Bus fare question
My daughter (a resident, with an ID Card) was unaware of this and so was only surprised how expensive the bus fare was for her journey. It seems the presumption is that you are a tourist unless you look/say/prove otherwise? Is that the idea?
What should she have done (so she knows for the future). Just have her ID Card at the ready and ask for a Resident ticket or something?
Thanks in advance, and apologies if I got any of the facts wrong with my assumptions about the fares - I never rode on the old buses and probably won't on the new ones, but she does so I want to make it easier and cheaper for her (and thus me!)
Tim
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I am so sure that this is illegal for them to differentiate in such a blatant way
I took the bus on Monday and just showed my ID card like older folks show their Carte Anzjen to get a cheap ticket. The bus driver himself was not well trained in communicating the ticket prices as I heard him say in an argument later on that 'foreigners' pay the higher price. Of course that is exactly what the EU would like to hear to fine Arriva for their price system.
So far no decision has been taken by the EU.
You should always take the day ticket if you are returning by bus as it is cheaper and you can actually pass the ticket on to somebody else if you have finished travelling for the day -))))
Just make sure it is passed on to someone with an ID card as it says Ad ID on the ticket.
Cheers and Arriva
Ricky
So far, every time I get on the bus, the machine 'isn't' working and I haven't paid for my ride......

Gozo residents
Malta Residents
non-residents
And here are details of the fares:
I saw on the website that a monthly pass can be applied for and costs 26 euro which I think is a bargain but you have to first apply for a saver card (plus send a passport pic) THEN get the monthly card or something- just seems a lot of hassle and I'm super lazy!
May have to get it sorted soon though as my 'short' 20 minute walk when it's already 30+ degrees at 9am is killing me! If anyone has a saver card yet any info would be appreciated!
if you had id card then you should have only paid 1.30 for the 2hr ticket and 1.50 for the all day....
sounds like the drivers need more training....
Day pass for a Maltese ID card holder: 1.50
Day pass for non-Maltese ID card holder: 2.60
They wont ask you if you have a card, so have it ready when getting on the bus, and they will also check after you have bought the ticket and want to get on another bus with your day pass, so ensure you have it with you at all times.
If you don't show the ID card before being in the drivers line of sight, he will print you a tourist ticket and charge you for one.
Not living in Malta yet. But was on holiday the other week. If you have an ID card you can get a week pass for 6.50Euros.
24hr ticket for tourists was 2.60 euros. Which is better than 2.20 2hr ticket - who would buy a 2hr ticket? the way things are going just now its taking 2hours to get anywhere on one bus never mind managing to get a second or a return.
Luckily the whole system was mucked up and we pretty much got most of our bus trips for free - at least we had the spare time! Felt really sorry for the residents, especially if they didn't get the bus home from Valletta then they had zero change of getting on!
Miss the old buses, it was so much easier to get around. Now its seems they have longer routes with less frequency. The roads already have too many cars but what choice does the average working person have!
Retrofire wrote:THe prices are:
Day pass for a Maltese ID card holder: 1.50
Day pass for non-Maltese ID card holder: 2.60
They wont ask you if you have a card, so have it ready when getting on the bus, and they will also check after you have bought the ticket and want to get on another bus with your day pass, so ensure you have it with you at all times.
If you don't show the ID card before being in the drivers line of sight, he will print you a tourist ticket and charge you for one.
are you sure as the way i understand it it the price difference is based on residency not on nationality. as a resident and to get the lower discounted fares you must have a id card. can anyone clarify this?
as far as i can see it doesnt state you have to be a maltese and hold an id card holder - just that you hold an id card issued by the malta governement department.
clearly not everyone is getting the discounted price and this is not the only person - I personally know of others who have been treated and overcharged this way.....drivers assuming the passengers want a full day ticket and making assumptions on residency....this needs to be resolved.
further why is it the routes are posted all over the bus but not the fares.......near the door would be a very simple idea...
In retrospect I should have gone for the 2hour ticket but I got the all day just in case I wanted to go out again later (which I didn't). I am glad that the prices are less for ID card holders however it would be nice if the drivers knew this! I was pretty certain I should have got it cheaper when I showed my card but he was adamant that was only if i had ID card AND some saver card thing.
