Arriva will receive its first fines by the end of this week, according to the transport watchdog, which has been busy compiling contractual breaches for more than two weeks.
November 4 was the last day of a four-month grace period given to the new bus operator before breaches to the contract could start being translated into penalties and daily fines.
Late buses and poorly serviced bus stops are the most pressing issues but fines for such breaches are imposed when “patterns” are noticed not one-off instances, according to Transport Malta.
“Therefore, the system takes into account activity on each route being monitored over a two-week period and then penalties are calculated and imposed.”
Fines that can be assessed on one-off instances are grouped together in the same two-week period, which is why no penalties have yet been imposed.
“The first penalties will be imposed for the period November 4-20 in the week ending November 25,” the transport watchdog said.
It said its officers were collecting details on “various breaches including comfort, information, driver behaviour and attire, and other contractual requirements”.
Meanwhile, Arriva and Transport Malta are still working out the cost of the recent overhaul to the unpopular bus routes. The expense is expected to be shared.
The Transport Ministry had said that, although the subsidy to Arriva could increase, it would still be a far cry from the €9 million annual subsidy that used to be given to the Association of Public Transport, which ran the old bus service.
This statement prompted a clarification from the Finance Ministry last Tuesday since next year’s Budget allocation for public transport added up to a surprisingly high €8.22 million.
The Finance Ministry explained that the figure covered the subsidies for both islands: the €1.625 million subsidy for Gozo added to the Malta figure.
It does not include, however, any increase to the subsidy as compensation for the changes.
Although the subsidy for Malta alone, taken over 10 years, amounts to €45.7 million (€4.57 million per year), the payment is staggered to be higher (€6.6 million) in the first three years and lower (€3.7 million) for the rest of the 10-year period.
“This information is in the public domain as the payment terms and the subsidy for Gozo have been public for some time,” the ministry said.
It pointed out that the ATP subsidy added up to €9.6 million a year but was “obviously, for Malta only”.