I read with interest Paul Cassar’s letter Regular Traffic Chaos In Victoria (January 24) in which he refers specifically to bus traffic in St Francis Square, Victoria. Mr Cassar neatly sums up the problem but offers no solution.
I have on many occasions sat outside a cafè on the corner of the one-way street in question and wondered about the state of my lungs while enjoying my cappuccino. I also pondered the problem and various solutions. I believe there is a simple and cost-effective answer which would certainly appeal to Transport Malta (TM) personnel, whose task it is to stand in the middle of the road in all types of weather to spot buses waiting at the top of the hill, and stop two streams of traffic to allow them to proceed down a narrow one-way street in the opposite direction to the general traffic flow.
I suggest that the TM traffic controller be sited in the bus station building, or a dedicated TM booth equipped with a TV monitor linked to a remote camera sited at the top of the hill in St Francis Square.
He/she could then effectively control traffic flow by means of a simple switch to activate traffic lights situated at the bottom of the hill. A synchronised illuminated arrow would inform the bus driver that all was clear for him to proceed.
The system would work effectively for route, school and tourist buses. It could also be adapted to assist emergency vehicles equipped with a suitable transponder.
It can also be applied at other bottlenecks, both temporary and permanent.
Similar (but full automated) systems operate successfully in Australia and many EU nations, giving priority to public transport vehicles at major intersections. The same technology can also very easily be configured to fail-safe and do away with the human controller altogether. I believe such a system would be a simple, cost-effective solution to the St Francis Square problem.
More urgently, traffic engineers should be addressing the problem of parking on major thoroughfares, road surfaces and pedestrian (pavement) safety.