From the very start, the Arriva service was doomed to failure. The great number of drivers who failed to report for work seemed to be a deliberate attempt to sabotage the service from the beginning.

However, there are other factors that show lack of proper planning and also lack of understanding for the Maltese mentality.

How could the persons in charge of the reform ever have imagined the commuters would change from the old schedule, which they have been accustomed to for years, to a completely new one overnight. This was sheer madness and goes to show that the planners did not understand the magnitude of the changeover.

The service should return to the former schedule and any alterations or additional routes should be introduced gradually.

The problems with the old system were primarily the shabby and bad-mannered drivers, a few of whom were unfortunately accepted by Arriva and did not turn up for work, and the dirty buses.

The introduction of new routes where necessary is a welcome move but many of them should be scrubbed as they are not patronised and the buses diverted to other busier routes.

The transport authority should for the moment concentrate on where there is heavy demand for the bus service before introducing new routes.

The intention behind the reform was to give the public a more comfortable and efficient service and drive persons away from using their own transport.

The opposite is happening as more cars are on the road because the bus service in its present form is far from efficient.

It is the duty of the authority to reverse this trend.