Project Aegle, the independent think-tank with the mission to improve mobility, has carried out a Mobility Innovation Prize competition, asking people to find innovative ideas for how to improve mobility in Malta.
The competition kicked off last September and applica-tions had to be submitted by November 15.
The winners are Therese Bajada, Luke Psaila and Slobodan Savic. During the prize-giving ceremony, which will take place on January 24 at the APS Bank’s head office, it will be revealed which prize went to which entry. The participants together with the three winners will be invited to this ceremony.
“We have received more entries than expected. Many thanks to all the participants in this competition. You did not make it easy for the jury to select the winners,” said Nicoletta Moss, the foundation’s project manager. Moss also thanked the sponsors: APS, Debono Group, eCabs, Express Trailers and Malta Public Transport.
Herve Delpech, APS Bank’s head of strategy and marketing, said: “We are very proud to be part of this great initiative, totally in line with the bank’s objective to contribute to a more sustainable future.”
We have received more entries than expected... you did not make it easy for the jury to select the winners
These are the winning ideas:
‘Petals: A System to En-courage Sustainable Mobility through Micro-Rewards and Gamification’ (Therese Bajada). This idea is based on an online system through which users will be able to collect ‘petals’, non-monetary credits that are awarded for using sustainable modes of transport, such as buses, cabs/taxis, carpooling services and bikes, or participating in activities considered bene-ficial for the environment. These can then be exchanged for micro-rewards provided by participating partners.
‘Urban Room’ (Luke Psaila). Urban rooms can be created by pedestrianisation or by reintroducing shared space principles in our towns. For instance, creation of social space through parklets has been a very popular and successful initiative in the United States.
‘Introduction of parking charges’ (Slobodan Savic). Most European cities have shown that the reduction of car using is possible by eliminating free parking. By introducing parking charges between (say) 9am and 7pm people will have the incentive to use alternative ways of transport and the number of cars on the road will decrease drastically.
Traffic congestion and parking problems are today linked to massive costs for the Maltese economy, healthcare and well-being.
Project Aegle is a non-profit initiative with the mission to advance quality of life through improved mobility.
The project brings together a mix of collaborators hailing from academia, business and civil society at large united by a love for Malta.
The main aim of this foundation is to provide a plat-form where people from all backgrounds can share their knowledge and propose ideas and solutions that will result in better and improved mobility.
Visit http://projectaegle.com.mt/ for more information and to keep up to date with future projects, competitions and events.