‘We want passengers to be safe with us’ – David Alvarez

run ongoing internal campaigns to educate drivers and increase their safety awareness. In fact, the job of a driver is not just driving, they spend a substantial amount of time in training. Together, we made a great improvement in safety, but our ambition is to eliminate all accidents and we keep working hard towards that goal. We want passengers to be safe with us.

Malta Public Transport announced that it has invested in new onboard technology that contributes to a safer and cleaner service. The Malta Business Weekly met up with MPT Operations director DAVID ALVAREZ to find out more about the promising solution and its impact on passengers and the environment.

What about the emissions goals of MPT?

Public transport is already one of the cleanest means of transportation, with a very low carbon footprint per passenger.

But Malta Public Transport goes one step further and invests heavily in new, modern buses, in fact, Malta’s bus fleet is one of the youngest and greenest in Europe. Since the beginning of our operations, we have invested in over 250 new buses with Euro VI engines. The most recent vehicles were only introduced in July – a €12m investment in 50 brand new buses.

Can you lower emissions even further?

We are constantly studying new ways to further improve our emissions; the driver assistant system is a clear case of that. Thanks to efficient driving by our drivers, we saw a drastic lowering in fuel consumption. Meanwhile, we keep looking at the latest technologies to continue to improve in that area.

How has Covid-19 impacted public transport?

Although there was a reduction in passenger trips with more people working remotely, we continued to offer the same efficient service to essential workers throughout.

We took important measures to make the service safe. Buses are disinfected frequently throughout the day and each bus is fumigated every night before going in service. We also take care of aspects like the regulation of the air flow during trips. Public transport continues to be one of the safest modes of transport. What we also saw during the pandemic is that a decrease in cars on the road makes the service much more reliable and efficient.

How did employees respond to the pandemic?

The pandemic encouraged employees to collaborate more closely and instilled a sense of engagement. We knew that we had an exceptionally good team, but the team spirit we witnessed during the difficult situation was amazing.