Guest Post: Stuck In Traffic In Malta? A Better Road Infrastructure Is Possible
Government recently made public transport free to all residents in Malta. Our ministers have marketed this measure as an effective solution to our transport and traffic problems. However, the yearly autumn downpours combined with the standstills caused by back-to-school traffic show otherwise.
The phenomenon of high car use and car dependency in Malta has been the topic of major debate in recent years, both in the policymakers’ arena and in daily informal conversations.
While most political rhetoric and discourse focus on the environmental and economic aspects of this problem, the impact of a large number of cars in our small island state goes beyond this.
The social aspect of transport locally has been largely unstudied: how is the current transport situation affecting one’s quality of life on a day-to-day basis?
This was the basis of my recent Master’s dissertation as part of an M.Sc in Sustainability Science, Policy, and Society at Maastricht University.
The results of my research show that people living in Malta need a car to function normally in society, especially when they have children or elderly parents to take care of.
Several fellow cyclists and alternative transport users are sometimes quick to point judgemental fingers at daily car users for actually being the cause of traffic themselves. There is definitely some truth behind this argument criticising people’s inertia and lack of willingness to use the car less.
However, the problem of car dependence goes beyond individual choice.
The problem is entrenched in the country’s cultural, political, and economic system. Successive governments have pushed for short-term populist infrastructural projects, such as the recent Marsa Junction and Central Link projects, that have prioritised and encouraged car use and in turn overlooked investments in public and active modes of transport.
Accessibility is one of the main reasons people are forced to use cars. The lack of bus punctuality, lack of access to town and village cores, unreasonable trip lengths, and the fact that various areas around the island aren’t reachable unless the bus journey starts or ends in Valletta still persist.
The problem of accessibility is further aggravated amongst the elderly and persons with mobility impairments, who might not be able to reach their closest bus stops because of a lack of adequate and safe walking paths.
In turn, this mandatory car ownership creates an affordability problem for lower-income earners who cannot afford a car but have to buy one anyways.
Otherwise, they are threatened by social exclusion and marginalisation; they would be unable to opt for better jobs if these are unreachable by bus, it would be difficult to attend various social activities especially in the evening, and sometimes it might even be hard to complete some of their required errands.
And finally, while policymakers claim that their car-centric infrastructural projects are decreasing pollution and improving road safety levels, the actual numbers show otherwise.
A daily scroll on several news websites grimly welcomes you with headlines of transport accidents which are resulting in many injuries, sometimes life-threatening, and a higher number of fatalities when compared to previous years.
Moreover, recent data shows that areas in Floriana, Ħamrun and Swieqi have nitrogen dioxide levels that exceed accepted EU levels, thus being disproportionally exposed to several heart diseases and premature deaths.
The research results are not surprising but policymakers are still focusing on half-hearted vote-grabbing measures like that of free public transport. Evidence from cities and other countries show that free public transport alone has zero to very limited effect on redirecting people from cars and promoting a modal shift.
The measure must be complemented with a comprehensive package of other policies that increase bus efficiency and promote other modes. Bus efficiency can be improved by changing bus routes or updating the Tallinja app to show changes in routes due to road closures.
More radically, the government can nationalise the bus system and invest heavily in buses and new routes. With regard to other modes of transport, state investment is of utmost importance.
More importantly, any such incentive must be combined with proper car disincentives, which are still considered political taboos in Malta due to them being unpopular at first glance.
Car disincentives usually have negative connotations for car users because of the financial implications that things like taxes and capping might hold. But this is not necessarily the case if things are done properly.
With new multi-lane bypasses, car disincentives can focus on keeping cars out of our town and village cores. This can be done through the introduction of more low-emission zones and the concept of the slow street already launched by the Local Councils Association.
The latter initiative has already been proposed in ten different localities (Msida, San Ġiljan, Iklin, Xewkija, Ħal Safi, Ħad Dingli, Għargħur, Naxxar, Fgura and Munxar) but concrete implementation plans seem to have been shelved for the time being.
We should not be doomed to spending our morning commutes and evening journeys stuck in standstill traffic jams. Prioritising people over cars, and returning public spaces to residents, does not have to remain a dream.
We can have a better road infrastructure – so long as politicians lend an ear to what people really want.
Martina Camilleri is a Moviment Graffitti activist
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What should be done to solve Malta’s traffic crisis?