There was one car fewer on our roads last week. My own. For years, I’ve advocated the benefits of public transport and written about relieving traffic congestion. But until recently I had not ‘walked the talk’ or weaned myself off driving. 

So what changed exactly? Well, after 10 years I lost my trusty parking space in Valletta to resident rezoning, and suddenly the thought of trusting to chance or paying a parking fee seemed less attractive than walking 100 metres to the nearest bus stop. So I caught the bus. Twenty minutes later, I was walking down Republic Street thinking ‘I could get used to this’. And indeed I did. 

It’s really no sweat, both literally and figuratively. So long as the buses run smoothly (which they do), travelling time is actually less; and instead of managing road rage I can now respond to e-mails and calls. I can even read a book, or just enjoy the luxury of an almost too air-conditioned, trouble-free ride. And the bus delivers you to the iconic and central Tritons Fountain. No going round Valletta in search of parking, in circles reminiscent of Dante’s Hell, and no uphill breathless battles.

Last week I bussed it every single day, bar Wednesday. That day I regretted it so much I applied for a Tallinja card on the spot. That was something I had long believed was not for me, although curiously I’ve never had qualms using public transport on holiday, and undoubtedly would do so if I was actually resident in a foreign country. I think I speak for many fellow Maltese. So why can’t we use public transport at home?

We live on an island where distances are so short we can often walk, and where bus stops are close enough to most doorsteps. Yet we seem happy to be stuck in traffic. Your average car is parked or gridlocked 95 per cent of the time. It no longer serves its original purpose, yet they are toys we won’t surrender. Why is that?

We of course pay lip service to the desperate need for an efficient transport system, but surely the real problem lies elsewhere. In our heads. The nub of the matter is this: Owning a car in Malta used to be (and in effect still is) emblematic of status, of having ‘arrived’ socioeconomically.

Public transport, on the other hand, has always been considered socially inferior, acceptable for tourists, students and even elderly pensioners, but not for most locals of driving age. You will rarely catch professionals catching a bus, although curiously the ferry does not pose the same social-mobility issues.

In the UK, probably for the sheer convenience, Central London professionals bus it and tube it. The same applies to people going into Central London for theatres and restaurants. London buses may be more iconic than ours, but it’s the difficulty (and expense) of parking and the Congestion Charge there that have changed habits.

Over here, the authorities, I fear, still have not understood that real change can only happen when people are shocked – or forced – out of their comfort zones.

Unless you’re incapacitated, have meetings all over the island or young children to ferry, there is no compelling need for a private car

Are the appalling pollution figures for Malta, or the loss of our natural environment, sufficient shocks? Rather than moving mountains (or trees!) to widen our roads, the authorities should be discouraging car use. Extensive metered parking, whole car-free zones and rigorously enforced pedestrianisation of historic centres are all so blindingly obvious.

But they won’t happen. They’re an instant vote-loser on a shortsighted and selfish island. Similarly, no red or blue government will ever raise the driving age to 21, saving road space and even saving lives. Do 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds really need a car parked outside their front door? Unless you’re incapacitated, have meetings all over the island or young children to ferry, there is no compelling need for a private car. And there’d be more room too for emergency vehicles, taxis and authorised deliveries. 

Last year’s initiative granting free public transport to teenagers should be extended to 21, even to 25. If a budgetary measure is already in place, then well done to the government. It’s also possible that reckless driving and driving under the influence will decrease. These are subjects that I have written about before and will undoubtedly address again.  

Meanwhile, the private car is the default preference on these islands. But why for every journey? Some complex journeys may still merit their use, but for me the Balluta-Valletta shuttle is now a bus journey. And I’m hoping to widen my sphere of operation. Golden Sands, Mater Dei and the airport, here I come.

It could save money too. If you tot up annual insurance, a road licence, fuel and servicing, the tributes paid to ‘parkers’ or car parks and the fines paid to the authorities, you’re probably looking at savings of €2,500. Enough for a few hundred taxi rides? Yes, I’m increasingly favouring the taxi-public transport combo.

But the all-important shift has to take place in our minds. It’s already happening in other countries, and we too have to accept that we’ve come to the end of our road. We can neither breathe nor move freely on it any longer.

We have to put our real shared interests before ownership and change the way we look at public transport. The bus has finally got to lose its social stigma. And one hopes that a truly 21st-century monorail or underground system (if it happens) never acquires one.

To put it bluntly, a car is no longer hip or cool, and it certainly doesn’t symbolise, let alone facilitate, freedom. It has become more trouble than it’s worth.

michelaspiteri@gmail.com