Infrastructure, authorities’ reluctance, ‘barriers’ to student transport culture shift – KSU survey

Almost half of university students who go to campus by car would consider cycling instead of driving and three-fourths would consider using a park-and-ride service, according to a survey carried out by the University Student Council (KSU).

The figures, KSU says, show that many students are willing to shift to alternate and more sustainable modes of transport, but a lack of adequate infrastructure coupled with a reluctance, at an administrative level, to move away from car dependency, are acting as barriers to this cultural shift.

This scholastic year, KSU has issued 5,559 parking permits, which allow students to park in the blue parking bays on campus. Another 1,123 students registered their number plates in the KSU system but did not apply for a parking permit. It is highly likely that they park in nearby towns.

Students were this year asked to state where they lived when applying for a parking permit. It emerged that 16% of students who park at the university car parks live within a 2km radius of the campus. Almost 26% live within a 2-4km radius, 42% live within a 4-6km radius, and only 37% live outside the 6km radius.

Meanwhile, a July 2017 transport survey saw 64.9% of respondents saying they used their private vehicle to go to university. Forty-four percent said they would consider cycling there and 77 per cent of private vehicle owners said they would consider using a park-and-ride system if one was provided. Fifty-seven per cent said they would carpool if adequate parking was provided.

Those who said they would consider alternate means of transport cited ‘buses on time’ as their main concern and ‘efficient routes’ as their second.

Sixty-one per cent of private vehicle owners spend more than 20 minutes a day looking for parking.

KSU said that given the central location of the university and the survey results, alternative modes of transport have the potential to make student commutes significantly better and to enhance the overall university experience.

Students who have already taken up cycling as their main mode of transport to the university have remarked how short their commutes are. Cycling to the university from San Ġwann takes as little as five minutes. Cycling from Birkirkara takes just 10 minutes, from Lija and Attard the commute is 15 minutes and from Sliema it takes 13 minutes. Using a pedelec, which is motor-assisted bicycle, further decreases these time frames.

Route safety is the main concern holding back this cultural shift.

KSU said it was clear that without the adequate infrastructure, students would continue to rely on private cars.

The student council believes that the university should lead this much-needed cultural shift.

It has worked on a number of initiatives over the past few years, including revamping the carpooling system, organising a scooter open day, urging students to sign up for public transport grants, submitting a proposal for new bicycle racks, asking Transport Malta to create safer pedestrian paths and submitting a business proposal for a parkand-ride from central Malta to the university.

KSU said the greatest barrier to this shift came from the authorities, both at an administrative level within the university itself and a national level, “which are generally reluctant to truly move away from the car-dependent transport model.”

KSU is pleading for the university to challenge the car culture and to lead by example in creating space for the most efficient modes of mobility.

It also called on the university to create a firstever transport framework that sets targets for the near future to challenge the mobility problem in terms of culture and, most importantly, to create safe, attractive and usable infrastructure for alternatives that so far do not exist en masse.