eCabs CEO: It’s Time To Start Implementing Longstanding Traffic Policies
The CEO of one of Malta’s leading cab companies has urged Transport Minister Aaron Farrugia to shift his focus from discussing how to improve existing traffic policies to implementing the ones already in existence.
In an opinion piece that originally appeared in the Times of Malta, Andrew Bezzina noted that Farrugia recently said he intends to consult with stakeholders ahead of a potential policy update on how to limit private car use.
However, Bezzina noted that policies already exist, not least in a hefty national transport strategy for 2050 that Transport Malta launched in 2015.
This strategy estimates that traffic congestion could cost the Maltese economy over €1.28 billion per year in 2050, equating to a loss of 8.2% of Malta’s GDP and that an efficient multi-modal transport system is necessary to improve the quality of life, maintain high economic growth and safeguard the environment.
This basically involves investing in and promoting alternative forms of transport – such as buses, cabs, bicycles, scooters, ferries, and walking – to make them more appealing than private cars.
“It’s the belief that moving away from dependence on the private car by providing other reliable ways of getting from A to B can decongest our clogged urban spaces and make them better places to live,” Bezzina said.
“This is a goal eCabs shares with cities around the world, and with good reason: because reducing personal car use holds the potential to reduce the negative impacts of transport and unlock our urban spaces.”
“From air pollution to traffic accidents, and the vast amounts of space used for parking and new roads which instead could be used for gardens, parks, and wide-open walkways.”
“To achieve this, we need policymakers to stop rewriting policy documents, which have already been written, and start implementing their recommendations.”
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