Traffic and transport
On Tuesday, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Aaron Farrugia launched a plan which aims to provide better options for travellers who prioritise active mobility.
Regarding the €35 million plan, the government statements said that “the planned connections not only connect places but also give users the possibility to switch between different modes of transport along a route.
“The announced plans make all this possible, with users gaining improved active mobility access to public transport nodes and new proposed mobility hubs. This will be done by adopting infrastructure that is appropriate and safe for the intended user and by choosing the connections to be direct and continuous.”
The routes will also aim to connect green spaces and busy nodes “so that the enhanced experience will be an efficient way to travel by walking and cycling.”
The first phase of this plan will focus on connections between Sa Maison, Valletta, and the Sea Passenger Terminal through Blata l-Bajda, covering an approximate length of 3km of active mobility infrastructure.
The project, in theory, sounds good. Investment in active mobility, such as the use of bicycles, is always welcome, and creating safe routes for such users in very important. In roads where there is no cycling infrastructure it is dangerous for cyclists, and this can put people off riding to work each day instead of using their car, for instance. One hopes that throughout all such projects those who use modes of alternative transport are and will always be consulted, as they obviously know what issues they face daily and how best to make their trips safe. Such a plan as this will hopefully yield good results to help encourage people to use alternative modes of transport.
But there was another piece of news this week, in the form of a release by the National Statistics Office highlighting the ever-growing number of motor vehicles on the road.
At the end of March 2023, the stock of licensed motor vehicles stood at 426,720. Out of this total, 74.5% were passenger cars. During the quarter under review, the stock of licensed motor vehicles increased at a net average rate of 20 motor vehicles per day. That is a lot.
Let’s put things in perspective. At the end of March 2022, a year earlier, the stock of licensed motor vehicles stood at 414,669 – That means that the number of vehicles increased by over 10,000 in the space of a year. Out of this total, 75.6% of the 414,669 were passenger cars, which means that the percentage of passenger cars has decreased by around one percent since March last year.
Although one must note that this still means that there are more passenger cars on the road today than a year ago… as the passenger car numbers are still rising. Passenger cars in the first quarter of 2023 stood at 318,095, whereas they stood at 313,690 in the first quarter of 2022.
Malta has a problem. The number of vehicles on the road keeps on rising, and it is not an easy problem to fix. Last year the government made public transport free for everyone, yet the number of licenced passenger cars is still going up. One obviously needs to take into account that just because someone has a car, it doesn’t mean they use it all the time. But the traffic is there for all to see.
Action is needed, as if vehicle numbers continue rising, then all the road widening that was done will only be effective for a limited time. But the question as to what action should be taken remains tricky, as taking one decision will likely impact people in some way. Will the government opt for more bus lanes? Will it opt for some form of plan to stagger peak hour traffic? Will it be a combination of different things?
The minister had outlined some ideas some months ago, but we need to wait and see.