The recently published Air Quality in Europe report showing poor air quality in Malta and the ERA report that schools close to busy roads are causing children to suffer respiratory illnesses were reminders of government failure to address the major source of air pollutants, Alternattiva Demokratika said on Wednesday.

Ralph Cassar, spokesman on energy and transport, said successive governments had failed to tackle the major source of air pollution: fossil fuelled transport.

"AD has long been advocating for a modal shift, one which offers real alternatives to car use - the single largest source of air pollutants. However the current administration seems to be taking such suggestions with a pinch of salt. Rather than investing heavily in different modes of public transport, it is investing in car oriented measures which do very little to address the real change that is required. Cycling infrastructure is being weakened, and public transport seems to be struggling to cope with current demand, while getting stuck in traffic,” he said. 

He called for investment in public transport including a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system.