Monday, 19th May 2008 - 11:12CET
Tackling transport: Gatt seeks new, and old, solutions
Transport Minister Austin Gatt is seeking fresh solutions to ease Malta's transport problems, but says that the reintroduction of a means of transport Malta had before the war - the tram - should also feature in the discussion.
He was speaking to timesofmalta.com after his recent speech about taking "a fresh look" at transport drew an avalanche of comments from readers.
The minister said that if Malta's transport problems were to be viewed as being about long traffic jams or unavailability of parking, the county would only be continuing to patch up, when it should really be starting from scratch.
"We have to face up to a few realities first and some of your readers on www.timesofmalta.com were speaking in a way that many of us are ready for this type of thinking," Dr Gatt said.
"There will never be enough parking spaces for everyone, everywhere. Our island has the fifth largest motorisation rate worldwide. Our roads will never be wide enough, not to mention safe enough.
"There must be a shift away from our dependence on cars and towards travelling in groups.
"The Park and Ride service from Floriana to Valletta showed that anyone would be happy to use a bus if they are provided with an efficient, reliable, cost effective service, and in this case it was free!
"But we must also face up to the reality that our existing public transport network is not up to the needs of today and it is not just a matter of changing the buses and getting new ones. The service still won't be sufficient if it sticks to the same old routes with the same old frequencies.
"We also do not use all of our transport resources. Taxis, for many reasons, are not for locals. We do not use boats to travel short distances and instead travel longer loops around the harbour complaining of never ending traffic lines.
"Bringing in electric minicabs was a simple transport innovation that has transformed life in Valletta. We need to think more in these terms rather than accepting the dogma that if you must go there the only way to go is driving yourself in your car."
Referring to some of the comments, Dr Gatt stressed that it would be a mistake to think that congestion would stop by simply creating more space for cars.
"Our experience of underground car parks and increased access for cars, without any restricted use on the surface, has been to actually persuade more people to use their cars," he said.
"On the other extreme I think an underground metro may not be impossible, but the economic case for it has yet to be made and I stand to be convinced about it.
"What I know is that we cannot wait for this big debate before we start solving problems on the ground.
"The first steps are, quite literally, the small steps. We must prioritise pedestrian and disabled access and increase pedestrianised areas in town centres. The success of the Valletta project should be emulated elsewhere. We should extend the mini-cab experiment. We should promote the introduction of lifts and boats connecting in straight lines points that today take longer to travel to and from by roads. We need to give more access to cyclists.
"Then comes the bigger stuff. We need to open the use of taxis to Maltese travellers. We need to change around the bus system to provide people good connections from anywhere to anywhere.
"Looking at the experience of cities the size of our population around Europe in the last 20 years a discussion about trams would not be amiss."
When questioned about the road network, Dr Gatt said there was a lot to be done, and that inlcuded major administrative decisions.
"There is still a lot of work to be done on the ‘1' road (from Birżebbuġa to Ċirkewwa). There are entire stretches that are crying out for upgrading especially on the north side of the island such as St Andrew's, Salini and Għadira by ways of example.
"But I am looking at the whole picture to see how we can refine our priorities. One endemic problem of our set-up is that local councils are responsible for local roads and the government is responsible for arterial roads. There are roads in between those categories that theoretically belong to councils but that are too big for the councils to handle. In jargon they are known as ‘link' roads and include for example The Strand in Gżira which is structurally in a mess and politically in limbo on who should fix it."
Dr Gatt said that while short term solutions would only solve short term problems, some measures were in the process of being taken.
"In the fairly short term we should be seeing improved road markings and road signs. We should start seeing some better quality road works now that the materials will be tested by an independent laboratory and not by the suppliers of the product themselves.
"On public transport we will soon be working on more local mini-cab service and an adequate bus routes to service the airport, and the ADT will be working with MMA to improve the water connections in our harbour.
"The board I set up to oversee the Roads Department addresses one of the obvious weaknesses we had at the organisational level. There is no doubt of the advantage that public and private transport are planned for by one Authority. But Roads needs focus and resources and clearly this area was weak at the top. There are plenty more changes to make in our structural set up but this is where we started from."
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Comments
An underground metro is the most expensive solution and doesn't make sense in the areas between population centres. A tram (which could run partly underground) or a premetro would make more economic sense. Brussels, Antwerp and The Hague are good examples of this approach (although the amount of mismanagement during construction would impress even the Maltese).
