There is no one solution to the transport problem. This island, like other urban areas, is beset by a high density of people and activities which, in turn, create complex mobility and transport needs.

A consistent policy objective needs to be established by the government and followed by all entities involved in the supply, provision, management and use of transport. We cannot have local, regional and national government or private enterprise taking single isolated initiatives that continue to conflict with each other.

Some classic examples include the desire of some local councils to introduce parking management (albeit only in the form of timed parking) and others seeking to extend provision; introduction of road pricing (the CVA system in Valletta) to restrain and reduce car travel and provision of parking (by the government and private developers) to attract more cars; calls from the public to reduce traffic and congestion and the Government promising more car parking and reduction in restraints; calls for bus efficiency and no bus priority. The list is long.

The transport burden on Malta’s economy, environment and health is very high and will continue to be so unless radical and politically-brave decisions are taken to curtail our car dependence, provide infrastructure that supports alternative transport, including all forms of public transport and safe walking and cycling infrastructure, and serious measures are taken to invest in technology that can help manage our transport network rather then investment in more construction.

I will just take a few lines to quantify the impact of transport.

Last year, Malta registered the highest increase in CO2 emissions among EU countries with a 6.3 per cent rise, when we really should be reducing our carbon footprint in line with air quality targets that Malta is bound to achieve by 2020.

Over 15 per cent of pollution comes from transport, which is the second highest polluter in the island following power generation.

We injure over 1,000 people on our roads every year and kill an average of 16. This comes at a very high cost to our society and economy.

We have over 2,000 kilometres of surfaced roads (incidentally, it is the distance between Malta and London) that we need to maintain at a very high cost every year.

For the last decade, Malta has recorded one of the highest rates of child obesity in the WHO lists. This is partly due to lack of walking.

The ISAAC studies carried out since the 1980s show a consistent increase in respiratory problems (wheezing and asthma) in our children. Over 16 per cent of our household income is spent on transport, the highest expenditure registered among European countries.

The policy objective needs to be one that tackles car dependence from all angles. Hard and soft measures working hand in hand at all levels of government and across all agencies.

Transport is not only the problem of Transport Malta. Incidentally, Mepa plays a very important role as development and land use activities are the prime motors of transport activities.

Therefore, regulating what we build, how and where has a tremendous impact on our transport network.

The police and wardens impact considerably the performance of the transport network. Enforcing proper use of the road in terms of speed, parking and overall driver behaviour is a critical infrastructure for successful management of the transport network.

The objective of a transport policy must be to tackle car dependence from all angles

Local councils responsible for local access roads, maintenance of pavements and parking in their locality should all be pulling one rope and agreeing on principles that favour the pedestrian and cyclist first and then the car.

These are just three examples.

Technically, everyone needs to be pulled in to achieve the one objective, including the communities and the individuals that make travel decisions on a daily basis and, therefore, have immense powers to influence the transport system.

But we need one policy direction and the Government’s task is to get everyone on board.

What do we want? Do we want gridlock and more pollution or livable streets and active communities? To me, it is crystal clear that the business as usual scenario is not acceptable anymore. Talk of more (and free) parking and road construction will lead to more cars and more pollution, not, as many think, less congestion.

We need to make a serious effort to manage more efficiently what we have and realise that changing habit and behaviour is not impossible.

We need to do this before further damage is done to our built environment, to our air and to ourselves.

Maria Attard leads a team of researchers working in various aspects of sustainable mobility.

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