Wednesday, 23rd July 2008 - 13:36CET
Minister launches public transport reform document
Transport Minister Austin Gatt this afternoon launched a document proposing a root and branch reform of public transport. He told a press conference that the government had set a target date of 2015 for a complete system, including, if possible, a tram service, which truly served the people and which led the people to prefer public transport to their cars.
He said a major reform of the bus service had to be completed by 2010 at the latest - in view of EU rules, and reform in the area of mini buses and taxis had to be completed earlier.
Dr Gatt said public transport should include as many forms of transport as possible, including buses, taxis, ferries and trams. Malta needed to have a new, energy efficient fleet of buses of different sizes as appropriate for the different localities, a new route network, new management for the bus service, and full utilisation of the buses every day.
Rapid services needed to be introduced to major destinations, such as Mater Dei, but in general services needed to be more frequent and operated over 24 hours. There should also be links between the various towns and villages and services to the Park and Ride at Blata l-Bajda and similar parking areas.
A new ticketing system needed to be introduced, with incentives for frequent users. The bus drivers needed to become employees who would work an acceptable number of hours. It was dangerous that some drivers currently worked as much as 16 hours at a stretch.
Dr Gatt said there also needed to be changes in the relationship between the ADT as the regulator and the Public Transport Association (ATP), which, despite being the operator, acted like a trade union.
While acknowledging that some form of state funding would be necessary for the social aspect of public transport, the minister said the current system where the bus owners had a guaranteed income whatever the level of usage had to stop – not least because since this system as introduced in 1995, the number of patrons had fallen.
Dr Gatt said the ADT was working on proposals for a new bus network and they would be presented to the ATP for discussion shortly.
Studies were also under way on the type of buses (and mini vans) whih would be needed for the bus service and the recurrent expenses which could be expected from a modern and efficient bus service. All these issues would be discussed with the bus owners, along with the future management of public transport in line with EU directives.
Separately, Dr Gatt said detailed studies were under way for the introduction of water taxis this summer and initial studies had been launched on the possible introduction of two tram lines – from Valletta to Birkirkara and Rabat and from Valletta to Sliema. Economic viability still has to be proved. Should it be viable, the aim was to introduce a tram service by 2015.
“Our purpose is to have an efficient public transport system that is environmentally friendly, financially sustainable, integrated, modern, and tailored to the people’s needs,” Dr Gatt said.
The minister said last week's public transport strike had helped the reform process because the people had shown that they wanted change.
The document can be found at: www.mitc.gov.mt
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Comments
In my opinion Malta should have a more extensive tram system with more than just 2 lines irrespective of the population number. Energy costs will continue to rise and when oil hits 200USD per barrel people are going to need to travel on mass transit systems and abandon their cars.
There should be a tram line on all of our main arteries like regional road, coast road, 13 December etc. The system should have trams plying between the various points of Malta to somewhere in Marsa which would be the main station where people can change direction. So for example if I want to go from Attard to St Andrews, I would catch a tram coming from the direction of Rabat, change at Marsa and onwards to St Andrew.
There is no need for direct routes as long as the trams are frequent and are on dedicated lines which means that the journey is not interrupted by traffic and is exactly on time.
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Let's hope this is not just a dream.
A tram from Valletta to Birkirkara and Rabat. Didn't we have this before? The old times were better as we can see from this proposal.
It is ILLEGAL in Europe for bus drivers to drive 16 hours a day! ILLEGAL !!! Europe cares about bus drivers falling asleep while driving and causing heavy accidents. Europe cares for the people using these buses. Neither the Maltese government nor the Transport Federation cares.
Enough! If the government is really interested in changing the system and making it more attractive for the public, they should just start, just make and implement new laws & regulations. Consult the federations, yes, but at the end it's the government's decision and the government has the resonsibility. Don't just talk and talk and consult and create committees forever!
Do something what could have been done already for years!
There is a Mr. Canada here saying that the 3 mile one came to 1 billion bucks...I presume the canadian powers predicted its cost...and still went for it..? Why ? because it is effective, make sense, not an eyesore. Lets go for a trial line, its not like we do not have the tech to build tunnels, Enemalta built one connecting the 2 p/stations, the St. Venera tunnel etc... we need an underground system. The cost for it can be subsidised from bus / shipbuild and other out dated subsidies we already pay for with no returns. Go UG!
Underground is a good idea, but Malta is too small. It would take two hundred years to finish. Especially if they have to stop work every time they find a bone. The old boats you can sink them and create reefs.
Second, Malta is not at all comparable to a densely populated city, where high-capacity heavy rail makes sense. It's perhaps best comparable to a provincial town with surrounding towns and villages. In that case, it would probably be best to have a tram-train: bigger than a tram, but smaller than a train. For instance, a Bombardier Flexity or a Alstom Regio-Citadis.
