The Labour Party has a comprehensive plan to improve the public transport system, one of this government’s biggest “fiascos”, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday.

Acknowledging that bus driver courtesy had improved with the introduction of Arriva, the public transport operator, the reform nevertheless failed to reduce the number of cars on Maltese roads, resulting in more traffic, he said.

In the coming days the party would announce its traffic management plan which would include a reform of the present bus system.

“We want a system that runs on time and efficiently. This reform was one of the biggest fiascos which dented the Government’s credibility,” Dr Muscat told young people at an event last night at the Aria nightclub in Tal-Balal.

During the question and answer session, Dr Muscat mentioned the party’s proposals on teachers.

He said he had received many e-mails from teachers expressing satisfaction that someone had finally remembered that they existed. “We want to elevate the teaching profession so we proposed a campaign of more respect for teachers.”

He spoke about the “revolutionary” proposal to enable teachers to move from State to Church or independent schools and vice versa and the one-year sabbatical for teachers to further their studies and progress in their careers.

“This investment is as important as that in brand new schools,” he said.

Dr Muscat said his government would send a clear message that violence, especially against teachers, was never justified.

He touched upon the creation of opportunities for women to return to work, saying this was one of the paths to a sustainable pension system. He mentioned the €2,000 tax credit a Labour government would offer mothers returning to work.

Dr Muscat reiterated his party’s pledge for civil unions for gay couples. Even transgender people would have more rights with the eradication of the humiliation they faced, he said.

Answering a question about his views on the campaign so far, Dr Muscat said this was not a campaign of politicians but one of the people. “Something is happening which is uniting people. If we abandon the past, the blue and the red, we can have a government for all,” he said to a loud applause.

He appealed for more people to join his movement for change. Voting for a Labour government would give future generations the “biggest gift” they could get, he said.