New traffic scheme for Valletta suspended

Valletta mayor Paul Borg Olivier has called on the Malta Transport Authority (ADT) to decide on parking and traffic re-organisation in Valletta after it suspended plans for a new scheme at the eleventh hour.

Until July 2004, the local council and the ADT had spent several months discussing the new parking and traffic system.

Dr Borg Olivier told The Times the local council had been told that the scheme, which was scheduled to be launched in mid-October, was suspended due to new "strategic policy planning considerations".

In a letter addressed to the ADT chairman and to the chief executive officer, the mayor complained about the scheme's postponement, pointing out that the local council had not received any invitation for further discussion with the authority.

The resident and commuter parking scheme had been designed for unrestricted parking for residents and short-term as well as medium-term (hourly) parking.

Asked by The Times if a circulation or congestion charge was an option for Valletta, Dr Borg Olivier said the authority had not come forward with such a proposal. "We have had written policies for years and we do not need to re-invent the wheel. All we want is to implement what has for long been on the drawing board. The park and ride system approved by the Cabinet as well as the residents' and short-stay parking systems are two good, short-term, immediate remedies which the city can take," he said.

Mentioning the example of the London congestion charge, still at an early stage of implementation, Dr Borg Olivier said the London authorities had indicated that traffic in the centre was reduced by just 16 per cent. "By analogy, this would mean that the number of cars circulating in Valletta daily would still be about 16,000, far more than the city can take," he said.

A BBC news report showed that 66 per cent of residents and business owners in London were still highly critical of the system, with the Automobile Association opposing the system.

The European Federation for Transport and the Environment indicated a circulation and congestion charge was only feasible where there was a well-organised, efficient transport system as an alternative to the charge.

Surveys indicated that during the peak hours of the day, the demand for parking in Valletta was double the amount of cars that the capital could actually take. In reality, 5,000 cars were packed in an area that was supposed to take 2,500 cars.

"The postponement decision objected to by the council came at the same time that the Malta Transport Authority sanctioned a resident and commuter parking scheme in Hamrun, where the local council had designed and set up a scheme without seeking authorisation from the ADT," Dr Borg Olivier said in his letter to the ADT.

In his letter the mayor told the authority that the Valletta local council would go ahead with the resident and commuter parking scheme as implemented in other localities (such as Victoria) by the end of the year if a joint decision is not taken within four weeks from September 27, the date when the letter was sent.

Local Councils Association president Ian Micallef told The Times the postponement of a commuter parking scheme for Valletta was unwarranted since it would have a negative impact on residents.