Buses around Malta and Gozo carried 4.5 million passengers in February, Malta Public Transport said in a statement on Tuesday. 

The number of average daily users increased by nine per cent from January to February, growing from 146,000 to 159,000. 

Last month over 2.9 million passengers used the Tallinja Card to access public transport, which has increased by 56 per cent when compared to February 2022 and by 27.5 per cent when compared to February 2019. 

In February 2023, there were 145,000 unique Tallinja Card users, which makes an increase of 46.2 per cent when compared to the same month last year and 19.4 per cent when compared to the same month in 2019. 

When compared to January 2023, figures indicate that there was a 3.6 per cent increase in unique Tallinja Card users month-on-month, despite the fact that the month of February had three days less than January. 

Last month also saw a staggering increase in the number of registrations for new Tallinja, MPT said, with the number jumping by 109 per cent when compared to February 2019. 

“The continuation of this positive trend is a very important indication that more passengers are opting to travel by bus. However, our passengers are telling us that it takes too long to get from one place to another by bus and that more must be done by various stakeholders to give bus passengers priority on the road,” MPT general manager Konrad Pule said. 

 "We thank all our customers who are contributing to a cleaner environment and reduced congestion by choosing to travel by bus. We would also like to thank our bus drivers, who are carrying our passengers safely, despite all the challenges they face on the road."

"We look forward to further discussions with stakeholders to implement bus priority measures that will make the public transport service more reliable, more punctual and more efficient.”