So the President of the Malta Development Association Sandro Chetcuti looked up from between the three-metre high stack of approved planning permits on his desk and realised that not all was well in his world. He realised that the apartment-shaped calendar on his wall was indicating that the end of summer was nigh.
And that meant increased traffic congestion and the occasional drizzle which would turn the Maltese roads into impassable swamps. And Mr Chetcuti saw that this was not good – because eventually (and not in the very long term either) commuters stuck in traffic are going to succumb to a collective bout of road rage instead of buying more of Mr Chetcuti’s maisonettes.
Traffic snarl-ups in Malta have got so bad that a local group has actually launched an app to measure commuters’ aggro. The Frustration Calculator quantifies the level of frustration by asking users to input their starting location and destination, the date of the journey and the total travelling time. The app then determines the difference between the time taken and the duration estimated under ideal traffic conditions. Even the most conservative estimates to date reckon that the frustration levels will be off the wall.
In any case, Mr Chetcuti has twigged on to the fact that if things continue in this manner, fewer people may want to live here. What is even worse (for Chetcuti) is that this may lead to the country being perceived as less attractive for investors. In order to avoid this awful prospect, Mr Chetcuti thinks that the government should issue an urgent call for the government to determine whether there is any interest in the private sector to develop an underground mass transport system.
Updated studies on the viability of any mass transport system are required before we opt for any option in our usual gung ho manner
It sounds good on paper – an efficient metro system rolling us from one place to the next in a matter of minutes without the fuming which accompanies driving in the slow lanes. They have them abroad, so why not here? Studies carried out under the previous administration indicate that the cost and maintenance of an underground metro system may be too high for a country of our population size. The price of tickets on the resultant system may be too high for a daily commute – the ones we need to decrease most.
Updated studies on the viability of any mass transport system are required before we opt for any option in our usual gung ho manner. However, I am always impressed by the way we swarm for expensive and grandiose projects without bothering to tweak those more moderate behaviourial or commuting practices which may start having an effect on traffic jams at once. The one which comes to mind first is that of finding a way for people to get on their bikes or scooters without getting mowed down by some manboy’s SUV. Because our present road layout is not conducive to the safety of either drivers or bicycle riders at the same time. We have bicycle lanes which end abruptly on busy arterial roads (what is a bike rider meant to do at that point? Fly?), bus and cycle lanes which are suspended, traffic lights which are perpetually on the blink and no traffic enforcement to speak off.
In light of this, do the authorities really expect anybody to go down the kamikaze cycling route and risk being run over by a vehicular road hog? It’s not going to happen. Road safety is a major issue for people when opting whether to opt for pedal power. Even in England, more people are choosing to drive over distances shorter than five kilometres, simply because they don’t feel safe on the road. Although the number of motorists killed or seriously injured has fallen sharply, the number of cyclists killed or hurt on the roads has climbed since 2003. This now accounts for 14 per cent of all casualties, though cycling amounts to only one per cent of the distance commuters travel in the UK.
So first let’s go with road safety and then- maybe we can look further afield. Hamburg, for example, is currently working on a plan which will eliminate the need for cars within the next 15-20 years, making the city a greener, healthier and more pleasant place to live. The city’s proposed Grünes Netz, or ‘Green Network’ will create pedestrian and cycle paths to connect the city’s existing, considerable green spaces and provide safe, car-free commuter routes for all residents. Now that would be great for local implementation (even though we have hardly any green spaces left).
■ The Planning Authority has announced the Ultimate Makeover – of Paceville. The proposed masterplan unveiled this week envisages the renovation of the area by introducing a new tunnel for vehicles, cycle paths, views of the sea, public open spaces, coastal walkways and new infrastructure. In Paceville high-rise buildings will be regulated so that the skyline does not look like horribly punctured as in the rest of Malta.
The voice over tells us that with this masterplan, they are looking at ‘The Bigger Picture’. And we got the spiel about ‘holistic vision’. That’s fine. It’s just a pity that the need for a holistic vision or a master plan was not felt for the rest of Malta which will have to suffer the effect of haphazard development, while Paceville becomes the rich man’s enclave.
drcbonello@gmail.com