The government is planning the introduction of a park-and-ride system to ease congestion in areas known as severe traffic hot spots.

Discussions have kicked off to introduce the service – which has already been operating in Valletta for several years – in Qormi, Birkirkara, Paola, Sliema and St Julian’s, among others, according to sources close to the government.

The plans were discussed during a meeting with the social partners on Friday.

The studies will be held with local councils to identify sites on the outskirts of the localities where existing or new car parks can be developed into park-and-ride sites where motorists can park their car and take a shuttle service to the centre of the locality.

The studies are also exploring the possibility of complementing the service with designated residential parking and pedestrianisation of the main square or other areas of the village core wherever possible.

The initiative is among 20 other short and medium-term proposals that will be announced in the coming days and rolled out by the end of March next year, and which the government hopes will alleviate Malta’s growing traffic plague.

Incentive to give up licence

Another measure includes “incentives” to encourage people to give up their driving licence and young people to refrain from getting their licence in the first place. It is yet unclear whether the driving licence-forfeiting incentives are financial or otherwise.

The government intends to push public and private delivery services and garbage collection out of morning and afternoon rush hours.

The proposals are not entirely new, having been previously touted by former transport ministers and even the Nationalist Party. But sources said the government is now closing in on making them a reality.

They will see the measures work and will probably ask us for more

Chris Bonett, who was appointed Transport Minister last January, first told Times of Malta he was considering such traffic measures – among others – in an extensive interview last month.

He said he needed to take the necessary time after his appointment to properly listen to the people and take stock of the current situation before he can take decisions but promised the time for action would come soon.

The proposals are aimed at improving coordination of roadworks, tackling parking, pushing for more off-peak services, improving public transport, addressing the number of cars on the road and increasing sustainable mobility.

‘No taxes, disincentives’

None of the proposals include taxes or other forms of disincentives for people who continue to use their car, the sources said.

“If we show people there are practical alternatives to our current habits, we won’t need to tax them, because they will see the measures work and will probably ask us for more,” one government source said.

Contacted for comment, Minister Bonett would not elaborate on any of the proposals but confirmed all will be announced in the coming days.

A three-month public consultation process will ensue, following which the proposals will be formalised and rolled out as measures by the first quarter of next year.

Bonett met with MCESD stakeholders on Friday in a long meeting during which it is understood he laid out his plan and shared all proposals – some of which were ideas they had put forward themselves.

MCESD sources present at the meeting confirmed the plan was well-received by all stakeholders and the meeting was fruitful and felt like the proposals would truly start to address the problem.

But cooperation and collaboration must continue as the measures are rolled out, they added. Otherwise, all efforts might prove too little too late and fail to address the problem as effectively as necessary.

It is also understood the government instructed Infrastructure Malta to stop planning the construction of new roads and the rebuilding of existing ones without clear and practical plans for walking and cycling going forward.

The government has been struggling on that front, with Bonett himself indicating earlier this month that the first phase of a €35 million nation-wide cycle network promised by his predecessor Aaron Farrugia is set to miss its end-of-year deadline.

In parallel, talks will also continue on a longer-term mass transport plan and the use of technology in traffic management, the sources said.