Amsterdam, on the other hand, should serve as an example why one should be very cautious when pondering a full-blown heavy-rail underground metro. They're building one right now, digging a tunnel through what's basically a swamp and underneath a centuries old city centre. Not surprisingly, there are delays and budget overruns. Having said that, whilst living there I didn't even have a driving license, because I didn't need one.
@ R Spiteri
@ M. Mercieca
@Cajetan schembri
@ Theresa Vella and
@ Anthony schembri
I don’t mind keep on pushing the same button . In very simple English: Prudence is no longer an option. We should consider change our life style to cope with prices increases . No minister is going to spoon feed us what we should do to adapt with realties. Lesser use of cars - using bicycles - motor bikes- boeats or even walking....etc...Transport is not only about traffics........it also mean cleaner enviroment ....health.....fuel and energy.....etc.
By the way oil price is 132$ pb today – prices may double soon. (smile)
a) this project (if implemented in phases) can become a huge employment generator as hundreds (if not thousands) of jobs can be created during the construction, decomission, operability and maintenance/upgrading phases
b) reduces pressures of air pollution
c) reduces demand for additional parking spaces, car parking, road building
d) eases congestion currently responsible for an increasing amount of vehicle collisions
e) excellent permanent advertising tool for in bound toursits as it increasing accessibility and mobility potential
f) produces a large number of spin-off activities
g) coordination potential with other modes of transport e.g. re-routed public buses, harbour based point to point watertaxis
h) showcasing the country's identity, economic potential
i) culture of constructing tunnels is not new in Malta e.g. water galleries, recent electricity-related tunnels
I'm sure there are other economic arguments favouring a decision to go for a metro system. A word for the skeptics who shot down this concept: countries and cities with a population smaller than Malta have adopted this solution e.g. Catania, Lausanne, San Juan de Puerto Rico, Palma de Majorca (a Spanish Mediterranean island).
Anyhow, I'm glad to hear (read!) this article, and that it reflects what I and a few others have already said in the press.
We simply need to have new, courageous ideas and revitalise the public transport system. Why don't we, for example, develop a number of hubs around Malta, where one can hop on/off the buses according to where s/he wants to go? Imagine going from Cospicua to Qormi...why not have a hub in Marsa, instead of Blata l-Bajda/Valletta, to catch bus 89? Instead of having to ride PAST Qormi and then having to ride BACK to Qormi...???? That's just one idea. Some years back, a friend of mine had made a paper on this subject, and it concentrated on a transport matrix system - the result will be the same - more or less.
We just need courage. Now we have the right Minister to get things done, so let's get moving!!!
One question and one suggestion to Dr Gatt.
Are there any new board members with enough knowledge of urban and suburban transport networks?
My suggestion is that the Authorities should stop going head over heals to provide ways and means for car users to find parking places. This apart from the fact that bus routes should be only for the use by public transport vehicles and residents. All others should use bypasses and alternative roads.
Traffic jams should only be met car users and not public transport.
I am sure that this suggestion will not be favourably met by car users but this is the only solution to have a good public transport network.
One last suggestion is that the idea suggested years gone by of a Hub system be actually implemented, thus providing transport service from and to all corners of the island.
From what I can see there seems to be a abundance of ideas below. Maybe Ideas are not what you need John. The government and communities ability for ideas may not be the issue.
When will you wake up to yourselves and realize that maybe transport is not the problem. Your transport issues are a byproduct of the real issue.
Talk about your solutions to transport and maybe solve them in the future, but over look where your tax dollars a have gone in the last 100 years.
Naive..
Totally agree with having a decently priced annual bus pass. The ones currently available (1 week are max as far as I know) are not worth it. Having a price of around EUR50 would certainly make public transport use more easy and efficient. I have lived abroad and seen this type of bus pass in use but the prices in use were worth it.
But there's plenty more he can do. Several of us have mentioned 2-wheeled transport and, as an ex-biker and occasional cyclist I second them. However, road users MUST be taught to respect bikers/cyclists. I broke ribs in a bike-crash because of spilt water on an otherwise dry road (around a blind corner, naturally). It wasn't fun. And enforcing good driving would solve a lot of problems - for example, traffic cops at sensitive areas would stop the 'might is right' attitude that leads to jams. A case in point: were there ever any police posted to organise order where two lanes blended into one up from the gas tank during the never-ending bridge job?
