Shortening commute time

In a recent interview with Times of Malta, minister Aaron Farrugia stated that if we could stagger services throughout the morning, late at night or before dawn we can flatten the spike of vehicles that cause a gridlock during rush hour.

With this factual background, the minister’s idea makes a lot of sense and, perhaps, such a measure should have been considered a long time earlier. Yet, the measure itself, if it is to be introduced and implemented in a proper and efficient manner, requires much study.

There is a lot of validity in flextime as a means of reducing congestion. The measure itself should yield a number of positive results. It is obvious that a longer period of time will no longer be employed when people are travelling because of less traffic during the heaviest times, which means shorter travel times and lower vehicular operating costs.

It carries low implementation expenses as the measure itself does not cost any significant amount to implement, although there may be costs stemming from the need to adjust to new schedules. There is also the possibility of maintaining habits as commuters have the option of continuing to travel at the times they prefer.

Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Furthermore, there are savings in public transit fleets as a longer rush hour means that the same total number of passengers can be moved with fewer buses and, therefore, the density of trips is reduced.

Of course, the possibility of a downside to all this cannot be excluded. There might be costs involved in adjusting to new schedules as the required adjustment to new schedules could result in temporary productivity losses. Additional trips may be required because the staggering could hinder a combination of trips that were previously feasible. That is typical of parents taking their children to school and continuing on to work, which may not be possible without immediately returning home.

The whole measure itself will certainly call for a radical change in habits. However, changing habits is, at least, a subjective inconvenience as it entails rearranging activities. It takes time to arrive at a new system. The greater fear would be the difficulty in implementing the measure. I am afraid that, in the private sector, the authorities would have little chance of mandating a certain schedule of activities. But do not despair, yet.

To date, I always used to wonder why we call it ‘rush hour’ when nothing moves. Hopefully, if and when this flextime and staggered services system is introduced in Malta, rush hour traffic will, one day, literally mean that traffic does ‘rush’ through.

Mark Said – Msida

Impunity

A few weeks ago, a contractor working in Mellieħa damaged a major cable and cut off power to Gozo for about three hours.

Q: Will this contractor be liable for any damage caused eg to electric/electronic equipment?

A: It depends.

Q: Depends on what?

A: On the contractor’s party allegiance.

Carmel Sciberras – Naxxar