Transport Minister Joe Mizzi on Monday announced that the new public transport service provider - Spanish company Autobuses de Leon - will take over the running of the bus system.

And not a minute before time. The public transport system has become worse since Malta Public Transport took over from Arriva. Let us start with the actual quality of the driving. We seem to have slipped back into the bad old days as drivers speed, take corners too fast, cut people off and just simply act like they are kings of the road. Common etiquette has gone out of the window and we are back to the days of old where other motorists have to literally stop at any intersection - even if they have right of way - because the bus is bigger and the bus will damage your car if you don't yield.

In fact, this newspaper today publishes a story where chaos ensued in a narrow street in Rabat where a bus mounted a pavement, nearly blocked access to a woman's home and generally caused a ruckus as it tried to negotiate the tiny streets. It is pertinent to note that the bus was one which was previously operated by Arriva.

Then there is the attitude of the drivers. While some are courteous, others are rude and there have been several instances where people have filed official complaints that have been repeatedly ignored.

In the wake of such incidents, some people decided to approach the media, but the usual modus operandi is to upload video footage of incidents onto the popular website youtube.

As things stand, it seems we will have another two months of Wild West driving and third world customer service before the new operator comes in. But what of the drivers of the current hotchpotch fleet? Will they be engaged by the new company, or will new employees be engaged? Will we still be making use of the unscheduled bus service drivers to make up the numbers? While one understands the huge issues that comes with operating a public bus service in a country which is  tiny for starters, and suffers with massive road congestion, we really need to think outside the box.

Water taxis have taken off somewhat, but we still need to push their use more. There was talk of monorail links, but nothing has been heard of since the idea was mooted a couple of years back. The only real solution to the problem would be a mass automated transport system that runs underground. It will be expensive, and many have voiced concern over the viability of it. But if we are paying tens of millions of euros in subsidies just to run a bus service, then it might just be worth our while, if only to boost our economy, retain our sanity and rid this island of the chronic exhaust smog that engulfs us.