Could I trust the 82 or 85 bus to get me to work on time?

One of the reasons the buses are late is because the amount of traffic, on Gozo the buses are very good but this time of year they can be delayed.

My experience has been that the nearer the terminus you board, the better your chance of getting on, same as everywhere. I have found the early buses to mostly be OK but certainly go early as Malta traffic is a semi mobile parking lot during rush hours. Some buses simply fail to launch at all, so the timetable can be a bit of a wish list at times, although, thankfully, I have not been caught that way too often. As some roots do seem to get much heavier demand than others, I suggest you have a word with your aunt for local knowledge. We sold our car in the UK and depend on the buses, which has been mostly a positive experience over the past year and a bit.

When I used google maps to plot a direction, the informaton was all over the place. The directions and bus schedules were different from one weekday to the next.

However, I went onto the maltabus website and even called them. The information was much clearer and I was told that the 81, 84, and 85 will travel along my route.  They didn't mention the 82 but the route clearly tells me that it does travel the same route. I was told that since my route was very early and near the start in Valetta, the bus has a decent chance of being reliable since there wouldn't be much traffic.

If anyone here personally took those buses in the early morning, it would be great to get your opinion on them. Thank you

You could use the tallinja app, which gives real time information on busses, to see how they are doing before you use them. I do that every time I go to the airport and it is very useful, because sometimes, an X1 might be 5-10 minutes early.

I have a question about the tallinja app. I am still in America right now but will be moving in a few days. I downloaded the app and am trying to use it but it is a little confusing to figure out. I may be wrong but the app tells me when a bus is expected to come according to the bus schedule.

However, what I really need to know is whether the buses are actually following that schedule. For example, if a bus is supposed to be at a bus stop in Pieta at 5:20 AM, I want to know what time it actually arrived.  If the buses arrived no more than 30 minutes late for several days in a row, then I know that I can trust the bus.

Does the app tell me when the buses actually arrived or does it just tell me when they are expected to arrive according to a schedule?

jmuthe wrote:

I have a question about the tallinja app. I am still in America right now but will be moving in a few days. I downloaded the app and am trying to use it but it is a little confusing to figure out. I may be wrong but the app tells me when a bus is expected to come according to the bus schedule.

However, what I really need to know is whether the buses are actually following that schedule. For example, if a bus is supposed to be at a bus stop in Pieta at 5:20 AM, I want to know what time it actually arrived.  If the buses arrived no more than 30 minutes late for several days in a row, then I know that I can trust the bus.

Does the app tell me when the buses actually arrived or does it just tell me when they are expected to arrive according to a schedule?

If you use the 'my next bus' section of the app it reports the time before the designated bus will arrive at your bus stop in real time. The bus GPS tells the system where it is and how long it will be.
The app uses your mobile GPS to establish the nearest bus stop and what buses use that stop and you select the route but it does not always work.
You can move your position on the map but it sometimes only reports back time table times.

Even less likely to work in the US!

Ray

Ray

Like Ray said, select the my next bus feature, it will give you a map on which you can click on bus stops, then click on real time info. The app gives you all buses that are going to arrive within the next 30 minutes. It is accurate most of the time, at least in St Pauls Bay, Mellieha and other places in the north I never had issues. However, you might still find that at rush hour buses are full and don't stop. The app doesn't tell you when that's the case...