Maltese drivers spend 52 hours in gridlock traffic every year, a study by the University of Malta has found.

The study found that motorists have an hour unnecessarily added to their commute every week - 17 seconds of delay for every kilometre driven in 2012. This was more than 280 per cent more than the six seconds spent by drivers in other European countries.

The study was held by the Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Development.

Mary Attard, who co-authored the report, said the figures were based on internationally-recognised economic formulas .

She said the total time Maltese drivers spent in traffic was significantly longer than that registered in the United Kingdom, 30 hours, but less than that spent by drivers in the infamously-congested Greater London.

“This shows we need to compare traffic in Malta to that in other European cities and not to entire European countries,” Prof. Attard said.

The study found that the loss of productivity and economic productivity cost  €118 million in 2012 alone. Traffic accidents cost the country €84 million in disability benefits and loss of motorists’ productivity while the environmental impact of air pollution cost the country €14m. 

MALTESE ROADS PERCEIVED AS FIFTH WORST IN EUROPE

Speaking during a round table conference regarding the impact and cost of road traffic in Malta this morning, policy analyst in the European Commission’s transport directorate, Guus van de Schouw, said Maltese roads were perceived as the fifth worst in Europe.

Mr van de Schouw said this, however, had shown slight improvement from 2010 when it was ranked as the worst in Europe.

He said a Commission study found that the average speed on roads shorter than 50 kilometres in Malta was slowest in EU because road users experienced most delays on the road.

Transport Minister Joe Mizzi said that Malta’s infrastructure was not keeping up with demands.

“This was ignored in the past but we have realised it today and we are trying to fix it. I understand drivers’ frustrations and this is why we are working day and night to find a solution.”

The minister said the government had, over the past few months, introduced measures such as the opening of the Marsa Shipbuilding Road to ease traffic, which had been successful.

Others measures which had been less successful were scrapped and plans went back to the drawing board.

Giving a glimpse of future projects, Mr Mizzi said the upcoming works at the Addolorata Junction would hopefully see a major improvement to traffic flow.

Traffic in this area was currently costing the island €5 million in external costs, including air pollution and productivity loss.

European Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella, a former Tourism Minister, said tourists were put off by heavy traffic and air pollution.

He referred to a study about China which found that for every percentage drop in air quality, China received half a million less tourists.

“We cannot afford to lose tourists due to poor air quality,” he said.

More on Times of Malta and the e-paper on timesofmalta.com.

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