Transport Malta’s decision to celebrate Malta Public Transport has backfired, prompting dozens to voice their frustration with the bus service.

MPT, which operates Malta’s public bus service, was given an award for Best Infrastructure at the first edition of the Transport Malta-organised National Transport Awards on Tuesday night.

The company won the recognition for its work to set up a charging depot for its fleet of electric buses. The 3-megawatt charging system allows the company to charge up to 30 buses at the same time, with buses fully charging in under two hours.

Transport Malta said the initiative, coupled with MPT’s work to add electric vehicles to its bus fleet, was lowering the company’s operational costs and had reduced its greenhouse gas emissions “by a remarkable 70%”.

MPT general manager Konrad Pule accepted the award on the company’s behalf.

The celebration was short-lived, however. Within minutes of announcing the award on social media, irate bus users began to post critical comments.

“Amazing that you found a way how to charge the buses but you are far away from having efficient, well coordinated and connected transport network,” one commenter posted.

Many asked whether the award was “a joke” or wondered whether it was an “out of season April Fool’s”.

Others questioned the entire premise of the awards and drew comparisons between the event and “tapping yourself on the back”.

“Who was the competition?” one asked.

And there were also many questions about the claims about a 70 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

“How can 30 electric buses reduce greenhouse emissions by 70% out of a fleet of 100s of buses?” one commenter asked. Another wondered whether the company was factoring in the emissions of “hundreds of other buses stuck in traffic for hours on end all around the island throughout the day”.

Malta Public Transport took over the national bus service in 2015 and has a fleet of 420 buses serving routes across Malta and Gozo. Routes, frequencies and fares are regulated by Transport Malta.

According to financial estimates published by the government last month, the company will receive €40 million in public funds this year, rising to €49 million in 2024. The government has also allocated an additional €25 million to MPT to cover the costs of making bus rides free for Tallinja card holders, as well as €8.5 million in EU funding to further electrify the national bus fleet.

Bus use is increasing year-on-year and MPT has said that 2023 will be a record year in terms of passenger numbers. There is room for that to grow, however: a survey published in January indicated a continued lack of trust in the public transportation service. 

It is the first time that Transport Malta organised its own award ceremony. It says the National Transport Awards are intended to celebrate outstanding contributions to the transport sector, showcase best practices and foster collaboration within the sector.

Contenders were self-nominated. No information was made public about how applicants were judged, or who decided which nominees won awards.

There were five award categories: innovation, sustainability, modal shift, infrastructure and safety.

Apart from MPT, which won the infrastructure award, other winners included:

• Active Ageing and Community Care won an innovation award for its Silver-T service offering free transport to senior and disabled citizens
• Project Aegle Foundation’s sCOOL2walk project, which encourages parents to walk their children to school, won the award for modal shift
• Maltapost won a sustainability award for its last-mile ‘one delivery’ project that has seen it build up a fleet of electric bikes and vehicles

Transport Malta did not announce a winner in the safety category.