People who live in Mellieha have to catch a bus at 6am to be at the office in Valletta by 8am - and there are times when they do not make it in time - and then take up to two hours to make it back home in the evening.

This is just one of the common problems in our public transport system – that it takes so long to arrive from Point A to Point B, pushing all those who have a car to make use of it rather than rely on the bus service.

Travellers who spoke to The Malta Independent said that this situation is exacerbated in summer, when there are more tourists in Malta, who put more pressure on the service. It is not uncommon to see tens of people waiting on bus-stops as one is driving between Mosta and Ghadira at this time of the year.

Frequent users have said that sometimes drivers allow more passengers than they should on the bus to reduce the queues, but this creates other issues such as people packed like sardines on the vehicle. And, when the air conditioner does not work properly, it is quite unbearable, the commuters say. It is not the first time that passengers have nearly come to blows because of some pushing and shoving.

But it is not only on this particular route that problems exist.

People travelling from Sliema to Valletta, which is a much shorter distance, also have to plan two hours ahead to arrive at their appointment in time, and this is particularly so in the heart of the locality, not the seafront where buses are more frequent.

The same goes for the St Julian’s area, where people living in the periphery often give up waiting for the bus, simply because sometimes it takes more than 90 minutes for one to arrive.

Malta Public Transport says that more buses will be brought over to deal with the situation, but until that happens, the bus service remains inefficient, these commuters say.

In a reaction, Transport Malta wrote: Referring to your article “Bus passengers complain about long trips, queues and poor service” (The Malta Independent, 21st July), Malta Public Transport would like to clarify that the first thing that was done on the 8th January 2015, was to confirm the order of 142 new Euro 6 buses to be able to cope with the increase in passengers that is being experienced. In fact the first 40 buses have already been put in service earlier this month, and another 40 will be put in service in the beginning of August.  

Part of the improvements that have been implemented in the Summer services are on the Northbound and Sliema-bound routes. Again, these will be strengthened further once the next batch of buses arrive. The company also recognises that the various route diversions that are taking place in conjnuction with the Coast Road Project may have effected the journey times on certain Northbound routes, and it is doing its best to reduce the impact as much as possible. 

The company apologises for any inconvenience that is being caused, and reassures the public that a significant investment has been made by the company to bring in 142 new buses this Summer, and they are in fact being delivered earlier than originally planned.