The Controlled Vehicular Access system in Valletta has been voted best case study of the year 2007 on the European Local Transport Information Service (www.eltis.org).

ELTIS is Europe’s most recognised web portal on urban transport and mobility that provides information and support a practical transfer of knowledge and exchange of experience in the field of urban and regional transport in Europe between transport authorities.

The Controlled Vehicular Access system in Valletta was launched on the 1 May 2007. Its ANPR (Automatic number plate recognition) automated system takes photos of vehicles as they enter and exit the charging zone and vehicle owners get billed according to the duration of their stay. Various exemptions and flexible billing rules make it a unique system controlling traffic congestion and vehicle access in our Capital City. This is a system which is able to automatically control the demands of the business community, tourism and those of residents of the city.

An average of 80,000 unique vehicles now access Valletta every month (compared with the maximum of 33,000 of the former holders of the old V licence) meaning that more people use Valletta’s retail and services offer.

"This has happened because parking spaces are available to anyone driving in at any time of day every day. This is because on average cars stay in Valletta now for 2.5 hours a day only, including cars belonging to residents whose stay is unrestricted" the Transport Ministry said.

Commenting on the recognition of the CVA as a European best practice model, Minister Austin Gatt said that “with CVA we have proved that we can be innovative when addressing our congestion challenges and we can be successful. In Valletta we needed to tackle the seemingly insurmountable challenge of sharing fairly between all those who wanted to come to town the very limited space there. Though certainly we need to look at how to refine the system and address new challenges that have emerged since the CVA was introduced, we have managed to find a system that has improved the lot for residents, shoppers and people working in Valletta too.

“The fact that we have a city that can now boast a larger, more attractive and more pleasant pedestrian area in its core is the first boost. But the CVA has also increased retail business in Valletta, justified the investment of the Park and Ride as an alternative to parking in town for employees and, very importantly, has brought about the first increase in public transport custom in 13 years as more commuters use the bus to come to work in Valletta than ever before.

“Technology is an important tool in acheiving these aims and the CVA has been an important step in this effort which we will be boosting in the coming months and years.”