Transport Minister Ian Borg did not say what government's vision to make public transport free for everyone would cost the taxpayer, or when such a measure would be fully implemented, when asked by The Malta Independent.

Recently, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that the government's vision is to eventually offer a punctual and reliable free bus service to all. However this statement at this stage seems to just be a long-term vision, and given the lack of answers regarding any predicted overall cost for such a vision, or the timeframe with regard to the full implementation of such a policy, it does not seem that this would become reality soon.

What government has done however, is make public transport free for certain sections of society.

This newsroom caught up with Minister Ian Borg outside Parliament, following a press conference related to road safety during the festive period. The minister was asked what the cost calculations for the overall implementation of the proposal to make transport free for the whole island are.

The Minister stressed that what the Prime Minister said was his vision. "It is government's vision which government already begun to work on.  We not only introduced the tallinja card platform, but began to look into which sectors of society should take it for free."

The minister said they began with youths aged 16-20 years-old, and saw how to extend it to youths aged 14+ up till the age of 20, and anyone who is a student. "This period is the one where youths decide whether to use public transport or get a private licence."

He said that with the budget, government announced the extension of this for persons with disability. "We have elderly persons listed in our electoral manifesto as well."

"The Prime Minister's vision is for, eventually, Malta to have a free public transport system. We need to work on it. We are in the initial phases, but the commitments for this legislature are clear in the electoral programme and we began implementing them in the first budget last year. This budget also saw an extension and we will continue adding."

With regards to free public transport, the PL's electoral manifesto speaks about free transport for the elderly, persons with disability, students and children. The second step, it reads, is for individuals to be able to use public transport freely as long as they, voluntarily, renounce their driving licence. Another proposal is for government agencies, departments and entities to incentivise workers to use public transport more by offering a year-long free tallinja card, while encouraging the private sector to do the same. Given that the minister said that the commitments for this legislature are clear in the electoral programme, leads one to believe that this vision, making public transport free for absolutely everyone, is a long-term vision, which might not be introduced this legislature.

This newsroom asked the minister to clarify whether what he said means that the full-cost measure of implementing such a vision has not been calculated yet, and that the timeframe for implementing such a vision would not happen this legislature.

"I think it is a vision being implemented gradually, and a vision being developed as we can extend it around the country, and we will have the opportunity to talk more about it in the coming months and years," he said.

The Malta Independent had, prior to questioning Minister Borg in person, sent questions to the Transport Ministry. This newsroom asked what the predicted costs of implementing such a proposal are, what steps need to be taken to achieve this goal, whether this will relate to the current public transport system or some now type of public transport, and whether discussions were held with the company running the public transport system.

In response, the ministry said: "Please note that this government believes that alongside the infrastructural projects that are being implemented on our roads to combat traffic and congestion problems, an increase in the use of the public transport is another important aspect that will help in this objective."

With this in mind, in 2017, the government initiated the implementation of a long-term plan that seeks to offer free public transport to the community, the Transport Ministry said. "In 2017, free public transport was offered to youths aged 18 years. This plan was furthered when the scheme was widened to include youths aged from 16 to 20 years in 2018. This measure has already yielded considerable benefits to the community. Up to the end of September, more than 21,000 youths had benefited from more than 3.6 million free trips. It is estimated that this year (2018) the measure will cost around €2.2M."

The Transport Ministry said that government continued its work in the implementation of the plan with the new budget envisaging the retaining of last year's measure and expanding it further to include persons aged 14 and 15 and full time students over the age of 20 years. "The allocation for budget 2019 is set at €3.3 million. Discussions are also underway with relevant authorities to provide free public transport to disabled persons."

Free public transport to all primary and secondary students attending independent schools and church schools along with the transport already offered to those attending state schools means that this government is contributing a further €20 million towards this measure, the Transport Ministry said.

"These initiatives are all part of the government's commitment in the implementation of the longer term plan, that aims to eventually provide free public transport to all communities."