Buses were introduced to Malta in 1905. Up until 2011, the traditional Malta bus ( or ) served as a popular tourist attraction for its unique appearances. By the end of this operation, Malta had several unserviceable buses.
The unique nature of the Malta bus stemmed from the tradition of local ownership by the drivers. The buses' unique appearances, full of details and decorations, were from a practice of in-house maintenance. This included rebuilding or modifying the bus bodies in local workshops. As a result, the buses served as popular tourist attractions. Newer Malta buses were continuously introduced to meet rising tourism, which followed modern standard bus designs found in other parts of the world. The practice of customisation still continued for these newer buses as well.
On 3 July 2011, the network of service bus routes across Malta was taken over by Arriva, with traditional buses reduced to operating on only special heritage services. Arriva introduced a fleet of modern low-floor buses, which were imported secondhand ex-London articulated Mercedes-Benz Citaros. These low-floor buses from the old fleet were retained and repainted in Arriva colours. Arriva also purchased a fleet of brand new King Long rigid buses.
Arriva's operation in Malta was beset by problems. Three fires within a 48-hour period in August 2013 prompted the Maltese government to ban the Citaros buses from operation in the country pending an investigation. Arriva's operation in Malta continued until 1 January 2014, when the nation's bus network was nationalised as Malta Public Transport. On 8 January 2015, Malta Public Transport was reprivatised as it was sold to Autobuses Urbanos de León, an Alsa subsidiary which retained the Malta Public Transport brand name. The company doubled the bus fleet, which now consists of more than 400 buses.
Malta Public Transport has invested extensively in modernising its bus fleet to make it safer, more environmentally friendly, and comfortable. The company invested in 200 new buses that utilise Euro 6 diesel technology. The buses are cleaned and maintained regularly, and are equipped with air-conditioning systems. All new buses have two doors to facilitate boarding and alighting of passengers.
Public transport – including buses – has been free in Malta and Gozo since October 2022 to everyone who has a Tallinja Card. Anyone who resides on these islands can register for a Tallinja Card. A Tallinja Card requires proof of residency on the islands and a one time fee of €5 to €25 depending on the type of card, e.g. child, student, adult etc.
Original bus system (1905–2011)
History The first buses were imported to Malta in 1905 from Thornycroft in England by Edward Agius of Ed T Agius Ltd (coal shipping). He formed the Malta Motor Omnibus and Transport Syndicate Ltd with his brother-in-law Joseph Muscat to operate the first bus service between Valletta and St Julian's. As early as 1920, bus manufacturing was taking place on the island, with local carpenters and mechanics constructing bus body coachwork for local transport companies.
In the 1920s, operation of buses on public transport routes was subject to open competition between operators, and as such, buses used were not necessarily well turned out. With the formation of the Traffic Control Board in 1931, greater regulation and discipline of the system meant that operators began to upgrade the appearance of their buses. Since then, the tradition of showing pride in the vehicles has been maintained, through decoration and customisation of the buses.
Since reform in the 1970s, bus operation was centralised under a worker cooperative, the Public Transport Association ( (ATP)), in 1977. This association became responsible for the centralised day-to-day operational management of bus services, producing a unified timetable roster and basic livery, although this did not change the ownership arrangements for the buses. The overall transport system was regulated under the Malta Transport Authority (ADT).
In December 2003, in light of over 100 buses being scrapped, a government subsidised tour bus service using traditional Malta buses, as the "VisitMalta bus", was set up by the tourism and transport ministries, although this was withdrawn in April 2005.
While the buses generally remain popular among tourists and nostalgic Maltese, the original system was infamous and unpopular with some parts of the local population who considered the service as inefficient and polluting, driven by drivers who were sometimes very impolite to passengers. This resulted in a significant increase in private car ownership among the population, and today only one in ten trips are made via public transportation. One extreme case to note occurred on 29 June 2010, when a driver attempted to forcibly pull a Spanish tourist out of her seat and off the bus following a row over seven cents in change.
Operational system
The operation model dated back to a system introduced in 1977.Buses issue 650 February 2009 The ATP authority determined the schedules, which were then operated by the private bus owners, who remained responsible for the condition and upkeep of their buses, either as owner operators, or in groups. As such, several buses were kept at the family homes of the drivers in question, or based in small garage locations.
To ensure fair distribution of both good and bad routes, the daily operation of buses was allocated on a rota basis, with buses operating on a 'day on, day off' basis, whereby one day half of the buses operate on the public routes, while the other half were used for private hire, or as school buses, or undergo maintenance.
Malta buses on public transport duties were seen in high concentrations at the main City Gate Square bus terminus at Valletta surrounding the Triton Fountain, from where the vast majority of scheduled routes departed. Other major centres of traffic included Buġibba, St Paul's Bay, Sliema and Mosta.
