This time a year ago, we were still discussing whether the Arriva drivers should wear ties or not.
A year later, this problem has been solved. No one wears a tie in this heat. Not even in Gozo where until last year at least all Arriva drivers wore ties.
We had said at the time that giving in to the drivers (and the union) would bring about an accelerated deterioration in the service provided. Time has proved us right.
The service is just about acceptable where most routes are served but there are still cases where buses simply do not turn up. This happens even at Valletta where there does not seem to be any system whereby a bus is pressed into service when the expected bus fails to turn up.
There has not been any big improvement in the quality of service, understandable since it seems many of the drivers come from the past regime. Bus drivers were promised to be courteous and able to converse in English – but what one gets is mostly grunts and Maltese masquerading as English.
The Arriva buses have become a byword for breaking down and some of its bendy buses struggle to climb some hills.
As to the rest of the improvements we were promised – forget it. Many of the most important bus stops are still without the electronic ticker that is supposed to announce the arriving buses – especially the ones at Cirkewwa.
We were promised pro-active customer service and an SMS service between the customer and the company – which never materialized.
Almost six months into this new government’s term, it is clear the new administration has yet to come to grips with the problem. Now Minister Mizzi promises an overhaul by November. Remembering the previous administration used to promise improvements in the future which never materialized, we will wait and see.
This is the height of the high season and it does not seem that Arriva has in any way increased the frequency and capacity of its services, especially in the most hard-pressed routes.
People who Sunday after Sunday see huge crowds waiting in the hot afternoon sun at Mellieha Bay, for instance, realize these people are in for an hour or so of hot waiting. (Had they been savvy, they should just cross the road and catch a bus to Cirkewwa where they will find a seated place on the next bus).
The inconveniences are not due to Arriva alone, however. There are also Transport Malta deficiencies.
Such as, to begin again from Cirkewwa, the complete absence of shelters at the bus stops, protecting people from the harsh sun or, in just a few month or so’s time, from rain.
Side by side with the new terminal, there are no places where people awaiting the buses can sit, just as there are, for instance, at Bombi and elsewhere.
The same complaint, regarding the absence of shelter can be said of the situation at Mater Dei Hospital, for you cannot call that a shelter where six people at most can sit.
Again, it is amazing how a government (the previous one) that came up with such an expensive hospital, state-of-the-art and all, did not even give a moment’s thought to the inconvenience of people once outside the hospital.
The present government has a hard nut to crack if it intends to get sensible improvement in the bus service. It will be a feather in the cap if it succeeds where the previous one, the one who came up with the new service, did not.