Works on doubling the size of the Valletta bus terminus will start as soon as possible, with the preliminary processes already under way, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi said yesterday.
The enlarged terminus will cater for 40 additional routes to be rolled out in July, as Spanish company Autobuses de Leon gradually takes over the full operation of public transport.
Mr Mizzi said the preparations leading up to the commencement of works were in hand but he could not announce a completion date for the terminus. “We have set target dates, however, I will not be presumptuous and declare a date until I have all the permits,” he said.
The handover of the service started in January and the company’s first new buses will be delivered next month, such that there will be 142 new nine-metre vehicles on the roads by October.
The extended terminus will be able to handle the entire bus fleet, vacating the area around the Triton Fountain outside Valletta, which is now used to park some of the buses, and allowing it to be pedestrianised.
The most anticipated development is a public transport card system set to be launched in July. This will offer more advantageous fares to the elderly,students and frequent users
The building that once housed the Lotto Department at St James Ditch has meanwhile been completely demolished to pave the way for works to upgrade the fountain area.
The most anticipated development is a public transport card system set to be launched in July. This will offer more advantageous fares to the elderly, students and frequent users than these groups pay at present.
The card will be distributed to all free of charge and can then be topped up with no time limit.
In January, Mr Mizzi said a detailed information campaign on the new bus fare structure would be unveiled in March.
Although the campaign does not seem to have yet made it to the public sphere, Mr Mizzi said information on the new structure had started to be disseminated and the campaign was under way.
Meetings are being held with various communities, such as support groups for the disabled and pensioners.