Bus operator Arriva has blamed delays in its service on the multiple road construction projects which are making traffic congestion around the island worse.
Buses have to leave at their scheduled time
It has been seven months since the bulky aquamarine buses replaced their old yellow predecessors and, although the new bus operator is no longer inundated with complaints like it was until recently, the service can hardly be said to run on English time, particularly on some routes.
Commuters experience regular delays at random times, especially during the week. The most common complaints reaching The Times were about the Cottonera, Rabat, Dingli, Mtarfa and Marsascala routes buses but other reported delays were on the Siġġiewi, Żebbug, Marsaxlokk and Mellieħa routes as well.
When contacted, Arriva said the completion of major roadworks, including those on Council of Europe road, the Lija bypass and Marfa Ridge, would ease the general traffic flow and aid punctuality.
A company spokesman said there was “a continued trend of improvement in punctuality” and the company was working with Transport Malta to overcome bottle-necks on the roads.
“Quite often, there are also unpredictable holdups because of traffic accidents, emergency road works ... as well as one-off special events like the Malta Marathon, which will cause delays and disruption,” he said.
Bus delays, breakdowns, faulty ticketing machines and non-functioning destination displays had been described as “teething troubles” by Arriva, but seven months on these are among the issues that commuters have been complaining about to The Times.
Three people who spoke to the newspaper said they had to change buses because of an engine breakdown about four times since the new service was launched.
Another recurrent “reliability” problem which erupted with the demise of the previous bus system was the lack of synchronisation between the Ċirkewwa route buses and the Gozo ferry service.
Before July 3, buses used to leave once ferry passengers boarded the bus. Nowadays, however, buses are seen leaving while the ferry is still docking, and ferry passengers have to wait around 20 minutes before another bus turns up.
The Arriva spokesman said the company planned its timetable a couple of months in advance and has found it difficult to get accurate ferry schedules. He added the company was discussing this issue with Gozo Channel in preparation for the summer.
“Buses have to leave at their scheduled time, considering that any leeway in the timetable has been taken away by the long-term road works at Mellieħa bypass and Marfa.
“Also, many other customers rely on this service further down the line and we have to take care of their interests too,” he said.
Current road works appear to also affect the functionality of the onboard information display screens.
Asked when the interior display screens would be working regularly, the spokesman said the screens were working but were occasionally disrupted when buses were diverted because of road works.
However, five regular commuters who spoke to The Times said the screens were not functioning 50 per cent of the time. The Times witnessed five non-working display screens of six trips in one day.
Tourists said that, while display screens usually worked on the St Julians route bus, they did not work on most of the other routes.