The Malta Transport Authority (ADT) has denied claims by the Public Transport Association (ATP) that emission tests by VRT stations for buses were being carried out under wrong specifications.
The bus owners’ association has claimed that ATP officials and VRT stations have adopted mistaken specifications in their testing, while stating they were not against the emission testing of route buses.
ATP president Victor Spiteri said that for these specifications to be adapted to all heavy vehicles in Malta, the last reading should be based on 2,500 revs and not 3,000 revs, since in Malta the engines of heavy vehicles did not exceed 2,500 revs except for large private cars with petrol engines.
Yesterday the ADT said standards for tests on heavy vehicles were adopted from EU directives. It added that while the ATP claimed that one of the tests was carried out on 3,000 revs, the test report it enclosed did not indicate any revs.
Spiteri has claimed that the Malta Standards Authority, responsible for calibration of the emissions testing, had not noted the technical mistake in the standards for the calculation of emissions from heavy vehicles, issued by the ADT. Spiteri said the equipment at VRT stations was not being used properly.
The transport authority rebutted by saying the testing procedure in Malta was the same as in the UK and other European countries.
Spiteri claimed that the tests on pre-1979 bus engines are too generous and that the government should have continued pursuing the 1995 agreement on the replacement of buses.
The ADT responded by saying the government was committed to replace the buses with vehicles which produced less emissions and which came in different sizes according to their routes.
The authority also denied claims by Alternattiva Demokratika, which picked upon the public transport association’s statement that old buses would be exempt from new emissions testing procedures.
“Until recently, visual emissions inspections were being carried out by the authority on pre-1979 buses. This visual test was also conducted on those pre-1979 buses refitted with later model engines. Following the report issued by the Malta Standards Authority these older buses will be subject to more rigid testing procedures on the same lines as those being carried out on the newer models,” the authority said.
“Additionally, all buses will now be equipped with a rev counter and a pump seal to ensure that engines are not tampered with before undergoing any testing.”
The ADT said it would be conducting an awareness campaign to inform bus drivers of the adverse effects of noxious vehicular fumes in the coming weeks.
AD however said that it never claimed that there were plans not to test pre-1979 buses. “What we insist is that all buses are tested to the current emission standards and that buses which do not meet modern standards are taken off the road… As a party we support ADT’s efforts and insist that it is high time that all buses are subjected to strict, modern and current testing procedures. We hope that ADT is successful and is allowed to implement its plans for cleaner buses. Indeed we call for the government to go a step further and embark on a total reform of the public transport system as soon as possible.”
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