Less than 14% choose buses as preferred mode of transport, survey shows

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.