Former liveries and types
Early buses wore an olive green livery with a black stripe. In the 1930s, buses were painted different colours according to the route they operated. In 1975 buses were painted green, and from 1995 vehicles carried in a yellow (lower) and white (upper) livery, relieved by a red band just below the window line. Gozo buses were painted grey with a red band below the windows.
All Malta buses immediately prior to the 2011 reform were single-deckers, with bus or coach bodies. Early buses did not have many common transit bus features, with route numbers displayed using white cards. Later buses had modern features such as electronic destination displays, but these were still not used to indicate the bus's destination, showing only the number of the route.
Very early types of bus could still be found but no longer in service, with a front engine mounted in an extended bonneted nose, in the style of some conventional trucks. The majority of classic Malta buses had elaborate grilles and headlight arrangements, curved windscreens and sloping roofs. Later makes of bus were usually of conventional bus and coach designs that were in use elsewhere in the world, such as Plaxton Supreme and Duple Dominant bodywork.
Between 1981 and 1987 the fleet was drastically modernised with the import of over 260 second-hand buses from the United Kingdom. Many of the oldest buses in the fleet were further replaced with the influx of 150 new low-floor buses from China and Turkey, financed with government grant aid, leaving just three normal control vehicles.
Second-hand imports from the UK had continued up to 2008, with some of the last examples being Alexander Dash-bodied Volvo B6s deemed surplus after Stagecoach's takeover of Yorkshire Traction. Even with these fleet modernisations, the nearly 500-strong bus fleet still contained some examples dating from the 1950s which remained in operational service as recently as 2011, prior to the bus reform.
Detailing
Malta buses were characterised by their high level of customisation and detailing. Common additions to former route buses included:
Increased use chrome parts / high polishing of chrome parts, such as hubcaps and grilles Paint detailing, both generally, and of parts such as indicators and filler caps Custom passenger messages, both in the interior and exterior of the bus Names relating to the village patron saint, monarchs, or other notable objects. Trimmings and hangings, especially inside the front window Slogans, murals, quotations and lucky images (such as the horseshoe)
Due to the nature of operation of Malta buses, many of the drivers were also mechanics, and a high number of Malta buses proudly displayed the name of the manufacturer of the chassis or body of the bus, or the engine type used. In some instances though, these names are not actually the name of the bus in question.
Preservation
The preservation organisation Heritage Malta purchased 90 buses after the restructuring of the bus network and is currently in the process of restoring them to their original condition and preserving their customised modifications. These efforts were aided by expertise and parts provided by many of the vehicle's former owners. It is planned that these newly renovated buses will then be exhibited in an industrial heritage museum.
Since 2011, various of the old buses have been repainted in their original pre-1975 colours. A notable example is the Gozo Mail Bus which was painted red with a white stripe.
MaltaPost issued a set of 20 postage stamps to commemorate the withdrawal of service of the traditional Malta buses on 2 July 2011, a day before the restructure. The stamps showed Maltese buses in the different colours which existed for the different routes.
Arriva (2011–2013)
A major restructure of the bus service in Malta took place on 3 July 2011. The network was taken over by Arriva, new low-floor buses were introduced and service and fare structures changed dramatically.
Halcrow Group was commissioned to assess the Malta bus system. Released in November 2005, the report criticising the existing model and arrangement between ADT and ATP, which had produced a very low utilization of buses and a decline of 50% in the number of bus passengers between 1979 and 2009.
Finalised plans were announced in December 2008 for the first bus route restructuring on Malta since 1977. Under European Union rules, the right to operate the new network could not be directly transferred to the ATP, although they were free to tender for the contract. This resulted in the end of the state-subsidised owner-operator model, which as of 2009 stood at 508 buses each with an average age of 35 years, and operated by over 400 independent licensees.
The new fleet controlled by Arriva consisted of 264 buses, including 2 seven-metre buses for the intra-Valletta route, 61 nine-metre buses including 10 hybrid electric buses for park and ride services as well as selected village routes (Mater Dei-Ta' Qali, Paola-Xgħajra-Paola), 153 twelve-metre buses, and 46 articulated buses for airport routes and major routes such as those to Sliema and the ferry terminals.
The new system increased the number of available bus seats by 6,600 to 20,500, and the number of bus stops in Malta to 850 and another 120 in Gozo.
The major benefits to the public for the change were presented in November 2010:
€3.5m less per year in Malta government subsidy First ever all-day bus service in Gozo, seven days a week One fare everywhere Cheap weekly fares for non-residents New buses (for 70% of the fleet) All buses with less polluting Euro 5 engines Substantially lower emissions All buses fully accessible Air-conditioning and CCTV on all buses More routes, more frequent More termini, more interchanges Longer operating hours for all routes Night service Maximum waiting times for all routes Schedules and bus arrival times via SMS More information on buses and bus stops