Best of luck, Dr Gatt!
We're all just very eager waiting for you to give us all a good solution or a practical proposal .
Got any bright ideas up your sleeve ?
All you did is criticize and stopped there - the simplest way out !!
For a country that cant even update its road system 100 years later to be talking about public underground is pretty naive.
If the case is that all the tourists can remember of Malta is only the Maltese buses and cisk, than, besides Simonds Farsons Cisk plc, the whole of the tourism industry in Malta is in very sorry state and we would be in very big trouble.
Let’s not be so nostalgic about our old buses and look forward for a better and modern Malta. Besides putting a few buses in a museum, as someone mentioned, a few of them should be used for sightseeing tours instead of those very English double-deckers.
"On the other extreme I think an underground metro may not be impossible, but the economic case for it has yet to be made and I stand to be convinced about it."
I would love to see the day where we in Malta can compare our public transport system to others in big countries. There are so so many reasons for us to benefit from an underground system. I can easily name a few:
- The ability to catch a train at a certain time and be at a certain place at a certain time. (Wow wouldnt that be great!)
- The time it will take to travel from one place to another, (no traffic jams or zig zagging to your destination on railways!)
- A cleaner enviroment from less people dependent on cars and those disgusting old polluting buses.
- The possibility to develop a more attractive entrance to our capital Valletta :)
- A more capable system to transport larger amounts of people.
- A system that will benefit tourism hugely with easier and more effective travel for tourists.
- People the ability to travel to work easier which in turn help the economy.
This is just a few off the top of my head, @Austin Gatt, how can you not be convinced?
never said that the solution is to have parents of the road... I just stated a fact that this contributes to the traffic problem and if a better solution could be found, yes why not. The issue here is to make transport sustainable and decent for everyone. Shooting off sweeping statements like fossil fueled vehicles are dinasours which refuse to die is entirely idealistic and not possible in the intricacies of today's world.
Some proposals by people, though might seem very nice at first do not take into consideration the impacts involved. I am of course not even bothering to go personal in here since I have no idea of who you are and it is definitely not a personal issue with me.
One thing bothers me myself about SUV perceptions. People comment that they are gas guzzlers, large and heavy emitters. That no one is disputing. What people do not see is that it is not only SUV's that are the heavy emitters. Today's SUV's rarely have engines larger than 2000cc's which is pretty much the same as those found in family saloon cars. The issue of size for me is not really a question since I still park in the same slot that a normal sized car uses. I do not need bigger or anything of the sort.
What I ask is that some people advocate frameworks to change over from large cars to smaller ones. My question is whether these people ever consider the huge environmental impact that is involved in disposing of all these pinpointed gas guzzlers on the road... as well as the environmental impact to produce all these replacement cars. Malta is already one huge dump site in many areas, let alone if we practically enforce the scrapping of a substantial amount of vehicles.
I am of course refraining from going into a further stakeholder analysis of what would happen if the older cars had to be taxed heavily in order to promote newer cars.... Think along the lines of jobs of mechanincs, parts importers, second hand car dealers, loss of income on present car and cost of purchase of the newer ones by individuals etc etc
I am not technical in this matter so of course cannot provide an answer. I just hope that the government is seriously considering all this in its run up to change the tax regime on vehicles.
I personally think that on such a delicate issue, radical measures will not work out. It is more a holistic approach in which minor changes are introduced so as not to burden directly one particular segment, and the sum of these minor changes will actually make some form of impact to the betterment of everyone at the end of the day..
While I must agree with your statement that while being driven, an SUV pollutes more, one must look at the big picture. Manufacturing vehicles requires vast amounts of fossil fuels. Furthermore, recycling the said vehicles at the end of their useful lives requires the use of even more fossil fuels.
As a general rule, the lifetime of an SUV is much longer than that of a small passenger car. One does not need a PHD in rocket science to work out some simple mathematics and come to a conclusion that SUVs aren't to blame.
We need a decentralised public transport system. We to understand the best buses are about half the size of those being used.......for several reasons mainly the narrow roads in some villages. We need more bans and incentives to use less private transport. Private transport belonged to an age of cheap fuel, that is now history as the forces of politics and
dwindling oil resources alter the global scene.
