The Tallinja mobile application was officially launched this morning, which includes bus schedule information in real time, allowing commuters to plan their trip more efficiently and without pointless waiting time on bus stops.
“The aim is to improve the overall experience of tallinja (public bus) customers, by looking at the whole process and service. We carry 40 million people every year so we want to improve the overall experience,” said Konrad Pule, General Manager of Malta Public Transport.
Each bus has been fitted with a transponder, which sends real time information to the control centre every thirty second, which calculated the time of where the bus should be to where it is, making it possible to provide customers with the information on the application.
“The fact that you can know beforehand what is happening with the system improves the service greatly. You are giving a tool to the passengers to be able to plan their journey, if they know beforehand than they can plan accordingly.”
“You can also look at the frequencies of each route, the map of each route and individual stops,” Mr Pule said. He also spoke about the ‘my next bus’ feature, which shows a commuter which bus stops are closest to the person.
He explained that the app is personalised, showing the individual users name and balance when logging in.
“Nowadays, the balance is updated every thirty minutes,” he said.
It is also possible to view your personal history, going back the last two months. This shows a commuter’s transaction history, which buses they caught, the times and the fairs paid.
“People like to be able to see their bus history, and this also saves people from having to call the company for this information,” Mr Pule said.
Another useful feature is that one can top up their tallinja card using the mobile app, either through vouchers, which are available to purchase all over Malta and Gozo, as well as by using a credit/debit bank card.
“We also have a similar system to check you balance by SMS, for those who either do not have a smart phone or have no internet on their phone.”
The app is available on Apple and Google app stores, and will be available on Microsoft shortly. It is completely free of charge, and is not only expected to help locals, but will help tourists travel around the island witch much greater ease.
Photographs by Jonathan Borg