As much as I like the Spanish, I do not seem to have taken Autobuses de Leon seriously from the very beginning.

I always had a funny feeling that these people came over to take us for a ride – as opposed to drive – and to milk the proverbial Maltese cow to the best of their ability and as far as they are allowed to.

And there seems to be no limit to this because, to my mind, as a layman at least, there seems to be no one – and I mean no one – willing to protect the interest of the commuters, local or foreign alike.

If this is the case, then commuters should protect themselves even by trying to organise themselves in groups and either use their private transport or rent minibuses or other means to avoid using public transport.

There is no point in the authorities saying they are not happy with the situation. What is needed is action and giving the public what was originally promised.

There must be someone, somewhere, who must have the guts to take the bull by the horns and, for once, support all those using public transport.

People are forking out money but are not getting either a service or good value for their money. To get their money back, they are asked to queue for hours on end under the blazing sun.

What is needed is action and giving the public what was originally promised

My heart goes out to the elderly, especially those who have to wait for long hours as if asking for charity.

The public is being humiliated and treated like slaves.

This Spanish company seems to have an absolutely free hand to do as they please except serve the public decently. Since they took over from Arriva, when one would have expected a road map to kick in, having learnt one’s lessons from not so happy an experience, things seems to have gotten worse and are getting worse still by the day. Queues get longer and longer and waiting time in the summer heat is the order of the day.

So we are paying to be insulted and treated like dirt. I was about to say ‘animals’, but animals are treated much better.

In an interview with The Sunday Times of Malta (July 26), the Spanish operators said the credit in the Tallinja cards is updated within 24 hours. Yet mine – and that of many others – took almost 24 days to show the credit.

Mind you, I didn’t trust them, so I didn’t risk losing much as I had only topped up online depositing €2, and how right I was.

I do not use the public transport much, and the only reason for this is that there is no decent and reliable service.

One cannot plan on getting anywhere at any particular time, because it seems the buses run at will, without any respect to timetables or schedules. Routes are often decided by the driver because they go as and where they please.

In the interview mentioned above it was also said that the air conditioners do not cope with the temperatures we are experiencing at present. What the Spanish operators should realise is that these units have to be switched on first to find out whether they cope or not. Also, we need air conditioners, not blowers.

I believe in giving credit where due and, therefore, there is a point for which the Spanish operators are to be credited.

I believe the company is the only one the world over offering a free shower to some of its lucky passengers during their journey – whether they like it or not.

I say keep up the good work – if there is any – and improve upon what is not yet perfect.

Alfred Brincat is a teacher