More incentives for electric cars. A policy whereby a couple of days work is done online at home wherever possible, to decrease the need to travel from/to work. A social policy wherby a minimum teleworking threshold is established and implimented.
And yes, time to ressurect the old railway, albeit in a modern electric form!
Well observed –Prosit! - Transport: One word which when looked into more deeply opens up an infinite array of issues. Should you like to dig deeper in this subject that is not only about transport (as many peoples may think) - you can refer to my previous comment on 8 April.
Minister Gatt wishes he could provide each one with a private transport to take you from bed to any destination – to provide free food to all (this does not fall under Minister Gatt) - to provide free medicines to al (this again does not fall under Minister Gatt) – to provide better environment to all (this also does not fall under Minister Gatt) - to provide a free fuel to all …. Etc. but these will remains just wishes! Certainly it won't happen.
Because it's a sure bet that peak-oil prices – grain prices –climate changes and environment disasters should be the main topic of discussion, and (policy makers) don't want that to be a public discussion- at least not now.
THE TITLE READS: Tackling transport: GATT seeks new, and old, solutions - The title says it all - Do we expect Minister GATT to spoon feed us what old solutions are? He will never say that.
If people don't change their priorities, nobody can help them
Maybe we should have a look at the systems in Geneva, Toronto and tens of other cities and see how they manage this sort of thing!
But first scrap the old stinky buses!
1) School children transport.
2) Workers travelling from North to South of the island and vice versa - to ind.estates.
3) Employees who work on 2,3,4 shift basis.
4) Construction - Trucks laiden with building material - Cranes - Bulldozers.
5) Health - Ambulances trying to reach their destination - Do we have user friendly signs?
6) Individual self discipline - Do all of us obey traffic and parking regulations?
7) Road rage - Why are many with one's finger on the horn as soon as an obstacle arises for even a few seconds e.g to let an elderly person out of a car.
8) Roads - Their condition (to be fair there has been improvement) - Why are there roads which are no one's responsibility - case in point.... where Mosta hill ends and where the hill to Burmarrad starts , no wonder they call it TARGA GAP :) - the gap between two tarmacs.
9) Malta's terrain - hills and slopes, curves and straights . The country is not so adapt for cycling especially for the middle aged as Mr.Joe Grima very well pointed out.
10) Lack of direct transport lines going through and underneath villages and towns stopping also at strategic points like hopitals, schools, and industrial estates, with the use of underground passes leading to energy efficient tube lines similar to what one finds from Heathrow airport leading to other parts of London in the UK.
So you see the issue here is not just public transport and it's level of efficiency .
It is many issues under the heading 'Transport' .
How to tackle it .
1) Feedback from all of us - students,workers,elders,truck drivers,delivery persons, all those who use the roads.
2) Forward what hinders you from arriving from A to B efficiently to the authorities and than we can build a system which will work for the whole country - We are 2 small islands.
Much larger countries did it. Why should we fail?
One must keep in mind that any minister cannot do all on his own but also through the input of us citizens.
before shooting down my suggestions:
- consider that the Maltese buses and the cisk are what the tourists remember. they should be kept alive on our roads not locked up in a museum - like the London taxis and double decker buses. CNG and LPG has been used in many cities like New Delhi to clean the filthy air.
- regarding annual bus cards, consider that if every passenger needs 6 seconds to pay and get the ticket, with ten people its already one minute lost, with the engine still on and the bus blocking the street. the popularity will obviously depend on the price. the current prices for the one week tickets are outrageous. what about paying EUR 50 for an annual bus card? If the driver doesn't have to check for the tickets then the buses can have 2 or 3 doors so the people can embark and alight more quickly.
- regarding the use of motorcycles: during the morning rush hour it is usually just the driver in most cars. the congestion could be significantly reduced if more people drove a motorcycle considering that most days are warm and dry.
It's much simpler and cheaper than this underground system which would be incredibly more expensive and put to risk our historical heritage.
As for electricity consumption; quite right but if we know that by using it we remove x number of cars off the streets then that is fuel that would go to produce the electricity for a more efficient way of carrying people.
Only problem might be that they would have to share the same road as vehicles but then again a single line from the north to sliema and on to valletta and the south to valletta on to sliema should not be a problem and would probably already half congestion.
