As schools reopened yesterday, many roads turned into a solid traffic jam in a situation aggravated by chronic mismanagement and lack of discipline, according to the director of a taxi company.

“Since we operate on a fixed pricing system, on such days we only operate for continuity’s sake, as financially it’s not worth it,” eCabs managing director Matthew Bezzina told this newspaper.

“On the first day of school, we either break even or make a loss. The situation will become even worse in the following days when the University opens its doors.”

Traffic yesterday started to pile up at about 6.30am, snaking through roads in the industrial zones. By 8am, the congestion had shifted towards the outer harbour region, causing gridlock in places such as Mosta, Naxxar, Sliema, St Julian’s, Gżira and Sliema.

The traffic snarl was relieved at around 9.30am only to spike again around 2pm, when schoolchildren were returning home.

Mr Bezzina blamed the situation on past decisions and lack of urban planning throughout the last 50 years. However, it was unnecessarily made worse by the fact that the Coast Road and the Buġibba junction projects were not yet completed, effectively choking up the north of the island, he added.

Additionally, the urban artery of Rue d’Argens as well as Manoel de Vilhena Street were partially closed yesterday morning, causing traffic around Msida, Ta’ Xbiex, St Julian’s, Sliema and Gżira to grind to a halt.

“It’s an issue of having the left hand not communicating with the right hand. I would not even describe it as miscommunication but as non-communication. There is absolutely no communication between Transport Malta and the local councils of the adjacent localities.” Calling the situation a “mess”, Mr Bezzina said the lack of project management was exerting pressure on the economy. People taking decisions were not technocratic, having no concrete experience of being out on the road continually.

Being the director of a cab company which operates 24 hours a day, Mr Bezzina has put forward a number of practical short-term and long-term solutions which would help ease the traffic burden.

The concept of night work was not yet ingrained in our society, he said. Roadworks and other jobs requiring road closures – such as the use of electric lifters to install furniture in an apartment – were still mostly undertaken throughout the day and even during rush hour.

The cost of employing people to work night shifts would ultimately be lower than the direct and indirect costs incurred by the recurrent delays, Mr Bezzina pointed out.

I would not even describe it as miscommunication but as non-communication

Parking was tantamount to taking up prime public space, he added. If an intelligent parking system was implemented, certain parking bays could be removed to allow for a single-lane road to be widened to a two-lane one.

The island also contained several rural roads which suffered from regular bottlenecks. If such roads, like the one leading from Ibraġġ to San Ġwann, were widened to two lanes and the government upgraded 20 such roads, the traffic flow would be much smoother, Mr Bezzina suggested. But such measures required discipline and tough, unpopular decisions, he conceded.

With intelligent parking, bays could be removed to widen single-lane roads. Photo: Steve Zammit Lupi

One such measure would be bringing school transport up to standard and making it obligatory. For instance, the Gżira-Sliema area encapsulates four schools in a 300-metre radius.

“School transport must be obligatory. You can’t have parents driving their children to private schools in their SUVs.

“Of course, in a democracy where leaders are elected according to how popular they are, these are hard decisions to take.

“Governments are afraid of losing votes. But if such tough decisions are not implemented, we will merely be pussyfooting around the problem and no real solutions will come to pass.”

How to ease the congestion

• Encourage night work
• Use parking bays to widen streets
• Widen rural roads
• Make transport to and from school obligatory

‘Intelligent’ traffic management

Some relief to traffic problems may be on the way in the form of an “intelligent traffic management systems project” being rolled out by Transport Malta.

The transport watchdog said yesterday this aimed at bringing Malta in line with the latest technology in land traffic and transport management.

The project, co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund, will assist in the management of traffic while increasing road safety through the improved management of incidents, floods, roadworks and road closures.

A network of “variable message” signs and lane-changing signs, supported by a system of closed circuit cameras, is being installed.

All signs will be controlled from a traffic control centre from where real-time information on the traffic situation will be relayed to drivers to help them plan and manage their journey, allowing them to pick alternative routes.

In total, 34 variable message signs will be installed. Their poles have already been laid and the first sign, operated on a trial run, has been set up in Mdina Road, Żebbug. Another 48 lane-changing signs will be placed near tunnels and bridges to inform drivers of any lane closures.