Less than 14% choose buses as preferred mode of transport, survey shows
Despite measures meant to encourage bus use, public transport’s popularity remains low, a survey indicates

The use of public transport amongst commuters remains low, in spite of measures meant to boost bus use, a survey has shown.
The survey, carried out by sister newspaper Illum and published today, indicates that only 13.6% of respondents chose buses to travel.
Despite measures such as free bus rides for students and the elderly, the use of buses decreased when compared with a previous transport survey the newspaper carried out in August 2019, in which 16.8% had said they chose public transport.
Private vehicles were by far the most popular modes of transport, with 75.3% of respondents said they opted to use their own cars to travel.
The survey showed that bus use is least popular amongst the younger and middle-aged generations, with only 5% of those aged 18 to 35 and 6% of those in the 36 to 50 age bracket who said they prefered to use public transport.
Comparatively, 87.5% of young people and 84.3% of those middle-aged said they opted to use their cars to get around.
The survey from August last year had also painted a slightly more positive picture of public transport use, with 7.3% and 9.6% of the two age groups respectively having said they choose to hop on a bus.
Buses were most popular with those over 65, with 31.6%, and those between 51 and 65, with 17.2%, the survey showed.
Gozitans least likely to favour bus use
The survey indicated that people from Gozo preferred buses the least, with only 6.3% saying they travelled on public transport. This was a significant decrease from the results of the previous survey, which had indicated that 23.6% used buses.
Public transport was most popular in Malta’s Northern Harbour District, with a 24.5% rate of use amongst respondents.