Also, the issue of school transport is more complex than it seems. I know as a fact that some areas - including Mgarr - is underserved, and hence parents in such localities have no option but to transport their kids to school themselves. Other issues include safety, and pick up times. Some children are picked up as early as 6:30 if not earlier.
I agree with Dr Gatt that a fresh look is needed. To date the public transport system only went through cosmetic changes. Underlying problems such as punctuality (or lack of it) and outdated routes still previal.
In my opnion, liberalising the public transport sector will also make it more efficient as entrepreneurs will invest in a modern system which meets the needs of commuters. However, one must not forget that the system is a "universal service", and hence it must be accessible to all - even to those in remote locations - and at an affordable price, a concept that is already in practice in communications.
As indicated in a previous comment, a flyover at kappara, and also lija/bkara/balzan roundaobut (near teamsport/gaba gioelli) would drastically reduce the rush hour congestion
Encourage the use of scooters and motorbikes. No tax, Less Road Licence, Priority for bikes on the roads, much more motorbike parking bays.
Our short distances and fantastic weather makes this mode of transport very sensible. Just look at the Sicilians - motorino life is in their blood!
Just for the record, it's not a matter of envy but of choice although people like yourself will no matter what think otherwise. I consider the use of large expensive cars as a wasteful and destructive way of showing off. What makes you think those that have a small vehicle cannot afford one? also for the record I personally find the fossil fuel engine as an unfortunate dinosaur that refuses to go into extinction and no matter how big you get your car the rock you live on aint gonna grow bigger.
Having said that it is your right to do what you want with your money but people like yourself should be discouraged. I'm all in favour of introducing things as has been suggested in the U.K. including a yearly parking fee for large vehicles. Why not? If you really have the money to dish out you should be paying for the excessive fumes, more wastage in larger wheels and other non recycable materials.
Its the width that counts not just the length, what do you take us for ?
So your solution to have more space for your big vehicle is get parents driving their kids to school off the road eh?
It's bad enough we have to get our kids up by 6:00 am let alone having to handle school buses that need to drive around a dozen of villages to collect kids.
Many parts of Minister GATT’s comments and analysis are deeply accurate. His signals are crystal clear (actually more clear than the first week of last March ). Seriously speaking Ministers and governments do not make miracles – As the Minister says we must fine tune our priorities – we should from now consider changing our life style (before it will be a must ).
What actually concerns me is not what the Ministers (including Minister Gatt) say, but rather the way people think things are. People cannot accept (or prefer not to understand or believe) that a crucial resource is irreplaceable and all individuals (irrelevant of their income) will be facing a tougher time to secure daily necessities. Poverty is color blind god-less and has no frontiers. As yet the picture isn’t that gloomy.
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Cajetan schembri - Theresa Vella and - Anthony schembri are somewhat correct. Why not? Soon we may have a 2 minuses + a Xarabank with the help of some divas to promote the use of alterative transports methods. Media is the very first step where the life style changes take place anyway.
Thanks to every one behind the timesofmalta.com servicse - as well to all readers that cares to pass comments- I am going for a walk - Good day to all. :-)
Tourists increase the actual daily number by not more than 30,000 - so the actual population of Malta is of around 430,000, nowhere near the numbers required for economic viability of such an expensive endevour.
''encouragement to use motorcycles will mean that the Maltese will be spending some more millions of euros out of their pockets on top of the millions spend already from our taxes and does not solve the public transport problem. ''
I wonder whether spending a few hundred euros on a 125cc scooter can ever compare with all the 'millions' that Maltese people have already spent on countless Jeeps, SUVs, and gas-guzzling performance cars we have on our island.
Freedom of choice with respect to buying any gas-guzzler is a democractic right; granted. It must be reconciled, however, with the fact that we live on a small island. The prices of gas-guzzlers have to reflect this fact - through environmental surcharges, if need be.
How about offering zero vat to the import of eco friendly scooters and bikes? Why are they selling at such a high price? I personally think that buyers of such eco friendly modes of transport should pay less and encouraged to buy such products.
Last year the Government in conjunction with the public transport offered free transport to all destinations,this was available for 2 days. I believe that statistics showed that it was a hit.
How about introducing a yearly payment to different categories of persons and transport is provided to free drivers from the hassle of tickets/fares, less waiting time to board, more use of public transport , a cleaner Valletta bus terminus etc etc. It may sound far fetched but maybe one can study this proposal as something along these lines may work for the benefit of all
I always wondered why Government has not introduced or rather legalised the use of LPG in motor vehicles.
