The forthcoming departure of Arriva came as no real surprise to many people. Here are some initial thoughts by people in Valletta.
[attach id=300870 size="small"][/attach]
Oscar Borg, 45, from Birżebbuġa
I think it’s a good thing that Arriva’s leaving, after all the stupidities they said it was doing. I don’t use it much myself though. I think we should revert to the way we were before – with the exception of the drivers, we didn’t hear a lot of complaints about the old service. All I can say on Arriva is that my children cite the service as an excuse as to why they’re always late!
[attach id=300871 size="small"][/attach]
Doris Axisa, 68, from Tarxien
Well, Arriva did improve matters in some areas. Some people liked them, others didn’t. We don’t know what’s coming so we can’t tell if things will improve or not. Who will be replacing them?
[attach id=300872 size="small"][/attach]
Jonathan Avellino, 21, from Birkirkara
I think Arriva provided a good service. Perhaps it had some problems with the routes in the beginning, but generally I found them to offer a good service. I don’t know who’s replacing them. It’s always better if they amend the routes – both in terms of the schedule and also by reducing the length of the routes and increasing the number of buses on the roads.
[attach id=300873 size="small"][/attach]
Nicole Cassar, 17, from Żurrieq
It’s vital that the service improves because it’s in shambles at the moment. The buses are never on time, you need to leave home two hours before to get to a place – something which I never used to do before.
[attach id=300874 size="small"][/attach]
Carmen Buhagiar, 63, from Mosta
If whoever replaces them is better than what we had before, in terms of service, then that’s good. Punctuality is the crucial element which really affects me personally. I can’t say if the upcoming service will be better or worse. It’s like Arriva – before they started operating, we didn’t know what it had to offer.
[attach id=300875 size="small"][/attach]
Nicolina Bonello, 70, from Siġġiewi
I’m not too comfortable with the idea of Arriva leaving. Even though we weren’t served very well in Siġġiewi, we don’t know what’s coming now. I don’t know if we’ll be better off or worse. The old service wasn’t very good but it seems that we took a step backward with Arriva.