The life and times of Malta Public Transport
Bus and Bucks
Since June, the Malta Transportation system went from being a good deal with poor service to being too expensive for its own good. Gone are the days of day passes for 1.50 Euros. Now the only passes issued are 2-hour passes at the price of 2 Euros.
At first glance, this still seems like a good deal. And it is – for the bus company. This eliminates the possibility of sharing a day pass with someone. One person buys the day pass in the morning and gives it to someone to use during the evening. It takes away the number of options available to the passengers, and thus, it should cut down on bus travel times. No one has to make a decision, and there are fewer ways to get the transaction wrong. A 2 Euro rate is also easier to change since 2 Euro coins are relatively common and the larger amount means that larger bills could theoretically be accepted.
For the guest, however, this is a terrible deal. The 2-hour time limit may not cover some routes that cross the island. It leaves little time for shopping, or other activities vital to the Maltese economy, upon arrival, especially on those routes that take an hour or longer. The bus service doesn’t seem to have improved from the relatively small sample size of a day, but even if it did, it is still too expensive to compete with cab fares, especially for a larger group, on many of the smaller routes.
Cabs come to the person, there is no waiting, and some companies offer a discount on return fare for a ride that the guests set up at their convenience. From Lija to Valletta, a return trip in a cab can be as low as 5 Euros a person. That same trip on a bus would be 4 Euros. A one Euro convenience charge is perfectly acceptable. Even adding a small tip makes this an acceptable fare to pay. While Maltese Public Transportation may be among the cheapest in the European Union, it is still a far cry from being a good bargain.
Since June, the Malta Transportation system went from being a good deal with poor service to being too expensive for its own good. Gone are the days of day passes for 1.50 Euros. Now the only passes issued are 2-hour passes at the price of 2 Euros.
At first glance, this still seems like a good deal. And it is – for the bus company. This eliminates the possibility of sharing a day pass with someone. One person buys the day pass in the morning and gives it to someone to use during the evening. It takes away the number of options available to the passengers, and thus, it should cut down on bus travel times. No one has to make a decision, and there are fewer ways to get the transaction wrong. A 2 Euro rate is also easier to change since 2 Euro coins are relatively common and the larger amount means that larger bills could theoretically be accepted.
For the guest, however, this is a terrible deal. The 2-hour time limit may not cover some routes that cross the island. It leaves little time for shopping, or other activities vital to the Maltese economy, upon arrival, especially on those routes that take an hour or longer. The bus service doesn’t seem to have improved from the relatively small sample size of a day, but even if it did, it is still too expensive to compete with cab fares, especially for a larger group, on many of the smaller routes.
Cabs come to the person, there is no waiting, and some companies offer a discount on return fare for a ride that the guests set up at their convenience. From Lija to Valletta, a return trip in a cab can be as low as 5 Euros a person. That same trip on a bus would be 4 Euros. A one Euro convenience charge is perfectly acceptable. Even adding a small tip makes this an acceptable fare to pay. While Maltese Public Transportation may be among the cheapest in the European Union, it is still a far cry from being a good bargain.