The fact that the vast majority of University students have trouble getting to the campus is no surprise; it’s been that way for so long that now it’s simply accepted as a fact of life, rather than a glaring fault in our transport system. It is fast reaching crisis levels, with some students leaving home three hours before their first lecture simply to get there on time due to traffic, or to be able to find parking close to campus.

As a first year University student unable to drive, I mainly make use of buses. As such, I have first-hand experience of what it is like to depend on public transport to comfortably make it to lectures on time – or more often, of what it is like to be left stranded at a bus stop in a state of increasing panic as the start of my lecture looms closer.

It cannot be put delicately; Malta’s public transport does not work – it’s inefficient, untrustworthy, time-consuming and frustrating all around – and this is just when the weather is good.

I like surprises as much as the next person, but I’d rather they are the ‘surprise party’ sort rather than ‘the time at which the bus will actually arrive, if it even does’ variety.

Not only are buses infrequent, but the schedule is treated as a mere suggestion. Countless times, most recently buses simply do not show up – and while this is to be expected in rush hours, after 9am when traffic has eased it is unacceptable.

Imagine how flustered I was when I arrived almost 15 minutes late for my first ever lecture because no Valletta-bound buses passed through Żurrieq for over an hour.

Bus infrequency and lateness aside, most of the routes that take students directly to University (rather than having to change buses two to three times), if available, do not make sense and are even more infrequent than main bus routes.

Again, taking Żurrieq for example, the bus to Mater Dei and the University shows up roughly once an hour – with no one knowing exactly when – and takes almost an hour (with no traffic) to reach its destination. Imagine attempting to catch that one for an 8am lecture!

It would make infinitely more sense if direct routes to University and other educational institutions were either created or remodelled to avoid unnecessary long detours, thus better encouraging student use of public transport.

With an ever-increasing number of students registered at University, coupled with the simultaneous rise in registered cars on the road, the issue of transportation cannot be evaded or postponed anymore.

Change should have been enacted yesterday, yet we see the authorities shrugging all responsibilities and pointing fingers, rather than face the complete overhaul needed head-on – to the detriment of us students, for whom the most strenuous part of the day has become our travelling time, rather than lectures and studying.

Rebecca Zammit is a European Studies (Hons) 1st year student.