As photos of crowded buses do the rounds, company says its drivers face abuse when asking passengers not to board

Bus drivers are not authorised to carry out enforcement actions and refuse to board people on buses, Malta Public Transport said, as it reacted to photos of overcrowded buses. 

MaltaToday reached out to Malta Public Transport and asked it to explain photos and videos of overcrowded buses that were doing the rounds on social media over the past week. The images showed people huddled on buses, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The company said during peak times bus drivers are required to advise passengers that the bus is full, and that another bus is on its way.

While many cooperate with drivers’ instructions, the company said some passengers are refusing to do so.

“There are occasions where passengers refuse to cooperate, and go on to verbally or physically abuse our bus drivers, when these are asked to step off the bus,” the company said.

Bus drivers have been instructed to avoid confrontation with passengers and urged to contact the control room for assistance.

“The team at the control room are in regular contact with the authorities to resolve such incidents,” it said.

Asked whether the issue of overcrowding was a regular occurrence, Malta Public Transport said October inspections showed that only 2% of buses were found not to be abiding to social distancing regulations, substantially lower than in previous months.

“This shows that the matter is improving as people are getting used to the situation and being more cooperative,” it said.

Regulations by the health authorities imposed strict maximum limits on passengers allowed on buses to avoid overcrowding and help maintain social distancing.

Stickers have also been placed on the floor to indicate where passengers should stand, and signs on the bus advise passengers to only stand on these stickers.

Photos on social media showed over crowding on public transport

“Across the board, standing passenger capacity has been reduced by around 60% to 75% in order to allow bus passengers to have more space,” a company spokesperson said.

Public transport buses are currently carrying an average of half the number of passengers carried in 2019 during the same period, she said.

“In order to ensure that all passengers are provided with a bus service during peak times, in view of the reduced capacity on all of our buses, Malta Public Transport is operating between 25 and 30 extra trips per day on the busy routes,” the company said.

All buses are fumigated during the night, while more frequent cleaning with hospital-grade products is also carried out inside the buses at different times of the day. Passengers are encouraged to use contactless methods of payment, such as the Tallinja Card and other bank cards, smart phones or smart watches. 

Passengers who still choose to pay in cash are required to produce the exact fare as no change can be given by the driver, in order to avoid any sort of contact. All bus passengers are also required to wear face masks throughout their journey.

Busses being fumigated

Those looking to flag irregularities should do so with the relevant authorities, Malta Public Transport said.

“In cases where bus drivers or any Malta Public Transport employee fails to abide by these regulations, these are to be reported directly to the company providing the following information: date, time, bus number, route, direction, bus stop, locality,” the spokesperson said.