Code of conduct for bus drivers drawn up

A code of conduct for bus drivers is to be handed to the Public Transport Association for distribution to its members in the coming days, Transport Minister Jesmond Mugliett said in reply to a parliamentary question yesterday.

He said the code had been drawn up following months of talks involving the ministry, the Malta Transport Authority and the association.

The purpose of the code was to improve the bus service and to instil a stronger customer care culture in bus owners and drivers, Mr Mugliett said. The code included administrative penalties for infringements and addressed issues such as uniforms, routes, behaviour, driving methods, respect to the authority, licensing, fares and maintenance of the buses.

The minister explained that one new feature that had already been introduced was the maintenance of an operator's logbook for every bus. The logbook holds details of maintenance, VRT and fuel receipts, among other aspects.

Mr Mugliett described the new code of discipline as making the single most critical difference in the bus service, along with the new routes structure.

He said that bus drivers' contraventions such as using mobile phones or smoking while driving, playing loud music and not maintaining a clean bus would henceforth be heard by local tribunals rather than the courts. This would maintain stricter control of discipline on the service.

Mr Mugliett had earlier told Mr Noel Farrugia (MLP) that no complaints of exaggerated rises in bus insurance premia had been brought to his notice. Mr Farrugia maintained that premia had risen by more than Lm100 per bus per year.

Mr Mugliett said that a study on the bus transport system was currently being carried out by foreign experts. The study would take three months to complete, and its findings would form the basis of a new agreement between the government and the PTA for the next four years.