A National Household Transport Survey is being held by the government this month to find out how families are getting from one point to another and which transport is being used, Transport Minister Austin Gatt said this morning.

Opening a conference on transport in 2015, organised by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, Dr Gatt said this was being done in view of the reforms which the government was implementing.

The minister spoke about how the economic financial crisis had impacted transport in Malta, especially air and cargo transport.

Air passengers, Dr Gatt said, were down by 6.1 per cent in 2009, cargo by four per cent and cargo through the Freeport by 3.1 per cent.

Even cruise line traffic was down as well as cruise liner passengers but there were signs of revival this year with an upturn very comparable to 2008.

Future government policies, the minister said, would aim to reduce congestion and as a result emissions and pollution.

In view of a growth in families’ relience on their private cars, the government took the initiative to launch a series of reforms across the whole public transport sector.

These were radical reforms which tackled the problem head on, he said.