Sceptical response to offer of €25,000 to ditch driving licence

A government plan to offer €25,000 to people who give up their driving licence has had a largely sceptical reaction from both experts and the public.

The money could be much better spent on other initiatives to reduce traffic, a transport expert said yesterday.

“We know how to shift people away from cars,” Suzanne Maas, who holds a PhD in sustainable mobility, said.

“Safer walking infrastructure, frequent crossings, protected bicycle paths, more shade, more frequent public transport, and possibly a bus rapid transit system are all ways to get people away from cars.”

Removing Malta’s generous fuel subsidies would also disincentivise car use, she said.

Those solutions, however, would mean taking space away from cars and irking car owners, added Maas, who is also Friends of the Earth’s climate campaign coordinator.

“That is something the government seems unwilling to do, so they would rather just throw money at the problem.

“To bring changes, you cannot only use the carrot; you need the stick as well. The solutions might not be popular at the start, but they work,” she said.

On Sunday, Times of Malta reported that the government plans to pay drivers €25,000 if they give up their licence for five years.

Sources said that licence holders who own a car and have been driving in Malta for at least seven years will be offered €5,000 a year for five years.

The measure is expected to be announced soon alongside a number of other such policies designed to reduce traffic on Malta’s congested roads.

Like Maas, Jonathan Sammut, an MCAST lecturer and alternative mobility activist, called for more disincentives as a way of doing so.

“If the government wants to promote alternative means of commuting and discourage use of personal cars, anyone who studied economics ‒ even if just at O level ‒ would say that the first thing that would need to be done is to remove the subsidies on fuel. You don’t subsidise something that you want people to make less use of,” he said.

Others, including Adrian Galea, who heads Malta’s insurers’ lobby, questioned whether the €25,000 handout would only entice people who have already stopped driving.

He asked whether all licence holders, irrespective of age, usage and so on, would qualify, and what controls the authorities intend putting in place to curb any abuse.

“What matters most is that this measure is not considered as a path to easy money by selling or giving up your licence when the licence holder seldom uses the car or wasn’t a user anyway. It would be very difficult to ascertain this as data is probably lacking,” Galea said.

He added that effective enforcement would be needed for the policy to succeed in taking cars off the road, comparing it to the government’s lack of willingness to tackle drunk and drug driving.

“We are now being bombarded with reports about the [easy] availability of drugs ‒ not just cannabis ‒ which sadly is another concern on top of alcohol consumption before driving. It is very clear that the government’s apathy or unwillingness at tackling this issue will continue to have its effect on road safety.

“Introducing measures such as this exchange of licences for payments will only succeed if properly enforced.”

Meanwhile, most commenters on social media and the Times of Malta comments board expressed doubts over the plan.

“I would have imposed a limit on drivers over 65 years of age, since these are already potentially not going to work on a daily basis and thus are not the major contributors to traffic, especially during peak hours,” K. Zahra said.

“So I get €25,000, drive without the licence and when I get caught, I’ll pay the fine,” another woman commented on Instagram.

Others said that before ditching their private car, suitable alternatives are needed.

“I’m ready to do it… but the public transport needs to be up to standard. If the bus says it will pass at 12:10, it needs to pass at 12:10.”

Others pointed out the initiatives would mostly benefit non-Maltese residents who decide to go home after receiving the money.

Among them was former PN shadow transport minister Adrian Delia.

“So foreign drivers who have been around for seven years will get a smashing bonus of €25,000 to go back home,” Delia, who had the health portfolio in the PN’s shadow cabinet last year, said.

Malta’s problem with traffic is well-documented and official statistics lay out the extent of the problem. 

As of the end of last year, there were 445,711 registered motor vehicles on the islands. Over 70% of those, 313,665, were private cars, National Statistics Office data show. This is a 20% increase over the same figure a decade earlier. 

While the government has invested extensively in road infrastructure and subsidies to make public buses free of charge in the past years, attempts to limit the growing flow of traffic have been otherwise limited. 

A much-promoted report into a metro system unveiled in 2021 proved to be a pre-electoral red herring and suggestions of dissuading drivers by introducing unpopular measures such as parking fees or congestion charges – or removing subsidies on fuel – have been shot down.