Watch: PL MEP Daniel Attard Calls For A Study Into Whether Traffic Has Increased
Labour MEP Daniel Attard has called for a study to determine whether traffic has increased in Malta in recent years.
During a ONE Radio discussion show, Attard said he recently took a trip from the airport to Kalkara at around 4:30pm and didn’t encounter any traffic.
“Do you remember the roundabout near the airport and how gridlocked it was at 4:30pm? Nowadays there’s a tunnel and you can just drive freely. The roundabout near Luqa was gridlocked, driving to Qormi was a problem, the Central Link and the Mrieħel bypass was a problem.”
Attard attributed the increase in private vehicles to the country’s “economic success”, arguing that families which used to own one or two cars now own four or five.
He also said that the nation must ultimately decide whether it is ready to sacrifice car reliance for the sake of pedestrianised spaces and efficient public transport.
“Brussels prioritised pedestrians and have pedestrian zones everywhere. Now we’ll take visitors up to Brussels and they’ll all comment on how lovely it is and how many open spaces there are, but do we want more open spaces in Malta?”
“London has bus lanes everywhere and buses arrive on time, but they had to remove parking spaces.”
Attard insisted that it is up to the people to decide what direction the country should take, with politicians then implementing their wishes.
“Are we ready to sacrifice for the sake of open spaces? Are we ready to walk more? Are we ready to stop relying on the car so much?”
Do you agree with Daniel Attard’s argument?
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