Why this might not contribute much for the traffic problem, it would certainly go a long way to help our pollution. Would the reason be because LPG cannot be taxed as much as petrol or diesel?
Or maybe because Enemalta has enough problems with stocking up to power our heaters and cookers, let alone if use it to fill our cars with them?
- The only thing to do regarding our old historic buses is to put a few of them in the transport museum and throw away the rest.
- there are already weekly bus cards available but it does not work at all.
- encouragement to use motorcycles will mean that the Maltese will be spending some more millions of euros out of their pockets on top of the millions spend already from our taxes and does not solve the public transport problem.
- the encouragement to use of bicycles, skateboards and rollerblades is not effective for Malta with all the hills and slops that exist. We are not the Netherlands or China.
actually gets down to doing something and is succesful as he was in
the IT sector.
Just a couple of thoughts.
A gentleman pointed out that he is amazed that people drive an SUV or
a big Merc on a rock. I am one of those and will not drive anything
else for various reasons most significant of which because I like that
type of car. I pay for it dearly of course since I pay the highest
possible road tax but that is beside the point. There is a huge
misconseption about SUV's since they are deemed large vehicles. I
actually wish to challenge anyone in measuring an average saloon with
an average SUV. Lengthwise (which matters in this case) you might
find that they are the same or further still the saloon is longer.
When one further compares with the people carries and station wagons
favoured by many mothers in order to carry their kids and their
belongings, in many instances SUV's are shorter. SUV's are of course
relatively higher but in this context height is not an issue. Length
is... So while I am of course biased in this regard, I think that
before pointing fingers one should have his facts correct. Moreover
it often ends up a question of envy to big Merc owners and SUV's by
people who would wish to own one but cannot do so for various reasons.
Moreover another issue i have noticed that in the mornings which are
school holidays, traffic decreases drastically. Could one establish
why a number of parents actually take their kids to school? Is it
because they are being ripped off by the transport or the schools?
Having 1 van instead of 14 parents all with their cars could reduce
morning congestion practically everywhere in Malta. I am speaking
from experience since the line of cars in the Mgarr bypass is a sight
to behold every morning on my way to work.
Add park and ride facilities to easy the traffic in the industrial estates, shopping, health and recreational centres, the Shuttle service provided by the electric cabs & minivans.
Remove the extra cost on motorbikes. Installation of new bicycle lanes and extend existing ones, regulation to protect bicycle users.
Incentives if require to the local entrepreneur to broaden the electric cab service.
Traffic through put on the main arteries and safe distribution can be improved with the introduction of zonal interlinked controlled traffic lights. Traffic calming devices have to well signed and light. The maintenance of the road furniture must not be undertaken during peak traffic time. Heavy traffic should utilise secondary roads or journey before or after peak traffic time.
Finally dismantle the antiquated public transport system and introduce a new one to run between zones, in the south, middle and north of the island, on two shifts. The stake holders must agree to render a constant and efficient service capricious failure penalised by heavy fines.
Most of the above have been repeated circulated and discussed so much that the subject tends to be boring, what is lacking now is that some inspired soul will deliver today what has been promised yesterday and the day before! Well Minister its not easy, if it was it will not even make the back page!
Where are the tax free hybrid vehicles on our roads?
Where is the efficient public transport?
Where is the privately owned Company or Companies to run public transport?
Why do we have to wait 17 years to hear a statement without substance?
Now, I would like to add a few more comments:
1. Bus drivers should not be spoken to whilst driving. I think the inspectors should know better and should not stand on the bus steps talking away about a football game or any other subject for that matter. This could result in an accident;
2. Radios should not be used whilst driving especially when they are blurting out to the extent that the bus driver does not hear the bell ringing or two passengers sitting down next to each other cannot keep a conversation going and have literally to shout to understand each other However, in my opinion, radios should be confiscated completely from buses. What about mobile phones. This is a classic one. Most of the time these are personal calls. You can tell what the conversation is all about as he (the driver) has to speak loudly in order for the other person on the other side of the mobile phone to hear and in the mean time zig zagging along the way. Isn't this ridiculous. I simply wonder what tourists think of all this.
