No public transport should have resulted in more cars on the road but the perception yesterday was that traffic congestion was no worse than usual.

While employers reported that some workers arrived late for work, the problems were not extensive, according to Joe Farrugia, the Malta Employers Association’s director general.

“It may be that few people use the bus to go to work and, given that the strike was announced the day before, many must have made alternative arrangements,” Mr Farrugia said, acknowledging that traffic seemed to flow smoother.

But the negative impact may have been mitigated by the fact that the strike came on a Friday, according to Matthew Bezzina, managing director of eCabs, a taxi service.

“From experience, on any given Friday there is between 15 and 20 per cent less traffic on the roads, which may have mitigated the increase in trips by private cars as a result of the strike,” he said.

The mild weather might have also contributed to soften the strike impact as people could have been encouraged to walk or cycle to work, especially in the Sliema area, Mr Bezzina said.

Traffic congestion was more visible in the Sliema-Gżira area and the entrance to Valletta.

But while the number of cars descending on Valletta did increase – the MCP car park in Floriana was uncharacteristically full at one point – as a result of more people using private transport, the situation prevailing in Sliema was caused by multiple road blockages there.

Mr Bezzina said the Sliema area was choked because of uncoordinated works in urban arteries that fell under the responsibility of local councils. “With works going on in Rue d’Argens, which leads from Msida to Sliema, through Gżira, a crane blocking off Tower Road at the Strand, in Sliema and Manoel de Vilhena Street, in Gżira blocked, traffic could simply not circulate freely,” he said, calling for better communication between councils and Transport Malta.

kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com