Over the past decade, Malta’s population has grown by over 20 per cent, to approximately 516,000. This has been parallel to an increase in the number of cars on our roads and shifts in where people live and work. New technologies and new transport services have emerged to cater to a change in lifestyle, and it is fair to say that residents of Malta and Gozo have more transport options. Despite this, the modal share remains dominated by private vehicle use.

The aim of the Sustainable Mobility team within the Risk Management, Policy and EU Affairs Department of Transport Malta is to challenge this; ultimately developing solutions and initiatives aimed at encouraging individuals to use cleaner and alternative transport options. The benefits of this are many.

By acknowledging that the transport sector is a relatively high GHG emitter and that this has an effect on our air quality and life in general, a shift away from the private car is both needed and welcomed. When people replace their cars with walking and cycling, exercise is incorporated into their daily routine. At the same time, this provides opportunities for social interaction, which improves mental health and well-being.

Triggering a behavioural change in a society where car ownership and car dependence is high, is indeed challenging. In this aspect, the Sustainable Mobility team is taking a varied approach, ranging from the planning, promotion and awareness, implementation, and educational perspectives.

Through EU funding, the first Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) has been drafted for the Valletta Region. The SUMP aims to promote more sustainable transport alternatives for both citizens and visitors by providing specific tried and tested solutions to improve the mobility system of the region and make sustainable modes of transport and practices attractive to these two categories of people.

What is being referred to as the Valletta Region comprises the 27 local councils falling within the Northern and Southern Harbour regions, which include the main urban area on the Maltese islands, therefore including the airport and cruise liner port, the main employment and entertainment hubs on the island, and some of the primary tourist attractions.

Through the baseline studies, data collection, and outcomes of consultation with stakeholders, three scenarios were defined for further analysis. These include the baseline scenario (business as usual), tourism scenario (concentrating on developments concerning a growing number of tourists travelling to Malta and Valletta), and a clean and efficient transport scenario (focusing on active transport, clean vehicles, and a less important role of the private car). The analysis of each of these scenarios was vital in developing the actions and measures required to be implemented. The final measure packages being proposed in the SUMP relate to Parking Policy, Localisation and Implementation of Transport Hubs, Cycling Infrastructure, Carsharing and On Demand Transport Services, Enforcement, Electric Vehicles, Low Emissions Zone, and Urban Logistics – SULP.

The SUMP development exercise, which has provided us with the initial experience of what such a plan entails, will be expanded to cover the whole of Malta and Gozo so that each of the six regions will have a dedicated sustainable urban mobility plan and logistics plan. This is to be done following the successful granting of support and funding from the EU so that over the coming months we will have a clearer vision of how the local transport systems need to evolve in order to become more sustainable, safer, and more accessible for all.

The team is continuously engaged in awareness raising and promotional campaigns, with the aim of reaching all segments of society. Recently, increased effort has been made to reach students through a series of initiatives, targeting from primary to post-secondary educational institutions. Primary school-aged children have been invited to artistically show what sustainable mobility means to them. This took the form of a competition, and the overwhelming response is very encouraging and is also proof that the young generation, our future, is very much interested in this subject and in making a change. An exhibition of the entries will be launched on Transport Malta premises in Ħal Lija on March 21, 2022, which the public is invited to visit.

Secondary and post-secondary schools have been invited to register for sessions in which a member of our team will meet students and have an open discussion with them on their challenges but also opportunities with regard to becoming more sustainable in their travel needs as they start to gain more independence. This shall be done in addition to other activities planned with higher secondary institutions, which shall include training for educators to equip same with the skills to further encourage and instigate the use of alternative and sustainable mobility.

Such investment in human resources is paramount. Continuous efforts are made to increase the capabilities of both our team and share knowledge with interested parties and the general public. Following an open call, a training course on cycling infrastructure is currently being delivered. This is the result of a fruitful collaboration between Transport Malta, the Embassy of the Netherlands, and the EIT, where experts in the subject will be providing participants with the tools for understanding and designing cycling infrastructure that is adequate for the local setting.

Personal mobility can easily become more sustainable as individuals rethink their mobility, their mobility needs, as well as their trips. As we have all experienced, the recent months and the pandemic have changed many aspects of our life including the way we work and shop. By doing the same activities differently we can reduce our need to travel and thus reduce emissions. Teleworking and online shopping are common examples of this. Rethinking the way we travel does not translate into shifting all trips from being done by car to using public transport, cycling, or walking, but rather introduces the concept of multi-modality where trips are better planned, and may even be more conveniently done by bus, on foot, or with a combination of both - taking the bus and walking the remaining distance.

All this and more will be discussed during our next event, a half-day conference; Sustainable Transport: Together Towards Cleaner Solutions. The conference, which due to the current circumstances had to be shifted to an online event, will be held on February 24, 2022, and will bring together experts, both local and foreign, to discuss cleaner and alternative mobility from various perspectives. The results from the National Household Travel Survey, carried out last November, will be presented during this conference. Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and their implementation in Malta, autonomous vehicles, and some of the related ongoing projects in Malta will also be presented and discussed. Registered participants shall be given the opportunity to join one of the four workshops where a more focused discussion will take place. During these workshops, the subjects of sustainable urban mobility planning within the locality, modal shift, electromobility, and autonomous vehicles will be delved into.

The same event will also see the official launch of Malta’s membership in the EPOMM. EPOMM – The European Platform on Mobility Management - is the network of the European government´s departments and institutions dealing with sustainable mobility and transport and has been actively promoting mobility management and the exchange of experience since 1997. EPOMM functions as the knowledge hub for mobility management to realise a sustainable transport system.

Sustainable Transport: Together Towards Cleaner Solutions – February 24, 2022

The conference is open to interested individuals, and one may register by scanning the QR code or through this link. More information can be obtained by e-mailing sustainablemobility.tm@transport.gov.mt.

Laura Sue Mallia is Director, Risk Management, Policy and EU Affairs, Transport Malta.

Ritianne Buhagiar is Manager, Sustainability and EU Affairs, Transport Malta.