Labour MP Marlene Farrugia has called for the bus service to be made free of charge, as a means of reducing traffic congestion and hence also improving air quality.

"Public transport in Malta and Gozo should be punctual, efficient, adequately routed and free," she said in a Facebook post..

"What we pay from our taxes to support it (or from what we save on clamping down on corruption), will be returned to us many times over in better air quality, increased hours of productivity rather than biting our nails in traffic jams," she said, adding that this would also decrease in stress levels.

The comment was made after a MaltaToday survey found that traffic tops the list of concerns among the Maltese.

"Where Public transport is concerned Arriva had destroyed faith in the service. The current Spanish company has so far failed to restore trust in the service in spite of subsidies and higher fares. Its a disaster and getting worse." the Labour MP said.

"No use flogging a dead horse. "To resuscitate use of Public Transport, shock treatment is required at least until taking a bus gets back into our routine because it is once more: Reliable, Punctual, Efficient and Free," she said.