James Piscopo, chairman and CEO of Transport Malta, came out with an interesting article on traffic in Malta.

There were various points, statements and paragraphs that interested me most thoroughly. Certainly we have a grand number of vehicles registered for use, and of course 332,000 for a population of about 425,000 may seem extraordinarily high. The real question, however, is just how many people drive, not simply hold a driving licence.

From my own observations over the years it seems that the number of vehicles is somewhat irrelevant as many enthusiastic owners own more than one vehicle, and it must be patently obvious that only one vehicle at a time can be used.

Traffic congestion is a reality which would be partly alleviated if minimum speeds were established on all our arterial and distributor roads, monitored regularly, which could mean that those moving too slowly for the road conditions would first of all get a caution, and then the worst (slowest) drivers should be sent back to Licensing to take the driving test again.

There is simply no room on our main roads for people wishing to drive at too slow a speed. Take the Burmurrad/Mosta road as a fine example. At busy times with massive tail-backs the lead vehicle slows from a regular 55 km/h to 40 km/h to go through the camera set at an accurate 70, or even 77 km/h with TM’s directive that a 10 per cent leeway should be allowed.

Likewise, heavy vehicles should – unless their drivers are willing to go at their permitted maximum of 60 km/h whenever law and conditions allow – be blown off the major roads during rush hours.

Bus and coach drivers normally maintain a decent speed as they work to quite tight schedules, but there are times when they and their heavy vehicle compatriots appear to think it clever to trickle along a major road without a care in the world.

We are also most concerned that a number of important ‘link’ roads are simply not fit for purpose. Road 118 starts at the Għargħur junction on the Coast Road and meanders (there is no other way to describe it) as far as Għajn Tuffieħa. Part of Wardija Hill appears to be falling into the adjacent field, and then there is a section, possibly the responsibility of Mosta or Mellieħa, that can literally break springs, shock absorbers or even the wheels of normal cars.

This is disgraceful as the road can, and does, carry a heavy amount of vehicles especially coming down from Mellieħa via Miżieb and the San Martin stretch of road, which is itself in need of attention, before turning left to go via Wardija to Burmarrad, or straight on to Żebbiegħ, Mosta et al.

Of course we would all like to see a reduction of cars on our major roads, but until all the link roads are made ‘fit for purpose’ users of normal cars will be loathe to use them, even if they will knock a decent number of kilo-metres from the journey. We often use Racecourse Street in Rabat if going to the airport, as the entire journey can be done on reasonably surfaced roads. Likewise, Dingli Cliffs are now a pleasure to visit along with the Manikata/Mellieħa road, unless you get into trouble on the approach hill from the Golden Bay end.

Sadly the majority of these important links are too often left unattended and in poor condition.

The Transport Malta CEO is also in favour of car pooling and sharing. I am aware that as long as the vehicle is covered by third-party insurance passenger liability appears to be included, but with the high minor accident rate I would hate to see innocent passengers becoming accident statistics because their drivers may well hold a licence to drive, but may in fact be very poor drivers.

It must always be remembered that the driving test is by no means an exhaustive test, and we don’t have an advanced test where the better drivers may be deemed suitable for taking passengers to work.

Cycling to work as well as for pleasure should be considered where the roads are suitable, but cycling in a hot country will never be popular and until every motorist shows some care, attention and manners towards motorcyclists, the fewer regular motorcyclists one encounters the safer it is for them.

Which brings me to public transport. It must be made to work properly using large and small buses depending on route, and the argument for using a few bendy buses on express routes to and from the ferry should in my opinion be given serious attention.