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Reforming the urban public transport bus system in Malta: Approach and acceptance

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  • Attard, Maria

Abstract

The islands of Malta have joined the European Union in 2004 and have for the past decade suffered a decline in the patronage of its public transport service. Offered under a monopoly by an Association of individual owner drivers, the public transport service has not changed dramatically since its start in the early 1900s. Instead, an organic growth alongside the main routes linking new areas to the public transport network and a declining level of service pushed even more the local population to switch to private mobility. This has classified the islands amongst the countries in the world with the highest levels of motorisation. In 2008, following a general election and a general strike held by the public transport operators over the Government’s intentions to remove monopolies, the new Minister for Transport published his intentions to reform public transport from its roots. This reform included the removal of the monopolies protecting the incumbents as well as developing a new network of services which cater more effectively to the public’s travelling demands. This paper deals with the public transport reform and through direct observation details the processes involved in the regulation of public transport as well as the design of the new public transport network. The paper concludes with the critical factors which led to implementation of the reform and how this is applicable to cities worldwide.

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  • Attard, Maria, 2012. "Reforming the urban public transport bus system in Malta: Approach and acceptance," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 46(7), pages 981-992.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:46:y:2012:i:7:p:981-992
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2012.04.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Bajada, Thérèse & Attard, Maria, 2021. "A typological and spatial analysis of pedestrian fatalities and injuries in Malta," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    3. Bajada, Thérèse & Titheridge, Helena, 2016. "To contract or to operate publicly? Observations from the bus service reform transition process in Malta," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 281-291.
    4. Gordan Stojić & Dušan Mladenović & Olegas Prentkovskis & Slavko Vesković, 2018. "A Novel Model for Determining Public Service Compensation in Integrated Public Transport Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-20, August.
    5. Kębłowski, Wojciech & Dobruszkes, Frédéric & Boussauw, Kobe, 2022. "Moving past sustainable transport studies: Towards a critical perspective on urban transport," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 74-83.
    6. Janez Blaž & Klemen Zajc & Samo Zupan & Miha Ambrož, 2019. "Evaluation System for the Implementation of Public Passenger Transport as a Public Service Obligation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-17, June.
    7. Papaioannou, Panagiotis & Georgiadis, Georgios & Nikolaidou, Anastasia & Politis, Ioannis, 2020. "Public Transport tendering and contracting arrangements in countries under regulatory transition: The case of Cyprus," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    8. Dwi Prasetyani, 2016. "Dryland Farmers� Access to Productive Resources (A Case Study of Wonogiri)," GATR Journals jber118, Global Academy of Training and Research (GATR) Enterprise.
    9. Alvaro Rodriguez-Valencia & Daniel Rosas-Satizábal & Darío Hidalgo, 2023. "Big effort, little gain for users: lessons from the public transport system reform in Bogotá," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 411-433, June.
    10. Wojciech Keblowski & Frédéric Dobruszkes & Kobe Boussauw, 2022. "Moving past sustainable transport studies: Towards a critical perspective on urban transport," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/341191, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.

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