Updated: Arriva services improve - Transport Malta

(Adds Arriva statement) The average reliability of buses on the 70s route group has been improved to between 90 and 100 per cent from between 13 and 69 per cent, Transport Malta said this morning. The authority said it has carried out extensive monitoring on a number of bus routes to ensure that the level of public transport was brought in line with contracted levels and users’ needs and expectations. Following a specific monitoring exercise carried out this week, the authority said that punctuality in the 70s group also improved significantly from 50 to 94 per cent. It said this improvement was due to the various measures that were put into place by Arriva, including the allocation of additional resources, and the adjustment of schedules and timetables to better reflect actual journey times. While TM was aware of various problems across the network, it decided to prioritise the allocation of resources for monitoring on the main lines that connected to and from Valletta, to establish causes and address them effectively. This would be followed with inter-locality and direct hospital services. Since the exercise was effective, TM decided not to deploy any additional buses for the...