Money being used to subsidise petrol and diesel prices would be more effective if it was used to provide free regional and local transport options, the Green Party believes.
ADPD public relations officer Brian Decelis and deputy chairperson Carmel Cacopardo argued that transport measures being proposed are inadequate and more radical change is needed.
Both speakers reiterated one key point: that the root cause of traffic congestion is that there are simply too many cars on Malta's roads, and that any initiatives that fail to address that problem will not have any significant impact.
They emphasised their concerns about Malta’s rudderless transport plan during a press conference held on Saturday on a pedestrian bridge over December 13 street in Marsa.
Decelis said the government should first implement what was identified in the Transport Masterplan 10 years ago before engaging in infrastructure projects that fail to offer solutions.
“Road widening and an increase in flyovers have not solved the problem; if anything, they have only shifted the problem elsewhere. Congestion on the roads does not materialise only when there are traffic accidents and major events like the recent Sigma Summit. It has become a daily occurrence,” he said.
Brian Decelis and Carmel Cacopardo. Photo: ADPD“If what had been proposed in the Masterplan ten years was implemented, we would not be experiencing what we are experiencing today”, he said.
Cacopardo said a lack of political will to address transport problems has led Malta to its current situation.
“It is too late to implement small measures for gradual change. It has now come to a point that radical changes are necessary,” he said.
Cacopardo said it would make sense for the government to make it easier for people to fulfil their daily needs in their own towns and villages, reducing the traffic strain on main roads.
The government’s transport masterplan had found that half of all trips made by private car were for short distances that took less than 15 minutes, he noted.
He noted that small, local businesses were not in a position to compete with supermarkets and large stores on town outskirts, and said this is “a major weakness that needs to be addressed.”
Paris and other major cities around the world have made similar pushes to encourage residents to have their needs met within the communities they live in, not more than a fifteen-minute walk or bike ride away, he noted.
Proposals being pushed by the transport minister would ultimately have very little impact on traffic, because none address the root cause of the problem, Cacopardo said.
“The government must develop positive measures regarding free public transport and extend that to both local and regional public transport. It would be sensible to work on well-organised local and regional transport to reduce traffic on the road rather than subsidise petrol and diesel. As pointed out by the Masterplan published ten years ago, such a measure would address half of the short journeys we make by private car”, he concluded.