The commute nightmare

Back in 2016, we had an online ‘Frustration Calculator’ that quantified your level of frustration based on the distance of your journey, average speed and time lost in traffic and gave you an example of what you might have achieved in the hours lost to gridlock.

They call it “road rage” for a reason. Few modern experiences are more exasperating than being trapped in a traffic jam. There is also a hidden cost to traffic congestion that shows gridlock on our roads is more than just an inconvenience on our time. It drains our wallets, our economies, as well as our physical and mental health.

Experience has shown that neither additional traffic lanes nor more widely available mass transit have ever alleviated traffic congestion.

If localities build more capacity, additional drivers take to the roads until congestion returns to previous levels.

Work taking place on what is now the Santa Luċija underpass.Work taking place on what is now the Santa Luċija underpass.

In other words, the benefits of new lanes, tunnels, flyovers and other major road projects are negligible.

Urban and suburban drivers alike naturally flock to roads that are less travelled. Basically, if you double the amount of road, the speed of traffic will go up proportionately.

Nor does more public transport alleviate traffic congestion to the degree that many have suggested. If you manage to persuade some drivers to give up on their cars, other drivers will replace them.

There is no relationship bet­ween public transport and road travel. But that is not what people who promote public transport usually say.

Our policymakers fail to appreciate that a congestion tax imposes less burden than implicit taxes levied on cars sitting in traffic wasting time and fuel and spewing greenhouse gases.

I am one of those who do not oppose all road construction. Bottlenecks tie up traffic, for instance, and new roads around them often move vehicles more swiftly.

Every project is different. I am not saying that nothing should be built anywhere but, lately, we have built too many roads in too short a time.

Our future roads should no longer be built with concrete as much as they should be built with software. The underutilised availability of real-time traffic data today also opens up new avenues for industry and government to tackle the never-ending, drive-time problem.

Our government has the opportunity, through smart city applications and services, to harness the power of real-time insight and predictive analytics to build robust intelligence into Malta’s transportation networks.

Mark Said – Msida

Priorities

A lot has been written about the restoration and rebuilding of rubble walls in Gozo.

How about sorting out the roads in Xagħra? They are a disgrace; worse than war-torn Ukraine. They are full of potholes, patched with bags of tar which lifts when it rains.

I’ve given up and sold my pride and joy. I’m fed up of paying €1,000 a year to wreck tyres.

They’re going to build a tunnel. Ha…

Kevin Hodkin – Xagħra

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