Following my two-month stay in Buġibba, I noted some potential reforms to public transport which could be tackled at practically no extra cost.
To start with, the timetable at every bus stop on the island is too detailed and could be simplified.
Very often buses 48 and 51, which have similar although not identical routes, leave the Buġibba terminal almost at the same time. A 10-minute interval would help.
Buġibba, as many other areas, has a parking problem. This complicates the flow of traffic on the roads. This problem, in all parts of the island, should be faced immediately with the participation of the private sector. Parking is an investment.
The hospital terminus should be re-organised to avoid all that rush when each bus arrives. An idea could be that buses going to Valletta, for example, pick up the passengers from the bus stop where they disembark. The bus stop on the other side of the road would be for the buses going to the towns and villages. Whatever it might be though, an urgent solution is needed. And please invest in a respectable shelter!
I suggest that buses coming from Valletta, using the bypass in the direction of Iklin, need not go to the roundabout, thereby adding to the congestion. They should be directed to Iklin before the bypass ends.
The government is planning to build a tunnel at Santa Lucija. That’s good news. I prefer tunnels to fly-overs in little Malta, which does not have the vast open spaces, far from residential areas, that other countries do.
Coming from or going to Valletta, during the rush hours, a third lane should be created at Pietà. It is very easy. One could just take away the little chains temporarily.
The buses take eight minutes, during rush hour, to make the short distance from the roundabout near the university to Msida. Preference should be given to the buses on the left lane, and I dare add, without the need for them to stop at the traffic lights!
Private car drivers should give preference to the buses – and not the contrary, as very often happens. The public is more important than the private.
Where two equally important roads meet, a sleeping policeman well positioned might help the flow of the cars.
Traffic during the day flows reasonably well. It’s at the rush hours that there is most congestion. One might study the idea of creating three different timetables for the various citizens. Industries would, say, start at 6.30am; all schools would open at 8.30am and commerce would start functioning at 10am. A radical idea perhaps but worth discussing at length.