“All the king’s horses and all the king’s men could not make traffic flow freely again” read the Times of Malta editorial (October 14). How very true. The futility of adding road space to relieve congestion has been common knowledge since the 1960s following recognition of the ‘Law of Induced Demand’. This was based on recognition of the fact that adding roads (or car parks) simply leads to more traffic and intensifies traffic congestion. As more roads were built, there was always traffic to fill these roads.
Yet every proposed solution to Malta’s traffic problem continues to revolve around enabling people to use their car. With every true or imagined road network improvement (or creation of more parking space) we get more road congestion because the law of ‘induced demand’ kicks in.
And the resulting traffic jams and congestion then start off another vicious cycle of panic-driven band-aid measures.
Our road-carrying capacity cannot be increased further and we are now one inch away from total gridlock. The matter will not improve as long as government administrations remain blind to the importance of encouraging alternative mobility options as public transport, walking or cycling. At the same time we continue to ignore the potential of a harbour ferry transport network and our public transport remains seriously ill and badly in need of resuscitation. It was reported (October 14) that the GRTU is recommending the development of more car parks. This recommendation is insane. Adding more parking space simply reinforces the law of induced demand by making car use more attractive – and traffic congestion increases.
The latest proposals to build urban multi-level car parks ben-eath the church parvis in Mosta and beneath a children’s playing ground in Sliema are excellent examples of misguided town planning and public health irresponsibility. Our planners and health department are not worried about the added urban pollution resulting from these centrally-situated car parks. The proposal for a car park beneath a children’s playground in Sliema is particularly ill-advised because it ignores the fact that children are very susceptible to the pollution from exhaust emissions emanating from this underlying three-level car park.
As long as we continue to ignore the reversal of our excessive car-dependency and resist introducing provisions to encourage and reward alternative transport, our traffic situation will continue to deteriorate.