Transport Malta is prepared to consider splitting the bus network and allowing more than one operator to run the service, The Sunday Times of Malta has learnt.
The option is likely to be included in the call for expressions of interest expected to be published tomorrow for the provision of a scheduled bus service.
Sources said the transport authority’s preferred option was a single bus operator running the networks in Malta and Gozo, but bidders will be given the option to submit an offer to operate a group of routes.
Preference will be given to bidders who want whole network
This is likely to satisfy Gozitan interest groups which have called for the network on the sister island to be operated separately.
However, top preference will be given to bidders who want to operate the whole network and opt to buy the State-owned company which took over from Arriva when the bus service was nationalised on January 2.
The concession will cover a seven-year period – the remaining term of Arriva’s 10-year contract – with options to extend it for a further three or eight years. This means a new operator may be granted a 15-year exclusive contract.
Sources said the authority will also impose maximum dimensions of the buses that will be used.
They will exclude bendy buses – banned from the streets in August last year after three of them caught fire – but allow the possibility for double-deckers. Buses will have to be Euro 5 compliant (a high environmental standard) and low-floor.
Emphasis will also be made on innovative technology and solutions that bidders will provide for off-bus ticket sales, such as using mobile and internet platforms.
The advantage of having more users board the bus with prepaid tickets was realised when bendy buses were pulled off the roads and coaches were subcontracted to fill in the gaps.
Commuters using the coaches did not pay because the infrastructure was not in place and this resulted in quicker passenger turnover, a faster service and less traffic congestion.
Bidders can adhere to the current bus fares but may propose their own fee structure as long as reduced prices are retained for the elderly, the disabled, students and children.
Sources said the government is unlikely to indicate what level of subsidy it is prepared to pay in terms of the public service obligation but bidders will have to indicate what they expect with their offer.
The call for expression of interest is expected to be open for two months, a month longer than what Transport Minister Joe Mizzi had indicated was his preference.