Politicians might argue that the excessive number of cars on our roads is evidence of economic progress. The rest of us are more likely to worry about the stress of driving to and from work in traffic and finding a parking space at a reasonable distance from our homes. Meanwhile, those willing to try alternative means of transport, including their legs, still feel they are treated like second-class road users.
A national transport strategy would attempt to reconcile these conflicting interests but defining and implementing one has never been a priority. The government has stopped at building new roads in its efforts to make the lives commuters easier. The transport authorities’ abdication of their responsibility to find effective solutions is causing citizens unnecessary hardship.
Piecemeal initiatives are sometimes taken at a local level. Coming to the defence of its car-owning residents, the Sliema local council has proposed a six-month pilot scheme for residential parking. It wants to analyse whether such a scheme would be sustainable or works in certain zones. Other less busy towns have such schemes in place so the Sliema council is right in claiming discrimination when similar attempts to introduce residential parking in the overcrowded town were shot down in the past.
The introduction of parking meters would also help inject much needed funds into the councils’ coffers.
On the other hand, the Malta Union of Teachers warned it would act to safeguard the interests of its members working in Sliema schools if the availability of free parking was to be restricted. Finding a pragmatic solution that strikes a balance between conflicting sectoral interests seems inordinately tricky.
The problems caused by traffic congestion in towns such as Sliema cannot be solved by giving residents superior parking rights to those from outside town. As well as residents who don’t want to have to walk a mile between car and home, our streets are used by shoppers, people with mobility problems, patients visiting clinics, delivery drivers supplying merchandise, buses and bus users, workers who commute every day, sightseers, children travelling to and from school. All this activity creates traffic hazards and inconveniences.
For too long has there been a tendency to apply parking management in a reactive manner. If a parking problem appears in an area, only that specific problem is targeted. And the inconsistent enforcement of sensible traffic regulations only makes the lives of many road users that much more challenging.
Parking in our towns needs to be addressed more strategically in an effort to achieve multiple environmental, social and economic aims. This can only be done effectively in the context of a national transport policy built on clear and pragmatic objectives. Such objectives must include an attempt to make city centres attractive for economic activities. More importantly we must cut down on car use by improving public transport and making taxis cheaper to the point where it becomes feasible for people to jump in their cars only for special occasions.
Ultimately, efficient means of getting around – including adequate parking facilities – must be fully accessible to all sections of society.
A good transport strategy would come at a cost. Putting a price on parking to control it is rarely popular with the public. But it is about time the transport authorities are given the political nod to work with local councils, the business community and other stakeholders to define what parking controls are needed in congested areas. And that’s just the start. New and efficient transport management measures need to embrace all road users and become part of a forward-looking transport strategy.