PN says government studies suggest limiting number of cars and licences

The Nationalist Party yesterday said that the government is being told to limit the number of cars on the road as a way of reducing traffic congestion. In a statement, Opposition spokesperson for Transport Toni Bezzina said that ‘studies reaching the government’ all suggest withdrawing driving licences or limiting the number of cars on the road as a way of solving Malta’s traffic problems.

There are currently nearly 400,000 licensed cars on Malta’s roads.

The PN linked the studies’ recommendations to the government’s population growth policies, saying that many foreign workers moving to Malta were resorting to buying cars to get around.

“In a nutshell, Maltese and Gozitan drivers will pay the price for the government’s policy of increasing the country’s population,” Bezzina said.

“It is clear that people are not being served well by public transport, despite it costing €30 million a year in subsidies,” he said.

The PN wants the government to invest in mass transportation to reduce the country’s dependency on cars.

Recent figures show that in first half of 2019, the stock of licensed motor vehicles stood at 391,914 – an increase of 3.3 per cent.

During the second quarter of this year, the stock of licensed vehicles increased by an average of 82 vehicles per day. During the same quarter of this year, 7,503 vehicles were taken off the road.

As at the end of June this year, 234,822 vehicles, or 59.9 per cent, used petrol. Dieselpowered vehicles reached 152,266 or 38.9 per cent. Electric and hybrid vehicles accounted for just 0.8 per cent of the entire stock, with a total of 3,280 vehicles.