Company offers coaches for much less than what the government pays
A leading member of the Unscheduled Bus Service is offering to hire vehicles at a rate that equates some €12,000 per day less than the government is paying. Speaking in Parliament last month, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi said the State was spending...
A leading member of the Unscheduled Bus Service is offering to hire vehicles at a rate that equates some €12,000 per day less than the government is paying.
Speaking in Parliament last month, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi said the State was spending €35,472 per day to hire 40 vehicles from the UBS to plug the gaps left by the bendy buses, which were withdrawn after a spate of fires last August.
This equates to €886 per bus per day. Based on the assumption that the buses are hired from 5am to midnight, this means the hourly rate per bus is €46.
Posing as an association of British travel agents who needed to hire a bus to ferry its members around on a fact-finding trip to Malta, The Sunday Times of Malta received a written quote from one of the most prominent UBS members – an association of private bus companies and garages – for €31 per hour.
The quote was for an air-conditioned 50-seater coach with a driver for 12 continuous hours or more per day.
More on the e-paper on The Sunday Times of Malta Premium http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140223/local/Driving-up-bus-hire-cost-.507855