Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects Ian Borg launched the Malta Bus Reborn concept during an activity held in Triton Square where the old bus terminus used to be. The concept, designed by Architect Jonathan Mizzi from Mizzi Studio, introduces an electric bus incorporating several characteristics from traditional Maltese buses.
Minister Borg looked back at the traditional Maltese bus and said that for him and several Maltese people, it brings back a lot of good memories, and while public transport did not have the commodities of today, like free Wi-Fi and adequate bus shelters, it is still very nostalgic for the Maltese.
“At the same time we have to accept that the world moves on, and we need to keep up with progress. Today we have a public transport service that’s bringing a lot of results while serving more than 150,000 passengers a day, a service that has been subject to several reforms by this Government leading to positive results, including a substantial increase in usage. This important means for our country with numbers that show that it is also a preferred alternative means by people shows us that we need to continue working hard. Our work is definitely not done. The next step is to look ahead towards more solutions while working towards the concept of sustainability, as we are already doing together with Transport Malta through financial incentives for the purchasing of electric, sustainable or smaller means, the sharing concept and micromobility. The next step is to look ahead towards cleaner buses towards cleaner air” said the Minister.
He stressed that because of this, when meeting with Architect Mizzi and his team earlier this year, when the concept was presented, the Ministry had to give its full support for this design.
“It is a concept that brings together something very nostalgic for us Maltese and something we are looking at for our future – sustainability, alternative means, electromobility. I commend Architect Mizzi and his team for this impeccable design joining culture and progress and I hope that in the future this design can be tangibly realised. We look forward to more progress in this sector for a service that is always better and always more sustainable, while reiterating our commitment as a Government towards more investment and incentives so that more and more people consider public transport as their preferred means of transport,” said Minister Borg.
He explained that the 53.5 million passenger record in 2018 was almost twice the passengers using the service in 2011, and he reiterated the Government’s commitment to continue incentivising more usage as has been done in the last three years with free public transport so that today all youths from 14 to 20 and all full-time students have this benefit. The Minister said that despite results, we have not yet arrived at our destination point. In fact, the Government is currently working on several investments in new bus shelters around the country while in August, 40 new buses were added to the fleet of 400 we had before.
From his end, Architect Jonathan Mizzi said, “As a country we have such an incredible amount of built heritage. Our industrial heritage is just as important as our architectural heritage. The buses formed part of an infrastructural network that spanned our whole nation, they were the lifeline that fuelled our connectivity across every arterial road. They brought so much colour and joy to our roads as each colour denoted its own route. And this why they were such a vibrant symbol of our Maltese craftmanship loved not just by our people but also by our tourists. My studio and I have worked very hard over 7 years to capture the essence of our diverse bus fleet into a singular design that unifies the most common genetic features of them all fusing them with the functionality of the latest technology in transport. It’s fitting that we are here today at the site of our old bus terminus to exhibit this new concept. On behalf of my whole team at Mizzi Studio and all of our partners I would like to thank Minister Ian Borg for endorsing our concept and look forward to seeing our country move forward in a manner that stays true to ourselves whilst holding hands in harmony with our environment.”
Photo of buses: Courtesy Koptaco