AD calls for improvements to tallinja bus card

Alternattiva Demokratika has called on the public transport operator to improve the newly-introduced tallinja card system.

“[Autobuses de Leon] should hire more customer service staff,” AD’s transport spokesperson Ralph Cassar said in a statement. “Also, certain categories of people, such as senior citizens, are not used to using the Internet and credit cards and more customer service points should therefore be provided. It is also strange that it takes 24 hours for a card to be 'topped up'.”

He also warned that the public transport service is still not reliable in certain villages, with scheduled buses not showing up.

“Can the operator inform us whether it has enough buses or if are there still too few buses to keep up with the schedule?” Cassar questioned, while calling on Autobuses or Transport Malta to clarify whether a €2 bus ticket is valid for two hours or for one bus ride and warning that cars are blocking bus stops and “abusively” using bus lanes.

He called for full transparency on the conditions of public transport service and the extension of the bus ticketing system to the sea service, and questioned what became of the government’s proposals to the EU regarding a light rail system.

“We also need to tackle the problem of heavy air pollution caused by vehicles in places which are well served by public transport routes, like Paola, Msida, Mosta and other places,” Cassar added. “It is indeed a shame that the issue of pollution caused by traffic has been ignored, probably for electoral reasons and because the necessary measures are probably not that popular."