It’s ironic that a party elected to govern on the premise that it had a ‘road map’ for every situation, has failed in public transport and traffic management, where maps are most useful.

The 332,000 licensed cars on our roads are causing mayhem on our roads. Actually it’s not really the cars that are causing this mayhem but the numerous and ever-lasting roadworks all over the island, with heavy vehicles scurrying from one construction site to another at all hours, including the peak ones, creating gridlock from north to south, east to west.

The traffic issue goes beyond the ‘mere’ frustration and road rage that it inevitably brings along. It has now become a substantial cost to the country, as Finance Minister Edward Scicluna pointed out only recently. There is a scientific way to measure this and I would like to see what the actual cost of traffic in Malta is.

We all know that time is money, so the cost is mainly associated with the extra travel time it takes to get to our destination while we are stuck in traffic doing practically nothing. Because lets face it, we can’t be very productive sitting behind the wheel other than listen to traffic updates stating the obvious on the radio or admiring the nose-picking skills of the driver next to you.

There is also the extra travel time variable, which is the cost of arriving early or late when travel times are uncertain. Add to that increased vehicle costs, such as higher fuel consumption, and poorer air quality.

Gridlock is experienced in many countries. A recent study in the UK has concluded that traffic congestion will cost the average British family £2,000 (€2,533) a year by 2030, and over the next 16 years, congestion will cost the British economy £300 billion.

So what’s the real cause of this gridlock? Is it really just a perception or has there been a visible increase in continuous queues of vehicles blocking an entire network of intersecting streets, bringing traffic in all directions to a complete standstill, which is what gridlock is by definition.

A 10-minute morning trip to work would take half an hour on a ‘good’ day, and God forbid if there has been an accident – anywhere in Malta. And now that the clouds are forming in the air… we all know how the rain can complicate matters even more.

And although investment in infrastructure is necessary to avoid bottlenecks in some areas, in others such as Kappara, Msida and Marsa, it will only serve to shift the bottleneck further down the road. Not to forget that these same infrastructural projects contribute significantly to the traffic mayhem.

That we have too many cars on our roads is a fact. Flow is key, as Transport Malta’s CEO rightly said recently. However, our limited space, road network and surface area will never cater for the flow, unless we shift from using four wheels to two wheels like they do in China.

This requires a change in mentality, culture and infrastructure, but the government should seriously consider incentivising the use of motorbikes, scooters and bicycles. After all, it seems bikers are happy commuters (see below). Linked to this we eed to address the school transport system.

What has really changed since my time at school in Cottonera? I always used school transport, and when I had after-schools (football training) I went back home using public transport. Why do many parents, including myself, insist on taking their children to school and back today? Should school transport be made compulsory and subsidised?

And what about public transport? Can we have an efficient public transport system once and for all? We never quite got it right here. What’s the plan with the Spanish? More bus lanes and more buses on our already-congested roads is not the answer.

The answer to our congestion problems lies above, below and around us. While addressing the situation short-term, let’s look at long-term, lasting solutions. Let’s think outside the box.

Let’s get our Asian friends to invest in an underground system or mono-rail system as suggested by Anġlu Xuereb, rather than a useless bridge spanning over the Gozo channel. Let’s make better use of the calm waters around us. Above all, let’s take this situation more seriously than we are and appoint and elect competent people in high places who can make things happen.

motoring@timesofmalta.com