New bus fares and cards

On An Island wrote:

It's going to be an absolute bloody rip-off for tourists again. How many are going to register for a tallinja card if they are only here for a long weekend or even a week? If they do apply for one at the airport or bus terminals, how long is it going to take until it's ready to pick up?

Until they have one they'll be paying €2 for a single trip instead of 75c. That's even worse than the old prices Arriva used to have for Resident vs Non-Resident tickets. Of course, if it's possible to get a tallinja card within 2 hours of applying for one, then it won't be a problem, but I'm not optimistic.

Similar to Scotland then, I have a bus pass issued in England but I can't use it in Scotland!! ( Unless things have changed in the last couple of years)

Ray

F0xgl0ve wrote:

Similar to Scotland then, I have a bus pass issued in England but I can't use it in Scotland!! ( Unless things have changed in the last couple of years)

Ray

It's the same for Welsh and Scottish OAP bus passes, they can't use them in England. To be fair, they have to stop somewhere. The English probably get a better deal than the Welsh, given the respective size of the countries.

Looking at the Oyster Card in London, you do get good discounts on that too compared to regular paper tickets, so it is similar to the new Maltese scheme. It's possible to order Visitor Oyster Cards before you arrive though. As long as you can do the same here then it's a fair system. Or if you can apply for one as soon as you land at the airport and have in your hand within 10 minutes, not 5 days later.

maltablues9 wrote:

Done the new bus card so easy to do even my husband can do it 

It will be interesting to see how your application turns out. Assuming you are still not resident here I can't see how you could fill the form out without either a Maltese ID card or using a passport and a Maltese address?

Also I don't see how you could collect your passes from the local council office when you don't have one!

Ray

GPLW wrote:

Just applied for mine. Where the form requires an id card number, the residence document number was deemed to be not valid. Instead I used my old id card number (the number printed on the back of the card) and that was accepted. I received an automatic confirmation, which includes a reference number.

All very efficient.

When I tried (my application is for a concession 60+ card) it would accept the id number from the back of the eResidence card on the  first page of the form but not on the later page (where it actually showed a sample of the number on the reverse of a Maltese National ID card.)

Ray

robpw2 wrote:

Yes it's not set up for e-residence cards but the Valletta bus terminal office skipped that step and it went through ok

It's a shame we don't have a kiosk in Gozo, I think it used to be where the office is in the bus station but that is more like a drivers' rest room now with no admittance for passengers!

I can see a trip to Valletta being necessary (and then wait for 8 months for a card, like the eResidence ).

Ray

F0xgl0ve wrote:

robpw2 wrote:

Yes it's not set up for e-residence cards but the Valletta bus terminal office skipped that step and it went through ok

It's a shame we don't have a kiosk in Gozo, I think it used to be where the office is in the bus station but that is more like a drivers' rest room now with no admittance for passengers!

I can see a trip to Valletta being necessary (and then wait for 8 months for a card, like the eResidence ).

Ray

Just been in to Victoria and they have actually got someone there doing the registration so we will go back tomorrow and register.(I was told you only need your eResidence card and no need for a photo.)

Having said that as a senior it is just as easy to carry on getting a daily ticket as required for 50c.

Ray

redders_61 wrote:

just did mine at Valetta using my residency card.... however I asked on behalf of a few friends if they would accept a passport and was politely told NO. now in my view this again puts Malta at odds with the EU about eu citizens being treated differently..

for the purposes of this lets assume one is British...you come to Malta, rent a property with a lease, apply/FIGHT for the RHA (trust me I had to FIGHT hard for it) then go and apply for e residence...between signing the lease and actually having the E residence card in my hand, last year, took from march till early june.

I agree with Rob (election year lol) there may well be a facility in JULY to purchase advance tickets or temporary swipe cards to avoid queues paying on the bus. imagine the buses to the north with tourists in a que to buy a ticket on the bus. it would be as slow as it is now.

If you access the website to register you can uncheck the box for ID card and it will then accept your passport number from there you fill in contact details and upload a photo and copy of passport.

Presumably your friends are not registered as residents so I would have thought they should get that process underway asap. If they are tourists then it's no different than going to the UK and having to pay full fare. As I understand it the price of individual tickets is the same for Maltese as tourists.

Don't know why you had hassle with RHA as it only requires name, address,contact details and copy of passport. As at that point you are not a resident they will give you a provisional certificate which is sufficient for eResidence application.

Getting our eResidence card originally  took eight months, we did it again last year because of address change and it took 2 weeks.

I am expecting a long wait for the new bus card although as a 60+ it makes little difference.

Ray

redders_61 wrote:

as for my friends one is polish and doesn't want an id card. one is german and cant get an s1 so no card available (he is state retirement age too) and one is indian with an Italian residency card,

If your Polish friend does not want an eResidence card then he can't really expect to have the Maltese government issue him a Bus card either.

Your German friend could get an eResidence card and a bus card, not having an S1 simply means he has to get health cover another way.

And your Indian friend is a TCN and his Italian residency card means nothing in Malta. He would have to go down the route of TCN application which might not be easy.

I guess all three could try applying by the Passport route but I don't know what questions might be asked as technically all three are either classed as tourists or not legal by Maltese regulations!

On An Island wrote:

Here we go again. Quelle surprise 

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/vi … 000.566001

they have sorted this out already as i have just applied see my above comment

On An Island wrote:

What about tourists? How can they provide a Maltese address if they are not resident here? Or will the name of the hotel be sufficient? I'm still not convinced.

Unless the tourists were here for a month there is no point in registering anyway.
As daily and weekly tickets are only available to concessions (60+ etc.)  I wouldn't think many tourists would want to buy a monthly top up.

At the moment there is no difference in fares between residents (non concession) and tourists on the basic single journey tickets, though it does seem crazy to stop the day tickets.

An over the counter weekly ticket available to all would be a sensible option.

Ray

redders_61 wrote:

yes I think nearer july once all the cards are sorted and issued they are going to have to think hard how to get tickets to tourists etc. its not just kiosks it is also ticket machines, what will they dispense and at what fare structure. was chatting last night and consensus is they will sell a swipe ticket at 26 euros that lasts for a month. or at least that is the most sensible solution for all concerned

I think we can rule that out then!

Terry

redders_61 wrote:

yes I think nearer july once all the cards are sorted and issued they are going to have to think hard how to get tickets to tourists etc. its not just kiosks it is also ticket machines, what will they dispense and at what fare structure. was chatting last night and consensus is they will sell a swipe ticket at 26 euros that lasts for a month. or at least that is the most sensible solution for all concerned

Having had another look at the pricing structure that MPT published it looks as though from July 2015, if you don't have a card then it is going to cost 4 euros for a round trip in the summer whoever you are, which is quite a price increase.
The following extract says it all:-

"Malta Public Transport also explained that the price of tickets bought on board the buses will go up as of July 2015. In fact, the only ticket that will be able to be bought on board the bus will be a single journey of up to two hours at €2.00 in summer or €1.50 in winter for day services, or €3.00 for night services. This is irrespective of whether the passenger is an adult, a child, a Kartanzjan holder and so on."
It does say elsewhere that your single journey ticket whilst valid for 2 hours does not include the return leg on the same route!

Ray