Overall I am glad they've taken over as once it's sorted (if it gets sorted!) it will be better- more regular and aircon will be a god send...but for now I guess we can only hope it resolves itself soon!
If you get charged the higher fare despite showing a local ID card, keep your receipt, and complain
iamharibo wrote:I am glad that the prices are less for ID card holders however it would be nice if the drivers knew this!
I think most of them do.聽 I haven't had trouble with this issue myself, and I've travelled a fair few times now.聽 But undoubtedly there are blips, and I'm sorry to hear you ran into one.
An issue I am noticing at the moment concerns night bus tickets.聽 Somewhere around 2300 day buses are replaced by night buses and day tickets cease to be valid.聽 I have seen several disputes between passengers with day tickets and drivers who tell them they now need to buy night tickets.聽 These disputes can get a bit heated, and can go on for a while, delaying the journey.聽 Especially if many passengers want to argue the point.
Still, there are night buses, and it's good that they're there!
Tim
I've got on the bus today. I asked a discount ticket and the bus driver seemed surprised. He wanted to see my ID card. After being a little bit nervous with all racist things, I asked he should check all Maltese ID's. He said that he checks when he has doubts like with me, that is to say, my accent, my white color skin etc. He said, if a person speaks Maltese, he must have a Maltese ID. That's inept because a Maltese speaking doesn't have necessarily a Maltese ID if he is an expatriate. Though, maybe it's small probability but a bus driver doesn't have to ask a Maltese ID because I look like a non Maltese, tourist or from Mars.
Though, apparently, some bus drivers seem to ask all people their Maltese ID what begins to irritate some Maltese people here. What is the stupid hypocrite Maltese system.
Enemalta, Malta Transport, this is the same. In the facts, you are required to provide proofs, Id's because you don't look like a Maltese.
If the bus driver doesn't ask all people a Maltese ID, it is illegal from the European laws.
If Enemalta doesn't ask a tax return or anything else all people, it is also illegal.
By the way, the residency notion has no sense, the Maltese ID is not a proof that your primary residency is Malta. But a person who thinks, speaks and acts according to your name, skin color, clothes, accent etc it's called discrimination, that's all.
That smells yellow star all that. When you begin like this, you don't know where that will go. I learnt the past and my history book. Europe is a great idea, an opportunity, which must continue but I definitely don't feel myself an European in Malta.
They even admit that their bus drivers are discriminating.
I just hope that Brussels comes to the right conclusions and reacts with more than a little slap on the hand.
Cheers
Ricky
I agree with you that the criticism should really be directed at TM but I'm very sure that it is Arriva through the drivers discriminating by not asking each and every passenger for the Maltese ID card.
TM were for once quite smart coming up with the ID card based tarif system. I'm not so sure that it will be seen as discriminating by Brussels if the implementation via showing ID card were consequent.
But it isn't and it might not even be possible to do so and keep the buses running on time.
Bottom line is that Arriva signed the contract. That was their first big management mistake. The second big management mistake is admitting that some drivers,maybe many or nearly all,are not asking every passenger to show their ID card. They could have denied like they did before and instructed their drivers to absolutely comply with the rule! So admitting it makes it a clear case in my eyes!
You can just wonder over the possible reason: Stupidity,sabotage by the drivers once again or the Arriva managers might be doing it on purpose so that the two-tier system gets slapped and abolished?
Cheers and arriva -)))
Ricky
but for me - this is being seen now by many tourists as just one more reason not to come to Malta.....great job Transport Malta, fleece the tourist - the only real industry the island has and at a stroke...ruin the islands prospects....
I will say that I did this first time but I abandoned the other times.
When I've seen other times that white people and look like foreigners were showing ID cards, I was desperate and felt that it was obnoxious, disgusting.
I've learnt my History and I've learnt that people wore a yellow star. I've learnt that this is against the human rights and all good civilization principles to behave in such a way. Some will say, it's a detail, it's not so important. No, it is not. People fought for our freedom. People died. We can't stay indifferent to that.
