Transport Minister Joe Mizzi has announced that the Spanish company Autobuses Urbanos de León will start operating Malta’s bus service in January and that talks between the government and this company are at an advanced stage.
The question is that, with many failed attempts in the past, most notably the recent Arriva fiasco, will this provide us with a better transport system?
Public transport has always been a difficult nut to crack, and until Arriva took over in 2011 the bus service was extremely shoddy, the buses were obsolete (and harmful to the environment) and a number of bus drivers were plain rude.
Although some improvements were made when the then Nationalist government awarded the running of the bus service to Arriva – such as a new modern fleet of buses and more polite drivers – the introduction of this new service was a classic case of mismanagement.
Arriva operated on a very poor system of bus routes (devised by the government at the time) that were both unreliable and not geared towards the needs of commuters. Many of Arriva buses were also unsuitable for Malta’s roads.
One now expects the new Spanish company, as well as Transport Authority, not to repeat the mistakes of Arriva and to ensure that a reliable and efficient bus service is introduced.
Mr Mizzi has made it clear that the government’s subsidy to the new bus operator will be considerably larger than the “low” annual subsidy of €10 million given to Arriva, which means that commuters will have high expectations.
Indeed, last month The Sunday Times of Malta ran a story which revealed that the annual subsidy for this new company is expected to be in the region of €24 to €29 million and that bus fares are expected to rise.
Mr Mizzi last week did not confirm the increased tariffs, only that they would be “affordable”.
Higher transport subsidies and reasonably higher bus fares are probably acceptable to taxpayers and commuters as long as the country finally gets a good bus service, which includes new and sensible routes as well as smaller vehicles that are suitable for our roads.
Such a service, if really up to standard, will also have a very positive effect on the environment (with fewer cars on the road), the economy and tourism.
Malta badly needs a long-term transport policy aimed at reducing the number of cars on the road and offering commuters an alternative to their private vehicles.
There are 320,000 cars on Malta’s roads, making us the country with the fifth-highest number of vehicles per capita in the world. This is bad for the environment and our health and has resulted in heavy traffic congestion and a lack of parking space.
An overhaul of our bus service is the most crucial aspect of an improved public transport system, but the government should also consider encouraging other modes of transport such as increased ferry crossings between Sliema, Valletta and Cottonera.
The possibility of the introduction of a tram or monorail system should also be considered.
The Labour Party in Opposition had made a huge political issue out of Arriva’s shortcomings, even forcing an emergency parliamentary debate on the matter. This was also a central theme of Labour’s electoral campaign with promises of a greatly improved public transport system.
People’s expectations are now high, especially in view of the fact that the new bus operator is to be given huge subsidies. So this government simply can’t afford to get it wrong.