The government is looking into the possibility of introducing free public transport at peak hours, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi said today.

Speaking in Parliament during the Budget debate on transport, the minister said that although the service had improved, much more needed to be done.

He said that the new road network would come into effect soon and these would increase frequency. Their introduction had been delayed because of industrial action.

He said that Arriva had wanted a €45 million subsidy to operate the current  network while the Maltese consortium had asked for €40 million. The Spanish consortium, which the government selected, asked for €29 million.

He said that the new company had employed 400 new drivers and while Transport Malta had paid €140,000 for Arriva advertising, this bill had now reached just over €70,000.

Mr Mizzi noted that it was the Opposition itself which had admitted, in its election defeat report, that it had lost control of public transport.

The minister also said that work on the Kappara Junction project would start next year and would be carried out at night.

Roads that were to take the diverted traffic while works were being carried would be upgraded before the work on the junction actually started and meetings would be held with the councils to be affected by the project before it started and during works according to need.

OIL EXPLORATION

Speaking on other matters, the minister said that waste dumped at sea was to start being collected as from next year.

On oil exploration, he said that a company the government had reached an agreement with in February had concluded its preliminary seismic study and actual seismic monitoring was to start next year.

TRAFFIC: NO ROADMAP, NO PLAN, NO POLICY - SHADOW MINISTER

Earlier, Transport shadow minister Marthese Portelli highlighted the problems being faced in the public transport sector as well as the traffic situation.

She called on the government to come up with short term measures and in parallel work on medium and long term measures to tackle the traffic problem.

Shadow Minister Marthese Portelli

She said that although the government last year tripled the public transport subsidy, this had not yet improved. Moreover, the government also had to pay more than €100,000 for advertising and ancillary works.

She noted that there was still no date for the introduction of new route network.

She said there were people who still had not received the tallinja card and some cards were still defective.

The top-up, she pointed out, was not included immediately but within 48 hours and several top-up cards were defective.

There were routes which were being skipped and the service was not on time.

Dr Portelli noted that drivers worked for little pay in precarious conditions. They were not compensated for their break if they missed it and for the time they took to hand over the day’s earnings.

She said that when it came to traffic the government had no roadmap, no plan and no policy. All the government did was examine and consult.

On parking, Dr Portelli said this should be an essential part of traffic management. Two pilot projects were mentioned - in Mosta and Marsascala and people in other localities were complaining that they had been forgotten.

MPS CALLS FOR MEASURE THAT WOULD ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO CYCLE

Charlo Bonnici, PN, called for measures which would encourage people to cycle.

Hoped that national cycle plan would not be shelved and would also include localities besides arterial roads.

He noted that in spite of the increase in the public transport subsidy, people Mr Bonnici said there was no magic wand to solve the traffic problem and solutions should not be pies in the sky.

Kristy Debono asked whether the government was willing to invest to encourage the use of bicycles. She said the time had come to seriously invest in a bicycle network for Malta and Gozo.

The government should also ask the public transport company to invest in an IT system that would help people plan their journeys.

Traffic congestions were costing the country millions and the people needed concrete answers that would bear results.

The people wanted real solutions and not knee-jerk reactions.