A protest walk is being organised on Friday to express disapproval at the “sorry state” of public transport in Valletta.
If European norms impose Euro V cars only, then whoever owns a car older than 2009 can throw it away
People were short-changed on the long-promised public transport reform – buses were running late in many localities or not passing frequently enough or arriving full at the stages, spokesman Ryan Dalli from the newly-formed group Rebootsaid during a news conference yesterday.
The group – made up of around 15 students and employees – said they were starting a campaign to “voice public dissatisfaction” at the situation that had been mishandled by Transport Malta and operator Arriva.
So far, the only event in their campaign is the protest walk on Friday at 6 p.m. – the same day when Parliament will take a vote on Labour’s motion of no confidence against Transport Minister Austin Gatt.
Once the walk is over, the group would see what needed to be done, Mr Dalli said.
The “appalling” lack of route-driving for drivers, need for regular maintenance and safety checks for buses, limited availability of functioning access ramps for wheelchairs and the lack of functioning pre-paid cards and payment machines were among the issues that had to be addressed.
Arriva and Transport Malta kept on shifting responsibility to each other, “disrupting people’s lives in the process”, Mr Dalli said.
However, the Gozo Tourism Association praised the public transport service yesterday and said its members were “continuously receiving positive feedback from tourists”.
This service had, up to now, proved itself to be a leap forward in the public transport system in Gozo, the association said.
The routes network covered by Arriva improved accessibility over a larger span of time, something that was lacking in the previous system, it said.
It also praised the introduction of the direct route to Ċirkewwa from the airport which further contributed to easing access for tourists who wanted to visit Gozo.
Launched in July, the reform went through several phases of change and adaptation – the last was announced on Friday with the arrival of 36 new buses, of these 17 are bendy buses, and some will fall short of the Euro V emissions standard – a move that was criticised by the Labour Party.
However, the Transport Ministry denied the party’s claims of a breach of European norms if buses of Euro II and IV standard were used for a while. “If European norms impose Euro V cars only, then whoever owns a car older than 2009 can throw it away,” the ministry said.
Had the government insisted with Arriva for Euro V buses, there would have been a further delay. Euro III and IV vehicles were “perfectly normal” in European roads and nowhere in the world imposed dumping cars after two years, the ministry said.
The batch of 36 imported buses was “borrowed” from European public transport operations and respected European environmental norms.
However, this was a temporary measure, after which, the ministry and Arriva agreed that these would become Euro V, the ministry said.