Several measures will be introduced to alleviate traffic congestion across the island, including banning industrial trucks and horse-drawn carriages from arterial roads at certain times of the day.

Work on the flyover in Kappara is expected to start this year because, according to the Government, the time wasted in traffic jams is hurting the country’s productivity.

The Government will also commission a feasibility study to evaluate the viability of underground and monorail services.

With regard to the plan to link mainland Malta to Gozo through a tunnel or a bridge, the Government said that while studies on this project continue, it was planning to re-submit an application for European funds to part-finance this project after its first application was turned down.

The transport situation in Malta is not only about traffic congestion but also parking problems. In a bid to address this problem, the Government is proposing a plan to create more parking spaces.

As part of the efforts to make the capital city more accessible, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna also announced changes to the Controlled Vehicular Access system. As from next month, parking in Valletta will be free from 2pm onwards and free all day on Saturdays and Sundays.

The system was introduced in May 2007. Each month, an average 80,500 vehicles enter the charging zone, which excludes the Valletta ring road, but most of them do not even pay because they exit the city before the 30-minute time window is up.

This figure is more than double the 33,000 cars that subscribed to the V licence scheme of the past.

Not only has the CVA been running at a loss, but it proved to be unpopular with residents, shop owners and also infrequent visitors.

While the Government has paid €11.7 million for the operation of the CVA system since its introduction, only €5.8 million was raised through fees paid by motorists for entering the capital, statistics show.

Changes to the CVA system had been promised by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat who expressed his astonishment that the system was costing the Exchequer an average of €1 million a year more than it took in through charges.

With regard to public transport, the Government said it was undertaking “delicate” discussions with Arriva specifically to address “the problems we inherited”.

Arriva has recently threatened to pull out of Malta in view of losses of thousands of euro it was incurring, especially after the Government banned it from using its articulated buses when some of them caught fire.