New €500,000 public transport control room aims to improve bus service

A new public transport control room, which required an investment of €500,000, was launched today, with the aim of contributing towards improving bus service efficiency.

The control room, situated in Malta Public Transport's Qormi premises, will be tracking all buses - numbering around 400 - operating on Maltese roads, in real time, providing information on traffic delays, accidents and diversions.

Autobuses de Léon director Felipe Cosmen said that all bus drivers will be given tablets which will communicate the control room’s road situation updates to them, as he noted that buses had to deal with around 60 street diversions each week.

Twenty-five specially trained staff are working in the control room, giving all necessary support to bus drivers, including any required communication with emergency services and mechanical teams, he said.

“Since we started our operation, the number of people travelling by bus increased by 30%, with 12 million more people using the bus service since 2014,” Cosmen underscored, "We are confident that this new control room will have a direct impact on our services.”

Bus issues are "product of service’s success"

Transport Minister Ian Borg said that the bus service put in place in 2014 was in some ways a victim of its own success, since it was now facing challenges related to passenger capacity, which came about due to the increase in the number of people using public transport.

Transport Minister Ian Borg (right) said the most common public transport complaint he received was that buses were too full with passengers. Left: Autobuses de Léon director Felipe Cosmen

“When the new service started, in 2014, people had little faith in public transport, because previous changes had made it unpopular,” Borg said, in clear reference to the much maligned Arriva bus system.

“Faith has now been restored, and usage is up. The most common complaint I receive now is that buses are too full,” he remarked, “The operator and Transport Malta have to keep finding ways of increasing capacity. I am exigent and keep insisting on improvements in the service.”

“Technology gives us the necessary tools to address the very complex issues on our roads,” Borg said, adding that the control room investment would help bus drivers tackle their daily traffic problems.