8.26pm - Updated with Labour Party comments
The Nationalist Party this evening launched a traffic management plan aimed at mitgating the gridlock on Maltese roads, with one of the proposals being a voluntary opt-in scheme whereby car owners may opt to use their vehicles only on selected days and during particular times.
The plan is based on four main pillars; information quaity, targetting specific commuter segments, infrastructural investment and better planning and management.
Among the proposals, the PN suggested direct transport for government employees from certain villages and/or strategic points, and waste collection during off-peak times.
The document proposes dedicated transport to areas which receive high volumes of traffic, such as the University, Junior College and MCAST among others.
The PN also emphasised the need for better information and coordination of road works through a body with the necessary clout.
Incentives should be given to encourage businesses to reduce the use of commercial heavy vehicles on the road at peak times, the party said .
Launching the document on the first day of the PN's general council, shadow transport minister Marthese Portelli said the party is ready to work with the government in order to help reduce the traffic problem.
The PN is offering its suggestions from the Opposition benches while the government had yet to come up with concrete plans for traffic mitigation, Dr Portelli said.
The document is open for public consultation.
'A mishmash of proposals', says Labour
A Labour Party statement said the PN's proposals showed that Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil was "simply shooting from the hip."
It said the proposals contained ideas that were being implemented and others that had already happened, with the new ideas put forward lacking any cost estimates.
Transport Malta was already putting together a traffic plan and strategy, the PL said, citing EU rules. The plan is likely to be completed "by the end of the year," the statement said.
The PL also criticised its rivals' public transport vision, saying that despite its repeated criticism of existing services, the PN "did not make a single concrete proposal of how to improve the service."