Please allow me to describe how the new transport system is failing and how the service has deteriorated since Arriva was unceremoniously booted out.

Recently, I twice phoned Malta Public Transport to point out the fact that electronic monitors at bus stops were not showing the time when a bus is due. When Arriva was running the public transport these were functional and due bus times were always displayed.

This means that commuters waiting for a particular bus would know whether they had missed their bus or if they were in good time to board it. Malta Public Transport’s reply was, on each occasion, that they were looking into the matter.

I have now got to know from a very reliable source that these monitors can never indicate bus arrival times because the GPS on the buses are not connected.

How about that? The taxpayer is paying much more in public transport subsidy but getting a much shoddier service.