Government speaks of vision to reduce traffic, PN has no confidence things will change
The government on Wednesday explained its vision to improve traffic and public transport services in the near and distant future, while the opposition expressed its lack of confidence that things will change for the better.The exchange took place in
The government on Wednesday explained its vision to improve traffic and public transport services in the near and distant future, while the opposition expressed its lack of confidence that things will change for the better.
The exchange took place in Parliament on Wednesday as the budget estimates for the Transport Ministry were discussed.
The Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Public Works, Chris Bonett, said that to improve the traffic situation across the country, decision-makers must work to increase transport by sea by promoting sustainable and active mobility as a means to travel, as well as integrate Y-plate taxis to be more integrated as a complimentary transport service.
"We must reverse the [current] trend and ensure that our most abundant resource - our sea - is not our least used means of transportation," Minister Bonett said.
He said that studies are currently underway to see where new ferry routes may be introduced.
Bonett added that while the pier works in Buġibba are nearly complete, the next potential locality earmarked by government to introduce a ferry service is Marsascala. He said that this region is being considered in order to reduce traffic congestion in the south of Malta.
As an idea to reduce traffic congestion in the very north of Malta, Bonett said that authorities are working so that cargo heading towards Gozo leaves for our sister island from either Corradino or the Freeport, though this idea is subject to studies.
While speaking about the PL government's positive developments in this sector over the past decade, Minister Bonett explained that the government measure to offer free public transport via bus and fast ferry is showing dividends.
He said that more people have used public transport since this change was introduced - by foreign residents as well as native Maltese.
He said that certain bus routes are become more frequent as early as 1 December 2024; the Minister said that the numbered 46 and 90 bus routes will increase in frequency while certain routes to Burmarrad, Mellieħa, and Qajjenza are to be extended.
Bonett said that since Malta became the second EU country to offer free public transportation, the percentage of Maltese using public transport via bus has increased by 30%. Additionally, data shows that since also becoming free, fast ferry services have observed a 37% increase in usage from the first months of 2024 to the same first months of 2023.
He also explained that present authorities should work to culturally change the way transportation is viewed locally by reforming our perception of mobility in this mission to reduce abundant traffic.
In regard to Y-plate taxis, the Transport Minister hopes for this service to continue its present as a complimentary aspect of alternate public transportation. He said he hopes that political back-and-forths do not hinder the "needed progress" in this aspect.
Minister Bonett said that the government is going to begin encouraging "certain sectors" to work at different times as a means to reduce the strains of rush hours. Here, he clarified that this change will not suddenly force an increased prevalence of night shifts.
"This will not only help us reduce traffic, but also help the economy by allowing sectors to function during less busy [and more productive] hours," he said.
The Minister spoke positively of the economic model in place, saying that Malta's economy today is better than that of countries which, in the past, we used to strive to be like, downplaying Opposition criticisms in the process.
He also preached his wish for people to "travel more intelligently" to reduce the strains on our roads and promote active mobility. He shared that through his own personal observations, many cars only feature its driver, and thus called for the "fun experience" of carpooling to become a norm again.
Bonett defended the government's decision to decrease the size of the government grant to incentivise the purchase of electric cars from €11,000 to €8,000. He argued that the grant was previously worth €11,000 since, at the time that value was devised, the average worth of an electric vehicle was €33,000 - meaning that the grant would cover a third of the price. The Minister said that nowadays, this average price has dropped to €20,000, so percentage-wise, the government is forking out a greater chunk of the total expense while being more monetarily wise.
On the similar grants available for pedelec and e-kick scooters, the Minister said that these shall continue, though work must be heeded to tackle people's greatest deterrent for taking these options up: solid infrastructure.
At the end of his speech, the Minister praised the Msida Creek project for working to amend the present infrastructure in a manner that should decrease the traffic presently prone in the area, while making it more accessible to other modes of sustainable transport, and providing a recreational space for Msida residents.
He then ascertained that "whoever is trying to reduce the credibility of this project is doing a great disservice to the residents of Msida and the rest of the Maltese population."
PL government has failed to address traffic congestion over last 11 years - PN
The Nationalist Party's Shadow Minister for this sector, Mark Anthony Sammut, stated that traffic today is in a "very vulnerable state" and condemned the Labour administrations over the last 11 years for motivating the degradation of this everyday aspect.
"While some aspects have been improved upon in the last 11 years, this Labour government has failed to address worsening traffic congestion," Sammut said.
The PN MP described transport as a "vital artery for any economy" since it is the way people travel from one place to another, allows people to go about their lives, and "allows the economy to go round." Henceforth, he argued that it is essential for traffic to be properly addressed, since more traffic time means employees are spending more time on the roads and less time at work, leading to less productivity.
He also said that heavy traffic flows have several negative implications for people from a health standpoint; while gas emissions are bad for one's physical health, frequent and abundant traffic has negative effects to one's mental health, he said, as it motivates stress and decreases one's quality of life.
Sammut debated that the government has no vision for the direction it envisions the country to move towards and cited contradictory population forecasts as his evidence. Citing Transport Malta's National Transport Strategy 2050 from a decade ago, the PN spokesperson remarked that this strategy forecasted the Maltese population in 2050 to increase by 7-12% over the course of 36 years.
Sammut highlighted that while this national strategy forecasted the Maltese population to increase from 423,670 in 2014 to an "optimistic" maximum of 475,000 people, this maximum forecast was exceeded within a year of the report's publication because of the nature of the government's economic model forcing a much more drastic population growth.
According to NSO, Malta's population as of the end of 2022 was of just over 542,000 people.
Sammut added that "despite investments to reduce traffic, we are in a worse state 11 years later" with traffic having increased in all corners of the country, as well as traffic time and the increase in emissions per capita. He said that for the latter category, Malta is the worst culprit amongst all EU countries.
The PN spokesman said that through the government's focus in this regard to centre around infrastructural works like road construction and widening, "pressure is increasing to build more roads and widen highways, rather than invest in public transport."
"Focusing the infrastructure on private vehicles only promotes people's tendency to rely on private vehicles, while decreasing the efficiency of public transport with increased traffic congestion," he said.
"Nowadays, we often move a bottleneck from one location to another," Sammut said, "Public transport hasn't improved enough. People still cannot rely on it; there are too many instances where a bus is either full or doesn't show up."
Sammut criticised the government's decision to decrease the value of the government grant for electric vehicles from €11,000 to €8,000, saying it is counter-intuitive to the mission to incentivise their purchase.
He also condemned the incumbent administration for abandoning the metro idea and taking "no steps" for the Maltese islands to seek another form of alternative public transport since.
He concluded by calling to change the country's economic model through another governing party, away from one that outputs a net daily increase of 60 cars in our roads and in favour of a model that is less dependent on foreign labour.
Related
Share this page
Guest Posts by Easy Branches
