Before buses appeared, the main transport was the Malta Railway, some lorries and horse-driven cabs. Malta’s railway system, from Valletta to Mtarfa, began in 1883 and stopped in 1931. Trams linked Valletta with the Three Cities, Birkirkara and Zebbug. This service was inaugurated on February 23, 1904.
A primitive bus service began operating in 1905. The introduction of buses adversely affected the Malta Railway. Buses became more popular and trains were expensive to run. Thus, on 31st March 1931, the train performed its last service from Rabat to Valletta. Remains of this train can be seen in a museum.
In 1905, Mr Spiller was granted permission to import buses from the UK to run between Valletta and St. Andrews because Malta was then a military and naval base, and transport was essential. At first, he imported six Thornycroft buses from the UK to run between Valletta and St. Andrews. Later, another 27-seater single-deckers and 36-seater Thornycroft double-deckers started running between Valletta and St. Julians. These first buses were painted in yellowish green and with a black band. During this period, several Maltese people acquired lorries’ chassis and converted them into buses and, in a short time, more and different types were seen running from villages to Valletta.
In 1920, the B.M.C. (British Motor Company) imported 6 Daimlers, 1-ton solid tyre lorries, and these were converted into buses. These were very uncomfortable so not very popular.
In 1921, a Public Transport Co. was formed. It was called the Cottonera Motor Bus Co. Their president was William Soles who granted licenses to operate from Cottonera to Valletta. Their first two buses were an American Chevrolet and a Ford V8 topped with wooden bodies made by local carpenters and mechanics or, as they were later called, bus body builders. During this period, several carpenters were encouraged by this company to build bus bodies so that this company could increase its fleet rapidly.
In 1929, motor traffic regulations were enforced for public transport, such as dimensions, types, colour, capacity, etc. In 1930, the total number of licensed route buses was 385 . However, the owners’ financial positions were precarious. This situation was reflected by the condition, fitness and roadworthiness of the vehicles. Several companies were liquidated and thus every owner had to work on his own initiative. This led to a competition between drivers. They struggled to overload passengers and tried to perform more trips by over speeding to the positive danger of their passengers. The drivers and their conductors sometimes even refused to perform or continue a journey when it suited them. These offences led them to court several times and resulted in heavy penalisation. These factors even led to arguments and quarrels between drivers. This affected the income of many owners because some drivers returned home with a pouch full of money and others with not even enough for daily expenses.
In 1931, the Traffic Control Board was formed. This board managed to enforce discipline and schedules and also introduced new routes. So the service began to run more efficiently. Owners of route buses became very proud of their buses. They kept them in very good condition – both on the inside and out - decorated them with trimmings and named them after the village Patron Saint or queens, operas, battleships, etc. Every route had a different colour. During this period, the only foreign organisation to run part of Public Transport in Malta was the BMC.
During this time, a reorganisation of Public Transport was on the agenda of one of the meetings of the Traffic Control Board. Several meetings were held and proposals studied. The first proposal was that the number of buses be increased. Another proposal was that Public Transport should either be nationalised or should work in a single company or in organised groups of bus owners. Finally, the Board decided that the number of route buses had to be increased to 500 and, according to regulations approved by the same board had to work through organised groups of bus owners,. These decisions led to protests and strikes. Finally, the bus owners agreed with the board’s decision and the BMC agreed to amalgamate with the Sliema Bus Company. Later, the BMC struggled to get a monopoly of the Sliema Route. They even threatened the government that they were going to leave Malta and take their buses to Cairo unless they got sole control of the Sliema Route.
This amalgamation between the BMC and the Sliema Motor Bus Co. did not last long because the BMC lost hope of getting a monopoly on the Sliema Route and sold its local interest to Joseph Gasan, a renowned Maltese businessman. As well as buying all the interest of the BMC in Malta, he managed to buy all the other buses of the Sliema Motor Bus Co. at a low price by using entrepreneurial tactics and thus he obtained a monopoly of the Sliema route. He formed and supervised a disciplined management structure, a centralised garage and a workshop, disposing of the most uncomfortable buses. After World War II, he bought Ford V8 chassis from the military, imported new 40 passenger kits of Wayne bodies from Canada and mounted these bodies on the V8 chassis in his own workshop. He obtained more licenses to a total of 110. He imported new Thames chassis and all their bodies were built by a bus body builder , Joseph Aquilina of Paola. All these Ford Thames carried 36 passengers.
In 1955, Gasan started selling his buses to individuals for the sum of Lm3,500 -4,000 per bus, the price depending on its condition. When he managed to sell all his buses, he helped the new owners by organising them into a company which he led until operations started.
In 1971, there was a change of government with Dom Mintoff becoming Prime Minister. One of the items and priorities on his electoral program was a reorganisation of Public Transport.
For this reorganisation, a Board was formed with the administrative secretary as president. A study was finalised and the decision taken that all route buses be amalgamated into 1 group so every owner would receive the same income.
The board called meetings with delegates of the General Transport Union and informed them of this decision. The General Transport Union called a general meeting and informed the owners of the government’s intention to amalgamate all the routes into 1 group. Subsequently, the operators of the best routes objected with protests and strikes being organised but without effect. Later, a proposal was made by the GTU to the board stating that for a period of 1 year, all route buses be amalgamated into 3 groups and after this, buses be amalgamated into 1 group. The intention was that if the 3 group service ran satisfactorily according to the authorities, the public and the owners themselves, then the government may change their decision and maintain the 3 group service. This proposal was accepted by the board. After 2 months, 3 groups were formed, each group under the control of a committee. Each committee tried to introduce an efficient service and achieved satisfacoty results. After a year, no preparations were in place for a 1 group amalgamation. A duty roster was circulated to every bus owner from the office of the prime minister on a ‘2 days on and 1 day off’ basis and every owner had to work under his own initiative and under the control of the board and the police. This situation led to a competition between bus drivers, with everyone struggling to pick up more passengers. In one instance, a 40 seater bus was loaded with 70 passengers or more. This situation resulted in several bus owners selling their buses at very low prices. Others kept them garaged with the consequence of paying heavy penalties for not honouring the conditions and obligations as a licensee. This situation remained like this for over 3 years. The owners themselves were exasperated with this situation and called several general meetings to discuss ways forward. In one of these meetings, the decision was taken to restart negotiations with the authorities for 1 group amalgamation. The authorities offered help to commence service as soon as possible and on the 17th November 1977, all route buses started operating in one group as is still the case today. A centralised office was formed under the control of a committee which is elected by bus owners every 2 years through a general meeting of the association.
Presently, there are 508 buses. Besides working on scheduled route transport throughout the island on a rostered basis, these buses also perform direct and night services, school transport and private trips if and when required.