The Nationalist Party’s silence throughout the past week, as the traditional and social media wrote and spoke volumes about the latest mishaps of Arriva, is an acknowledgment that what, as a government in the previous term, they pompously portrayed as a revolution in the public transport system has failed.

The introduction of bendy buses on Maltese roads had been described as a way to reduce waiting time and make the service more efficient, but when the first traffic jams were reported because the vehicles were too big for the narrow streets, and when drivers could not manoeuvre them around certain roundabouts, it became immediately clear that they would not have lasted long.

The jokes started, and we were laughed at in London too. But it then became a more serious matter when people’s lives were in danger in the fires that engulfed three such buses in less than 48 hours last week. The government did the right thing in pulling them off the roads and open an investigation. I do not think that we will see them again.

British newspapers are now also reporting about the way buses that were discarded in London have also been removed from Maltese roads after incidents similar to those which had led to their elimination from the English capital city. We always make the international news for the wrong reasons.

It is a moral victory for the Labour Party, which had immediately expressed its concern about the reform in the public transport system when it was in Opposition. It is also a political victory for the PL, because it can always blame the previous administration for the debacle, and whatever it does will be explained as patching up of a system that started on the wrong foot.

It is certainly a huge defeat for the Nationalist Party. The failed reform in the sector was one of the reasons that led to its historic trouncing in the last election. And the PN is still paying the consequences.

But I speak of failure not just because of the fires, serious as they were.

I do so because the switch from the old buses to Arriva did not bring about the much-desired change in the way public transport is perceived. Neither did it make the service better.

It did not lead to more people opting to leave their personal cars in their garages or parked in front of their homes to catch the bus instead. It did not lead to less traffic on the roads. It did not make the service more reliable and efficient. It did not bring about better bus drivers.

Yes, we have air-conditioned buses now. Yes, we have a night service and some new routes although, even here, some decisions remain questionable. Yes, Arriva organises special trips to venues where important events are being held.

But that’s about just it. Buses still arrive late. Buses still keep people waiting more than they should on bus stops that are not sheltered from the sun and rain. People who genuinely tried to start making use of the bus services stopped doing so the moment they realised that they never got to their destination on time and took an hour to get back home when the trip should take 15 minutes. Or else because a route they were using was suddenly removed from the schedule.

Added to this, the attitude of the bus drivers has not improved either. Many of them are still grumpy and do not treat their passengers as clients. Most do not use the bus-bays that are available and still stop for passengers to embark or disembark in the middle of the road, not giving two hoots that they are holding up traffic behind them. Others have been seen using mobile phones while driving, acting irresponsibly and endangering the lives of their passengers. They wear uniforms now, but little else has changed.

Too many buses have broken down too, which also means that they may be more environment-friendly but less reliable. It is not uncommon to see Arriva buses being towed away or being seen to because they suffered a mechanical failure. I do not remember encountering so many such occasions when the old buses were around.

The removal of bendy buses from the roads however does bring about another headache for the government, Transport Malta and the operators. The Unscheduled Bus Services has been roped in to give a helping hand until a permanent solution is found, but this will open up other needs.

What will happen when schools reopen after the summer holidays? This is one issue that needs to be resolved, knowing that many of the schoolchildren use UBS services to and from school. Thankfully, there are still three weeks of summer holidays, and hopefully a solution would have been found by then.

We all know that there is more chaos on our roads on school mornings, more so when it is raining, therefore an organised system must be in place by then.

We cannot afford to have our roads blocked each and every day.

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