It was difficult out on the road this week. The exasperating, unacceptable and frightening situation, the likes of which Malta hasn't seen in decades, was caused by people who drive for a living. It was clear their rage stemmed from fear: fear of competition and fear of change.
They only need to take a look at every other sector of Malta's economy to see that, in the end, competition brought about by liberalisation creates benefits to consumers, and generates more business. That is the way of a free market. Not many organisations which provide efficient service at competitive rates, for which there is demand, go under.
The concept is very simple, but we have been talking about putting it into practice for years. If an efficient, reliable, clean and courteous public transport service were put in place, numerous people would leave their cars at home to use it to get from A to B.
Take a case in point: the park and ride scheme into Valletta fit all those criteria (run as it was by the operator whose contract was rightfully, and sadly, terminated on Monday). Commuters used it in droves and had nothing but praise for the service. A small step had been made. People had been won over and had finally been convinced to leave their cars behind and use public transport.
Now we need to go a step further. But people who are sick and tired of driving around looking for a free parking space will only leave their car keys at home if they are assured that public transport will involve some level of comfort.
The problem is that, after the scenes of the past week, public transport operators in their current guise have scared off potential new customers. It is time for change now, whether they like it or not.
Picking up the pieces and starting afresh will take investment, time and acumen. Flimkien kollox possibli? Too right. There's even more money to be made if they get their act together and chase their demons.
They only need to take a look at every other sector of Malta's economy to see that, in the end, competition brought about by liberalisation creates benefits to consumers, and generates more business. That is the way of a free market. Not many organisations which provide efficient service at competitive rates, for which there is demand, go under.
The concept is very simple, but we have been talking about putting it into practice for years. If an efficient, reliable, clean and courteous public transport service were put in place, numerous people would leave their cars at home to use it to get from A to B.
Take a case in point: the park and ride scheme into Valletta fit all those criteria (run as it was by the operator whose contract was rightfully, and sadly, terminated on Monday). Commuters used it in droves and had nothing but praise for the service. A small step had been made. People had been won over and had finally been convinced to leave their cars behind and use public transport.
Now we need to go a step further. But people who are sick and tired of driving around looking for a free parking space will only leave their car keys at home if they are assured that public transport will involve some level of comfort.
The problem is that, after the scenes of the past week, public transport operators in their current guise have scared off potential new customers. It is time for change now, whether they like it or not.
Picking up the pieces and starting afresh will take investment, time and acumen. Flimkien kollox possibli? Too right. There's even more money to be made if they get their act together and chase their demons.