As I was attending the largest conference on transport research in the world, I thought about our transport problems in Malta.

There were about 12,000 transport professionals gathered in Washington (incidentally the gathering was bigger than the population of my village back here), and they discussed everything from construction materials to design of infrastructure and vehicles, information technology and control systems for operations and safety, and social and sustainable transport policy measures aimed at reducing the impact of growing transport activities on matters like climate change, health and economies.

The complexity of transport systems was visible at the conference more than in any one single volume of books or journals, as professionals from very different domains battle with increasing demands for efficiency and sustainability. Engineers, planners, geographers, sociologists, IT specialists, statisticians and economists all ponder on the problems of transport systems.

Many were not really surprised to learn about our problems in Malta because they resemble those of many other countries around the world. However, they were intrigued by our approaches to the problem, having a geographic advantage in that we are small and, therefore, the level of complexity, say between land use activities, transport infrastructure and transport modes, are far less than a larger metropolitan area. Let me pick on just three such challenges.

Just like other countries, we adopted a car-oriented policy which saw road building as an economic driver. And, like in some countries, this was done at the expense of other modes.

The US replaced public transport infrastructures with highways and some European countries removed pedestrian access from roads to allow for greater speeds. However, in some countries modal share survived, such as in the Netherlands with the use of bicycles alongside cars.

Unfortunately, we in Malta have prioritised the car and removed any other function of the road by designing sub-standard pavements, one-ways systems that favour parking and speed rather than safe access; all these are very visible in many of our villages.

This needs to change for the benefit of all, including car users, because this approach has led to poorly-designed roads, congestion and a transport system that causes as much discomfort to residents as it does to visitors and workers.

Let us, therefore, re-engineer our design approaches in transport at local and national levels to ensure access for all.

This requirement, of course, leads to the need for more experts. One disadvantage of being small is that, in fact, the depth of expertise in any field is constrained by the limited population.

Transport as a discipline is not a particularly popular choice of studies (unfortunately) and people interested in specialising in transport are far too few. This leads to the problem of limited capacity but also of limited innovation.

Let us re-engineer our design approaches in transport to ensure access for all

Technically, we have the potential of creating our own innovative approaches to solving problems. We do not have to follow others all the time. The University of Malta in this case is leading with a growing interdisciplinary research team.

Will the government and the private sector support this initiative and open up employment and research opportunities for these experts? Are we ready to accept that transport requires more than just one type of expert?

And, finally, a word about discourse. If we really are intent at reducing the transport burden on our economy, health and the environment (and I say this with hesitation because I feel we are still far away from even contemplating this intent), I think we need to start changing our discourse from one which is car-centric to one that allows for all mobility options being it the car, bus, taxi, water transport, the bicycle and walking.

It is only when this is achieved at a societal level that our visions and our plans are truly inclusive and reflect an urban environment that is suitable for walking, driving, cycling and, why not, playing.

Maria Attard is director of the Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Development at the University of Malta.