3. How is it that most of the time they do not have the 1cent to give the passenger. I must admit that sometimes people do not wait for the 1cent change, but that is their choice. However, if the passenger gives 1cent less, he will simply look at her/him and asks for that 1cent. What is 1cent, nothing, but I simply ask for it to prove a point!!!!!
4. What about the emissions both from buses and private cars, sometimes also from school buses. Unbelievable. If I had to sit along the promenade making note of vehicles which are emitting deadly fumes, I would end up blocking the alert mission line. No joke, believe you me. Great shame. We really need new buses, and the old ones can be renovated and put in a museum. The system must definitely change.
Well, I hope that the Minister will consider all these comments seriously, and that we shall finally have decent buses and drivers to go with them, as some of their manners leave so much to be desired.
- convert our old historic buses to a cleaner fuel like compressed natural gas (CNG)
- introduce annual bus cards so we don't have to pay every time we board a bus saving up to 5 minutes per trip, pollution and congestion
- encourage the use of motorcycles through safer roads and safer driving
- encourage the use of bicycles, skateboards and rollerblades through clean cycle lanes
In the last few years, the Nationalist Government has spent millions of euros from my and your taxes to subsidize the buying of new buses for Malta. Unfortunately this served for nothing as we, in Malta, still have the worst public transport system in the whole of the European Union.
Before trying to introduce some other kind of public transport which will cost us, again from our taxes, millions of euros, the most plausible thing to do is to liberalize the whole public transport system. Other examples of liberalization proved to be fruitful for the country.
On the other hand, a new tram system will work out fine and could be introduced much more quickly than introducing the underground and with a much less expense to the coffers.
Now we need much much more action and far far less bla bla bla. We will judge Austin Gatt by his actions and not by his word.
This is market reality and we can do nothing to change that. The only way is to look at the advantages of underground systems and utilise these in an above ground system. Basically the advantages are easy boarding (platforms level to car), excellent interconnections, frequency, reliability and dedicated lanes. Almost all of these can be easily (and relatively cheaply) implemented.
I do believe that Transport Minister Austin Gatt can change the existing system which is Old, Not efficient and Dirty.
Whatever one says, the message of the electorate is clear. They don’t want buses, or expensive taxis, or whatever. They don’t suit the needs of the population today. Our roads may be crowded.
The people voted for cheaper cars, period. Not cheaper fuel, or cheaper buses, or more efficient ones. They voted for cheaper cars, and substantially cheaper ones at that. The persecution of the ADT of owners of UK number plate cars will backfire in no time at all. But you can see the desire for cheap good quality cars happening in Malta.
The only thing that will work is an efficient mass transportation system, an underground one. With the twin blessing of an island made out of easily tunnelled rock and a small size, its not rocket science to make one. I am sure that one will find the investment, even amongst the private sector.
In the meantime, as minister of roads, I beseech you to research the way they are organised. I spend a good part of my working day on the roads.
There is no place to overtake slow moving traffic on many roads, especially the coast road and tal-balal road. A temporary solution would be to manage the movement of certain traffic, like trucks and cranes, so that they would not clog the roads at certain times of the day. Primarily these are the rush hour/ school run times in the morning and the afternoon. Banning heavy vehicles between 7.30 and 9.00 should do the trick. I believe there once was a law in Malta banning trucks on the road at certain times.
The introduction of slow moving traffic lanes in the most used roads, that is, those that are single lane, should help a lot as well. And for God’s sake do something about the Kappara roundabout. Traffic is stuck there for long periods of time during the morning and afternoon.
Sometimes, the most effective solutions are the simplest ones.
The main and important features of this system are:
1. “Bus Only” Lanes - (though this might not be possible in all places in Malta)
2. “Tube Stations”- Bus passengers pre pay the bus fare to the station attendant and enter the bus from “tube stations” which are at an even level with the buses. This practice drastically reduces boarding times.
3. Types of buses- Curitiba uses five different types of buses with different capacities
4. Magnitude- Curitiba’s buses cover about 900km of routes in virtually every area of the city.
I am sure that 2,3 and can quickly and cheaply be introduced in Malta. With point 2 we should not need any low floor buses as the bus stops would be raised. By utilising different bus sizes as well as fuel system e.g. in the three villages small electric minibuses that interlink with larger gas fueled buses across B'Kara, we can emulate 3 and 4.
I had been away from Malta for over 7 years and I have noticed a marked improvement in driving habits, having said that:
1. Sales people - at the risk of generalising, sorry you guys are a bunch of egotistic road hogs
2. Drivers in general, if you intend to take an exit road which is on the left hand side, don't drive on the right until the very last minute
3. Sunday drivers and all weekday drivers that drive like it is Sunday all week, just stick on the left please.
... and one for the cops ...
Can't we restrict construction vehicles to not use roads between 7 and 8:30? I thought these guys all boast that they wake up at 5 for an early start ...
you see that is the time most people are going to office or taking kids to school.
and for the record ... I still have to see a city that has real car pooling that works. It's become a standard knee-jerk solution for politicians all over.
and I'm all in for penalizing large engine vehicles and encourgaing smaller ones. I can't figure out why people need an SUV or a big merc to drive on a rock.
One item which ties in with transport: the unhealthy proliferation of pelican lights. Has anyone considered that these are increasing traffic emissions very seriously? Each time a car stops and starts, emissions increase...and how many times are these lights pressed for nothing or are placed too near each other?
including the ones for the supposed ' disabled ' ( much abused by certain family members as private parking) be re audited and reserved parking concession given only for particular times of the day.
In today's business world, the ability to go from one side of the country to another is crucial.
One of Malta's main assets is its small size - people can be just 30 minutes away from the beach or any other recreational area. This unutilised, unappreciated fact of life in Malta puts us in a top class position when new offices are being considered by foreign organisations.
However we need to have a first class road network and a very good public transport infrastructure in order to capilatise on our mobility asset. Currently the road netword is an insult to us Maltese. You cannot go 100 m without being jarred jolted and hammered by dips, holes and potholes.
Hopefully Austin will live up to his reputation as a trouble shooter!! I am sure that be using one of it s big guns Government is sending a very strong signal that it intends to tackle this problem.
With our electircal demand at breaking point, and the price of fossil fuel based energy constantly increasing, how much energy would a tram system require? I'm not koncking the idea, but we should also look at this side of the debate in order to find a long-term solution.
I am very happy the Minister is ready to consider the introduction of trams. Malta has a very high population density and mass transit - a fast, regular and efficient full alternative to the car on main transit lines - has become absolutely necessary. This could be based on a 'hub and spokes'-type solution with high volume transport routes by tram, and regular 'feeder' lines to those routes by bus/ mini bus.
Greater liberalisation will allow the country to acheive many priorities without committing government resources. The Ministry must be selective in maintaining government intervention only for vital areas or services; the free market is much better placed to provide solutions to many of our transport problems in that those solutions will be demand driven and forced to be efficient by genuine competition.
We also need the Minister to take a toughter line on taxis. Indeed, liberalisation is long overdue. We have literally been taken for a ride for long enough by their price fixing and cartelisation of the market.
And the cowboys reign supreme. So yes, until we see concrete enforcement, its blah blah blah.
If no one can do it, I'm sure Minister Gatt will manage!!
Maybe the Minister can finally lift the ban on the Electric Scooters which are a form of clean energy. Also, an age limit can be set in order that same can be controlled. Use of helmets, such as bicycle riders occasionally wear, would be obligatory.
I would also like to draw the attention of the problems that we Gozitans face when travelling to Malta (especially on a daily basis - for those who work in Malta). The Number 45 bus should be reserved solely for the Gozitans wishing to catch the ferry. An average bus trip (with number 45) takes around 1hr and 30 mins (if not longer during traffic hours) mainly due to the number of stops the bus driver has to make for people who live in B'Kara, Lija, Mosta, etc... It seems that the Maltese citiziens do not realise that these unneccessary stops (since there are buses which specifically stop in these areas) cause the Gozitans to miss the ferry (sometimes for the sake of a few minutes - and these few minutes cause one to wait 45mins-1hr for the next ferry). Therefore I appeal to everyone to be more considerate of these issues facing Gozitans.
(But please some comments - like the ones said prior to the election - on betting and winning the bet that factories are likely to close, are best not said at all. They hurt many people!)
So ... 2008 and after all that nice talk, some more thinking and we'll repaint some signs and let me see, works will be better because the materials will be tested by someone else other than the contractor. Same materials though we will still not import any foreign sands because that'll annoy those that make big holes on the rock.
I can see now where this is all going ... same way the planning authority revolution thing went, lots of energy, great gusto but please hands off internal party politics!
Well done!