The main improvement in the public transport system in the last few months has been the larger bus fleet, but other problems remain unsolved, according to commuters who spoke to Times of Malta.
“Funnily enough, Arriva used to insist that there was no need for more buses on the road when this was indeed their main problem,” said one commuter who uses the bus on a daily basis.
“Because there are more buses, the schedules are being adhered to and that is why I think people, including myself, are complaining less,” he said.
The public transport system was taken over by the government last January from Arriva. The private company ended its 10-year contract prematurely after accumulating massive debts and operating well below the level of efficiency that commuters had been led to expect.
At least it’s no longer telling us that our destination is Huang Tzo Garden in China
Since then, the fleet has been enlarged to better cope with demand, but other problems have emerged. Most commuters who contacted this paper complained about the lack of air-conditioning on the new small white buses, describing them as “a furnace”, particularly when operating on longer trips such as Route 91 from Valletta to Marsascala.
“These buses are much too small for these routes: during the peak hours these buses are overcrowded.”
Others pointed out that on some routes hired private coaches were being used – and also had no air-conditioning facility.
“In summer the heat inside is unbearable. Most of these buses have no bells inside, so you have to shout to the driver to stop,” added another commuter. “And of course there’s no way you can get on with a pushchair, let alone a wheelchair.”
The heat problem is faced by commuters on particular routes such as Santa Luċija to Mater Dei or Valletta to St Luke’s, where private mini-buses of the sliding door variety are used.
Drivers taking shortcuts are also a problem. Some drivers, especially those manning hired coaches, can often be heard asking commuters for their destin-ation, and if no one wants to stop on routes along the way, they drive straight on.
“I’ve been left stranded quite a few times,” said one X2 bus user. “What am I meant to do? Who do I report them to? Before we had Arriva customer service, now it’s back to what it was like with the yellow buses.”
The 16 bus bays at the Valletta bus terminus, which were adequate for Arriva’s smaller fleet, are now too small for the re-enlarged fleet.
One regular Cottonera commuter said: “During peak hours buses cannot stop on their actual bay, because there’ll be another bus, and so they have to stop far away from the bay.”
In most cases, drivers or dispatchers end up having to get off the bus, barking instructions to waiting people at the other end of the terminus, and giving them directions from where to catch the bus.
On a positive note, some commuters expressed relief that the computerised displays on top of the buses are now switched on for most of the time and show the correct number, so most buses are doing away with having to print the bus numbers.
Also, the computerised display inside the buses which shows the bus stop destination is either accurate or blank.
“But at least it’s no longer telling us that our destination is Huang Tzo Garden in China,” said one commuter.