul 3rd 2012, 14:53
If I'm not wrong, that was one of the promises we had before Arriva took service. Every stage was to have live arrival times and there should have been also some way to check times through mobile phones.
M Grima
Jul 3rd 2012, 10:38
Minister Austin Gatt took everyone for a ride when he stated that the Arriva bus service was a private investment which will not cost the government anything. Well, what about the €80 million in subsidies over the next 10 years.
tami mifsud
Jul 3rd 2012, 10:26
why do people always complain ?? how can they stick to timetables when there is so much congestion on our roads, we all get stuck in traffic !!! I have used the buses and had no problems except I was charged as a foreigner, maybe I should get rid of my blonde hair......
Mr Joe Camilleri
Jul 3rd 2012, 11:01
If they have a decent service, stick to their timetables, and use narrower busses, then surely there will be much less road congestion
Nadine Genovese
Jul 3rd 2012, 11:48
Why was it that the old system timetables used to be on time??
marco caruana
Jul 3rd 2012, 10:08
Arriva buses surely had increased traffic in Malta , its very hard to overtake u bus especially in narrow roads .
James Wightman
Jul 3rd 2012, 11:43
It may be a coincidence but the bicycle advocacy group, noted a sharp increase in the number of cyclist commuters since the start of Arriva. Clearly many commuters are voting with their feet literally.
Pauline Peterson
Jul 3rd 2012, 10:00
Definitely more buses are needed to cover all the routes, as we had before.
Angelo Vassallo
Jul 3rd 2012, 09:57
“Arriva’s main challenge this year... is to increase bus usage on the Maltese islands"
I have not used the public transport for at least 30 years, except when my car breaks down or it is in for some repair. I had high hopes that Arriva will be efficient enough overgroundas the London Underground System, to make me start to use the public transport. I do not know what to believe. I still hear people grumbling about different things in the Arriva service, and I hear also people saying how good the service is. I always believed that the truth is somewhere in the middle, which can only mean that Arriva has a very inconsistent service.
M Sciberras
Jul 3rd 2012, 10:59
Your sage words and conclusion leave me speechless. Not travelled by bus once in 30 years and still able to give judgement. Wow!
Lorna Vassallo Pace
Jul 3rd 2012, 09:43
Please also note that besides what has been mentioned, the buses are very untidy, the airconditioning systems smell badly and never cleaned. Drivers are not properly dressed and some of them do not know how to drive properly.
As everyone says...better the devil you know!
Alfred Sacco
Jul 3rd 2012, 11:39
"the devil we knew" : have you forgotten the smoke-emitting buses, the claustrophobic so-called London buses with no windows, equivalent to a sauna, the bone-shakers with nails sticking out of seats, the extremely bad-dressed drivers, the unavailability of wheelchair or push chair space, the loud playing stereos during journeys.....and much more......oh yes, I too was amongst the first to criticise the crazy network which was initially launched, but the new buses were an improvement on the old ones (even if they came without AC's) so come on, let's not be TOO negative, I think things have improved. Of course, much more needs to be done, like quicker routes and more punctuality.
James Dewar
Jul 3rd 2012, 13:59
Lorna, If the volume of complaints on these pages is a fair indicator then you are probably correct!
R. Vella.
Jul 3rd 2012, 09:37
in order to increase usage you first need to increase buses / frequency.
41 and 42 are leaving Valletta full-up most of the time
Steve Zammit
Jul 3rd 2012, 10:52
routes 41 and 42 need to have there frequency doubled
Mr Joseph A.
Jul 3rd 2012, 11:09
Agree!!!
Lawrence Fenech
Jul 3rd 2012, 09:37
So it all adds up 40,000,000 Euro to the old bus owners, 80,000,000 Euro to the Arriva i.e. 120,000,000 Euro in subsidy or compensation.
According to Mr. Austin Gatt this is "No interference or subsidy" by the Maltese Government. Reading this I have to hold my splitting sides.
Edgar Apap
Jul 3rd 2012, 13:20
What Kind Of Common Sence You Have To Have For Allowing The Changing Of Bus Drivers Near The Grannaries In Floriana ? In That Short Street There Are 3 Bustops, One Traffic Light , A Zebra Crossing And The Changing Of The Bus Drivers . They All Sit There On The Pavement And They Dont Even Bother Get Up To Walk Over To The Bus Unless It Stops Directly Infront Of Them When At One Time There Could Be As Many As 6 Or 7 Busses Waithing For The Drivers Change Over . The Positive Of It Is That Tourists Laugh Thier Heads Off While Taking Pictures Of The Saddend Bus Drivers . So From Pieta To Near The Granneries Takes 5 Minutes And From Near The Granneries To Near The Tryton Fountain Takes Another 5 Minutes . Why Cant The Bus Drivers Change Over In Valletta Bus Terminus ? Is That Too Much To Ask ?
James Dewar
Jul 3rd 2012, 13:38
Lawrence, if your figures are correct then surely for a fraction of that expenditure the "old regime" could have been modernised and brought into "Euro compliant 21 st century mode". Ten out of ten to the marketing men at Arriva for achieving their goal. However I hope for their sake there is not a "clawback" clause in their contract based upon subsequent success.
Please choose the reason of your report below: