Future transportation means

I sometimes get the uncanny feeling that someday in the not-too-distant future movement on our tiny island will cease. A complete and perpetual gridlock will prevent us from reaching our destination. I see one interminable, endless line of cars standing bumper to bumper stretching from Birżebbuġa to Ċirkewwa. Like in a scene out of a Hollywood movie, we will have to leave our cars and walk away!

This may well be an exaggeration but I am sure many readers have the honour of witnessing this workup to our national gridlock every morning as they head to work. Increasingly, more and more junctions and intersections are becoming congested, further frustrating drivers and passengers alike and polluting our already suspect air quality. It seems that the traditional rush hour is now extending itself throughout the whole day, ever expanding like a mechanical monster.

As more and more cars pour onto our streets, traffic congestion and parking have become a veritable nightmare. Our utter and complete dependence on private means of transport has continued to rise. Soon, it will be back to school and this already precarious situation will be exacerbated with school transport and hundreds of whizzing school runs.

We have tried over and over again to find a realistic and sustainable solution to this quandary. Successive governments have poured hundreds of millions of euros in taxpayer money in an attempt to re-invigorate our public transport system, be it new buses, improved routes or promises of better service. It remains a fact that the swelling tide of cars has continued to grow and stemming this flow seems impossible. Or is it?

A few basic facts are in order.

The number of licensed cars has increased dramatically in the last decade. Malta ranks fourth highest in the EU in car ownership. For a population of 400,000, we have over 280,000 licensed vehicles (figures rising as we speak as more second-hand vehicles find their way to Malta from Great Britain and this at a time of economic recession!). These cars have to circulate on 2,000 kilometres of road - many roads being winding and narrow, unfit for more than one-way traffic. A total of 210,000 cars are privately owned. Last year, the public transport system issued 32 million tickets. At the same time, private car usage has risen from 50 per cent to 70 per cent in the last 20 years. Conversely, use of public transport has decreased from 24 per cent to 15 per cent, translating in a loss of a million passengers each year, resulting in difficulties to make the service economically viable.

The pervading trend is crystal clear. Not only is the dependence on private transport increasing at a frenetic pace but public transport is in real trouble. Weaning us off private car usage will take a great act of public relations, excellent management and a re-invented public transport system. The aim of the latest reform in public transport is to target precisely that. All this has to be coupled with a renewed traffic management system.

Clearly, to succeed in re-vamping the public transport system, transportation alternatives must be simple, efficient and punctual. In defence of the present operators we must understand that Malta has only two exclusive bus lanes, making punctuality an unrealistic prospect. Are our roads smart enough to cope with new possibilities? It seems we are still seeking a one-dimensional solution to a two-dimensional problem. The existing infrastructure remains effectively inspired to cater for private cars. The fact remains that ideas such as the Park and Ride system are ingenious and do not necessarily require monumental infrastructural changes. Flexibility and innovation remain the key to a rational solution.

Is this problem exclusive to our country? I think not! Last year 58 million cars were added to the world tally of cars. City centres in most densely-populated city centres remain exclusively off limits for private car usage. What is different is that in many of these places traffic management systems cater for what is known as the concept of "the last mile". This means getting someone from door to door. Evidently, this is impossible using our private cars today. We can whine and moan for ever but hoping to ever finding a real solution to parking hot spots will never be resolved using draconian measures. We certainly could do with more car parks (if necessary privately owned) and a willingness to use alternative systems. Trams would be a solution but they seem a distant dream.

The new Malta Transportation (Regulatory) Authority has a massive job on its hands. I expect we shall see and hear of a few fireworks as the proposed reforms kick in! What is sure is that it is imperative to get on with it for manifold reasons, be they structural, economic or environmental. As Transport Minister Austin Gatt said in a recent article on the subject, the present situation is "unacceptable". Although many of the proposals in this public transport reform may sound progressive or visionary, most of the recommendations are the norm in other European countries and, as a nation, we should look forward to finally having a comfortable, efficient and sustainable public transport system.

info@carolinegalea.com