For some time it has seemed almost inevitable that the route bus service by Arriva would come to an end. Given the expectations and hype when the company came to Malta, this is a sad occurrence especially because public transport is so important to a small, congested island like ours.
The reasons for the failure of this project are many. The travelling public was primed with political talk rather than a clinical evaluation of the pros and cons of changing the old system in such a radical way. In the end, some notable improvements were achieved, especially in the form or more comfortable vehicles for passengers to travel on, but the unreliability of the services meant that the new operators lost the trust of the travelling public.
The economic consequences of this failed project have not been properly measured. The direct losses that the company incurred are just a small part of the downside of this experiment. Some creditors of Arriva may find it hard to recover the amounts they are owed, even if the government, which has temporarily taken over the running of the public bus service, has assumed responsibility for the more important financial commitments of Arriva.
The real economic damage caused by the failed bus service project is that many people have lost faith in public transport. More people than ever are now using private transport to get to their destination.
Employers are reluctant to tolerate late start of work because workers’ arrival at the workplace is delayed by an unreliable bus service. University and Mcast lecturers cannot wait for students who arrive late for their sessions because the bus service schedule is simply not adhered to by the operator.
Ironically, this may have led to even more private cars on the road, which are partly to blame for the traffic jams that have become a frustrating feature of driving in many parts of the island for most of the day. Slow-moving traffic that consists mainly of private cars often with just one passenger in them is surely not the objective that was set by Transport Malta when it awarded the contract to Arriva.
Public transport has now come to another important crossroads. The real challenge of Transport Malta today is not to repeat the mistakes of the past and to rekindle trust in a cynical public that understandably consider the Arriva experience as a sick joke.
Pointing fingers as to who is to blame for past failures in public transport reform will not impress the travelling public. One hopes that Transport Malta has conducted a proper operational audit to identify where Arriva went wrong.
The transport regulator now needs to come up with a viable plan for an efficient bus service before signing on the dotted line with the new selected operator. Compromises may have to be made to ensure that the service is provided with the minimum need for subsidies financed by taxpayers.
What the travelling public needs is a bus service with schedules that are economically viable but invariably reliable to entice people to leave their private cars at home whenever they feel this is their preferred option.
The failed Arriva experience should never be repeated because it has caused the travelling public unnecessary frustration, and the taxpayer quite a few million euros in ineffective government support for a public transport system that never went down the road to satisfy its clients’ needs. However, it would be a mistake to think that things cannot get worse. It is the government’s duty to ensure this is not the case. On the contrary, this is something it has to get right.