We said one day, Never that again. The person who doesn't understand must learn the History. That day, I felt what people had to feel when some ones wore a yellow star in an indifferent world. We are different. We are never far from the worst. Never believe, it's a detail. A this time, it was also a detail to save the false Peace. I hope Europe won't be indifferent to that. We have other battles, not to fall in the nationalism in those bad times. Never that again...
Anyone who thinks that if the EU rule against Malta the price will go down for non ID card holders is deluding themselves. Wait for the outcry when the prices go up to the " tourist " rate.
If you want the subsidised bus fare " show proof" I see nothing racist in that, the onus is on you not the bus driver.
Is holding a passport of your country of origin and having to show it when you travel "racist"? is holding a driving licence and having to show it if requested by police "racist"?
Why should people living on Gozo get free or reduced travel on the ferries, none of this is racist, just modern day living.
Most of these rules are a reaction to a small minority of people who want to break rules or do us harm, mostly in the name of "freedom" or religion.
The vast majority are happy to get the reduced fare and have no problem proving that they are entitled to the subsidy. The current bus fares are way below what you would pay in most european countries.
Yes the new bus service could have been better managed in its introduction and there is still a lot of room for improvment, but be carfull you don't throw the baby out with the bath water!
My rant over:D
I've lived in several european countries and used a lot of public transport services and have never come across one that offers discounts based on residency.
Discounts are usually based on travel off peak hours,buying a weekly,monthly or yearly ticket.And these are available to locals and foreigners alike at the same discounted price.
Could you please elaborate on which european countries or more probable , town or cities, ask for proof of residency to get cheaper tickets.
I agree that the ID card has to asked to be shown by everybody asking for a reduced rate if that is the system TM wants.
Cheers
Ricky
Pensioners in the UK get cheap or free travel in the UK and have to show that they are UK pensioners to get the discount. A German/ French/ Spanish聽 pensioner on holiday will not get free travel in the UK. If they ask for it the driver will ask for proof.
The Maltese bus drivers are implementing a new system under pressure and inevitable will make errors of judgment or try to speed up the bus loading by making assumptions.
The answer is simple, don,t make them guess. If you want a discounted ticket have your ID card or whatever is required ready and show it before asking for the ticket.
I don't understand what the problem is?
If transport Malta said you could have half price petrol or diesel if you showed you Maltese ID card would you still refuse?
I just checked out two companies .... Southwest trains and Arriva , and your info is not correct. The cheap rates or ( in the case of Arriva) concessionary travel for over 60's are not coupled with a UK pension but with age. And any EU citizen showing a picture ID with age proof over 60 gets the same cheaper rates as UK citizens.
But , apart from that, the point you are now making is the point that we are all making! To get a discount you have to show your ID card or proof document that you are over a certain age. And here in Malta through Arriva it is not being handled that way as the Maltese are not showing their ID card.
Of course I show my ID card but I insist that the Maltese have to too ! Otherwise it is discrimination.
And of course I would take cheap or free petrol by showing my ID card if it was the same for Maltese residents.
And that is exactly the problem !
Cheers
Ricky
tearnet wrote:The Maltese bus drivers are implementing a new system under pressure and inevitable will make errors of judgment
there is no judgement for them to make - they must ask everyone for ID, not just those who look foreign
its simple - "no ID, you pay tourist rate聽 - no exemptions"
You need to live there to take advantage.
You are all expecting bus drivers who are under pressure to run to time and collect fares , not to cut a few corners in an attempt speed up the loading. Given the numbers of passengers carried daily, I would guess that the numbers involved are small.
Also if someone is a regular commuter thier faces may be known to the driver who will be aware that they do have an ID card, so doesn't ask ( I know you will say "but he should ask its the law").
If only we all did our jobs without making assumptions, life would be perfect!.
As for known bus users....in many cases the regular user/commuters are likely to have a saver card and as such there is no need to ask for id..as the holder has had to prove residency on application.
Does it really matter WHAT HAPPENS ELSEWHERE....you are in Malta as am sure there will be plenty of nationals here who will say if you dont like it....... leave..... and am sure many will - mainly the tourists as am sure they will feel "hard done by" and not come back here....well done MT and the EU for nor sorting this out earlier...
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