Public transport users unhappy with service – PN

Awarded in December last year, the contract with Spanish public transport services provider Autobuses de Léon has not yet been published and the Nationalist Party today reiterated its call for its immediate publication.

Shadow transport minister Marthese Portelli said it was high time that the contract is published.

“Minister Joe Mizzi can no longer beat around the bush and blame others, but must immediately publish the agreement on public transport signed by the Government,” she said in a statement.

Portelli said that it was the public’s right to know what the contract contains, rather than “relying on the Minister’s propaganda, in a campaign with carefully chosen words”. She argued that the public was now aware that the reality was far different from what was in the contract.

She said that commuters were “tricked” into thinking that the two-hour ticket could be used multiple times within two hours: “As a matter of fact, if a person should use public transport within those two hours, they would need to pay the full fare.”

Portelli said that public transport users were unhappy with the new service, “despite the pompous notion that the public transport service will be radically replaced”.

“This is confirmed by continuous reports in the media, as well as complaints from service users, both on social media platforms as well as other media outlets,” she said.

Portelli said the transport minister had gone to Spain to negotiate with Autobuses de Léon before signing the contract and the government had tripled the subsidy it is paying for public transport.

“In light of incessant complaints from the general public, and in light of the Government’s half-answered questions on fares, the Government should immediately publish the signed contract, for the sake of the transparency that Joseph Muscat spoke so much about before the election.

“The public expects a public transport service of the highest quality – the service it deserves, comfortable and on time – in line with what the minister himself had promised.”

Transport Malta paid €4,490 on new route booklets in Gozo

Earlier, Joe Mizzi revealed that Transport Malta forked out €4,490.08 on booklets of the new bus routes that were distributed to every Gozitan household - €2,493.75 on printing and €344.33 on posting.

The information was tabled in response to a parliamentary question by Marthese Portelli.

However, Portelli questioned why Transport Malta – and not Autobuses de Léon – footed the bill for the booklets.

She asked whether Transport Malta are paying for any further expenses related to public transport, suggesting that this could explain the government’s reluctance to publish its contract with Autobuses de Léon.

“It is very ironic that whilst the subsidy to Autobuses de Léon is three times higher [than that granted to Arriva], certain costs and expenses are still being forked out by the government,” Portelli said.