I read with interest your story titled ‘Catching a bus from Gћadira Bay is still an ordeal’ published last Tuesday. Being a rather frequent user of the public transport service, I sympathise with those people crowding on bus stops hoping to make it home by hook or by crook. Unfortunately, both Transport Malta and Arriva, which is the company entrusted to run the service at least for the next nine years, seem to be incapable of providing a decent service to and from this highly sought beach.

On Wednesday afternoon, I was heading down from Gozo on bus number 41 and witnessed even more incredible scenes. Commuters desperate to board the bus resorted to hitchhiking close to the Seabank Hotel in the hope that someone on the way up from the Mellieћa bypass would show some compassion and give them a lift. Needless to say, this tactic did not seem to score any points except for slowing down the traffic in an area already beleaguered by traffic management problems due to the never-ending works on the arterial roads. I happened to be on a bus already packed but fortunately with the aircondition on, as otherwise it would have been impossible to endure such a long trip in the current heatwave with temperatures hovering above 35 degrees.

Whilst hoping that authorities step in to mitigate the situation, the fact that 12 months down the line commuters are still being offered a service which is a far cry from what was promised, does not bode well at all.

Joseph Vella,

Mosta