More people catching the bus, according to Malta Public Transport

Malta Public Transport carried over 10.4 million passengers between January and March this year, representing a 15% increase when compared to the number of passengers carried in the first quarter of last year.

According to Malta Public Transport, this increase is represented across all customer segments. It said, that the strong increase was not only down to the increase in tourists, but also to people residing in Malta.

“The use of the personalised tallinja card increased by 10%, and this is typically used by those residing in Malta,” MPT said.

The use of the adult tallinja card increased by 13%. This was followed by the student tallinja card with a 12% increase, where almost half of the passengers are over 18 years of age and are choosing to travel by bus instead of a private car.

This indicates a turnaround in the public’s mind-set towards public transport.

“The popularity of the personalised tallinja card continued to increase with 7,000 new registrations in the first three months of the year,” MPT said.

The company also noted an increase in the number of frequent passengers.

When comparing the number of passengers who made over 60 trips during the first three months in 2017 and 2016, a significant increase of 7% was registered this year.

“We would like to thank our passengers for choosing to travel by bus,” said Konrad Pulé, general manager of Malta Public Transport. “We are very pleased with the consistent growth in the use of our service. This is very encouraging and continues to motivate us to invest further in our service.”

The company will be introducing additional buses in the coming months.

It will also introduce special direct services that will add capacity to the current network, besides offering passengers a quicker way to get to their destination.