The only problems are sharing the roads and level crossings. And these are serious problems, but not as serious as footing the bill for an underground.
Toronto "found it hard" to build this 5.5 km stretch because it is a city with very limited taxation powers, and as such had to broker a deal for funding with the two senior levels of government (federal and provincial). It had to somehow deal with the fact that the Mike Harris government abruptly axed $137 million fromthe project when construction was already well underway, followed by the demise of the old Metro level of government and the amalgamation of five boroughs to form one city in 1998.
I do not see the relevance to Malta's situation at all.
By the way, a 5.5 km subway in Malta would take you from MIA to Valletta.
Meanwhile I've always wondered what criteria is used to prioritise road re-building. Eg why is Naxxar Road, Birkirkara to Mosta so neglected. If it was properly surfaced and marked two lanes on each carriageway could be used. As it is everyone needs space to maneouvre the potholes and therefore drive in the middle of the road. What's the logic behind the new one-land roads? Has anyone given any consideration to easing traffic FLOWS? Or removing bottlenecks. Eg. Naxxar San Gwann road could easily be restructured to make overtaking possible. As it is everyone has to drive at the speed of the slowest moving lorry.
Utilise the minibuses, green cabs and ferry boats to service those location presently not on the PTA routes or require a double journey to reach the destination.
Also increase the park and ride facilities to popular localities. Remove or decrease the taxes on motorised bicycles, green cars, low power motorbikes and bicycles.
Most of the above can be running in a few weeks, God forbid if we have to wait another seven years to achieve some kind of reform. In all probability by that time we will be up to our eyeballs in carbon dioxide, and we will have one of the busiest hearse companies in Europe! And all the fuss of last week, your promised resignation included, for f... all!
As regards profits etc... Maybe you people don't know that currently the government is making losses from public transport through subsidies. It does not need to be profitable from day 1, it is very hard to make public transport profitable immediately.
We've even gotten to the point when bus drivers wear a proper uniform in a 'decent way' Imagination is certainly rife over here - let's go undergound, let's swim, let's fly - oh let's get serious. The biggest difficulty is our road and village set-up - do you see any straight roads in Malta? Can you imagine all the twists and turns for trams? Let's invest in bicycles for town centres and please let us admit once and for all that we are a 'pampered lot' who will use a car instead of a 10 minute walk - just look at the success of car free days in Malta!!
sub-stations operating within specific areas, one would just hop from
a bus to another to get to a place. If system is properly designed and
implemented one can reach from South to North in just 2 bus changes
and shorter time than current inefficient system. Also big buses are
not suitable for Malta, we just need more frequent service by
mini-vans that cater for 20pax. I travelled extensively and in small
countries or big cities having the size of Malta you rarely see big
buses using public roads obstracted by a huge no. of cars.
Possible solution could be Monorails, though they are aesthetically unappealing and have a couple of technical disadvantages.
Is it the new fleet of energy- efficient buses that is needed. .... OR AN EFFICIENT WAY FOR SOME IMPORTER TO MAKE MONEY ????
How come no mention of gas-driven buses (and cars) ? Most European cities use these kind of buses due to less pollution and cheaper running costs.
My advice is: don't dare touch the Gozo Transport a-system. You as a gozitan should understand why.
Leave their Minister in peace and don;t echo-the-island...if you know what I mean
Miriam
However I think that without an underground network, public transport will never be efficicient. It would still be subject to the same conjested roads and traffic.
I can understand that an underground system may be too expensive however why don't we study the viability of an underground system which caters for the towns and cities around the 2 harbours? I'm sure that ONE CIRCULAR lane like this would have enough patrons:
Sliema -> St Julians -> San Gwann -> Mater Dei/University -> B'Kara -> St. Venera -> Qormi -> Paola/Tarxien -> Fgura - > Zabbar -> Smart City site -> Kalkara -> Valletta -> Sliema
Yes, it's 2015 because by then Labour will be in govt and rest assured that Joseph Muscat will implement such needed reform without any further procrastination. 'PN' and 'DEADLINES' are two words that aren't really compatible.
400K inhabitants + 1.5 mill tourists does not make a popluation of 1.5 million. At most, the population including tourists in August or September averages 700K. Thats not half the quota we need for an underground transport. Having said that, I still agree that we need to think outside the box for a more efficient means of transport.
It would be nonsensical to ferry passengers from say Senglea or Vittoriosa and then leave them stranded at Valletta wharf.
Otherwise the water taxi idea is a commendable albeit overdue decision.
Mr/Ms Muscat: The problem is that the viability of such a system depends (if one is to believe the minister) on having a population of 1.5 million people, a large proportion of which uses public transport. Having a total "influx" of 1.5 million people is not the same thing. However, your idea of a test line (say airport-valletta-Cirkewwa) might prove quite interesting.