Over the past decade, Malta’s population has grown by over 20 per cent, to now total 516,000. Moreover, there have been changes to Malta’s demographic profile as well as a shift in where people work and live. 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 at their literal and metaphorical fingertips than ever before.
However, these changes have both created several challenges as well as opportunities for Malta’s transport sector.
Transport systems are complex and continuously evolving. It is therefore a constant challenge for transport planners to assess, predict, and plan for current and potential changes to the national transport network. In light of this, the Integrated Transport Strategy Directorate (ITSD) shall undertake three projects over the next few months that are integral to long-term transport planning for Malta.
The first project is the review and update of the National Transport Master Plan (TMP). Development of the TMP was finalised in 2017, and it formulated a holistic implementation plan for investments within the transport sector over the period until 2025. This document was developed in tandem with the National Transport Strategy (NTS), which included a series of policy goals to guide the development of the transport sector until 2050.
The TMP includes 274 measures that take into consideration air, land, and sea transport. It defines clear project pipelines for studies as well as infrastructural, organisational, and operational changes for the sector until 2025. In addition to this, the TMP defined operational targets for a number of indicators of economic, environmental, and social sustainability.
The time is now ripe for a mid-term review of the Transport Master Plan. Expected to be completed in 2022, the TMP will be extended to 2030 and will take stock of the status and progress towards implementation of the various measures for air, land, and sea transport. The master plan must also be aligned to wider policy framework, such as the EU’s Cohesion Policy for 2021-2027 as well as its Climate Target Plan for 2030. In addition, the TMP must also take into consideration the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), which sets out specific objectives in meeting Malta’s target for a 19 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2030.
To meet these policy objectives, the update shall again involve an extensive and robust modelling exercise. Individual measures shall be modelled, appraised, and assessed to produce packages of measures that will best meet both national and EU targets and objectives. To complement this exercise, the update of the National Transport Model is another major project that will occur over the next few months.
The National Transport Model (NTM) is a macro-level transport model which simulates network conditions across Malta and Gozo in present and future modelling scenarios. The NTM was first developed in 2015 to inform and guide the development of the TMP and national transport strategy in general. It is continuously developed and maintained by Transport Malta, with the last major update occurring in 2019. Every update must take into consideration any changes to the transport network and system occurring in between updates. It is a complex multi-modal model that requires a large amount of data to develop, test, and calibrate its results.
The project aims to promote walking and cycling for short journeys within the localities
Intertwined with the development of the NTM, the National Household Travel Survey shall also be conducted. Malta has undertaken a National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) roughly every 10 years since 1989. The survey is distributed to a statistically representative sample of the population of Malta, which consists of almost 7,000 households. The NHTS asks respondents a series of questions about their travel characteristics and habits. Integral to the survey is the filling out of a trip diary, cataloguing a respondent’s trips during a typical weekday.
The goal of the NHTS is to provide valuable information about the ways in which the transport system is utilised. This includes data such as the relative modal share of each travel mode, which demographic profiles utilise these modes, as well as time, origin, and destination information about each trip. By identifying patterns in survey data, further analysis can be performed to identify the cause of these patterns and develop transport policy, infrastructure, and services accordingly. Furthermore, the NHTS is one of the most important sources of data for the NTM as it is used to develop the NTM’s trip matrices, which represent trip movements from one locality to another.
The updating of the NTM and TMP, as well as the conducting of the NHTS, represent three projects fundamental to the development of long-term national transport planning policy. These intertwined projects provide an indispensable set of tools that will accurately inform on and predict future scenarios, allowing us to make important decisions for the sustainability of the transport sector in the coming years. The importance of these projects cannot be underestimated, as they shall guide transport’s contribution to the physical, environmental, social, and economic development of the Maltese Islands over the next decade.
In line with the vision and strategic goals set out in the National Transport Strategy 2050 and the National Transport Master Plan 2025, the first Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) is being developed for the Valletta Region. Funded under the Civitas DESTINATIONS Project, 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 attract both residents and visitors to sustainable modes of transport and practices.
The Valletta Region is the main urban area in Malta, including the airport and cruise liner port, the main employment and entertainment hubs on the island, and some of the primary tourist attractions (such as Valletta, Tas-Sliema and Cottonera). The Valletta Region comprises the 27 local councils falling within the Northern and Southern Harbour regions: Vittoriosa, Birkirkara, Cospicua, Fgura, Floriana, Gżira, Ħamrun, Senglea, Kalkara, Ħal Luqa, Marsa, Msida, Paola, Pembroke, Tal-Pietà, Ħal Qormi, San Ġiljan, San Ġwann, Tas-Sliema, Santa Luċija, Santa Venera, Swieqi, Ta’ Xbiex, Ħal Tarxien, Valletta, Xgħajra, and Ħaż-Żabbar.
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 achieved. 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 final measure package, that of urban logistics, is based on the first Sustainable Urban Logistics Plan (SULP) developed with a focus on logistics in the city of Valletta. This exercise included research, baseline data collection, and the first analysis of the current situation in the logistics sector, together with a feasibility assessment of various potential solutions.
The measures being proposed in the SUMP have been classified as short-term (with implementation within the next three years), medium-term (with implementation between four to six years), and long-term (with implementation between seven and 10 years). The progress and success of each SUMP measure will be gauged through the developed impact indicators.
Local councils have the best visibility of the challenges and opportunities within their locality and thus, when equipped with the know-how, have the potential to propose effective measures that tackle issues related to urban challenges, such as traffic congestion, air pollution, lack of accessibility, and lack of street liveability in urban village cores.
Moving from high-level planning to on-the-ground initiatives, grants are awarded annually through the European Mobility Week campaign for the implementation of sustainable mobility projects within respective localities. As part of this EU-wide campaign, local councils are invited to propose projects and measures related to sustainable urban mobility.
The winning measures are awarded a grant for the implementation of a permanent sustainable measure, where local councils are also provided with project management and implementation support until the respective measure is in place. A series of workshops is organised annually to clarify the application process and explain the underlying principles related to sustainable urban mobility.
The theme for the EMW changes each year and is decided at EU level, and it is to be noted that both the interest from Local Councils as well as the quality of applications have been constantly increasing.
Depending on the submissions, a number of measures, usually ranging from two to four in number, are funded annually. Examples of measures that have been funded through past editions of the competition include transport on demand services using EVs such as in Cospicua, Tal-Pietà and Għajnsielem, the pedestrianisation of school areas (making them safer for children and parents and thus encouraging them to walk or cycle more to school), as well as a smart parking system in Ħal Qormi and cargo bike in Ħaż-Żebbuġ with the aim to reduce emissions in the logistics sector by replacing a large polluting vehicles with a cargo bike.
Similarly, at local council level and with the aim of making local mobility sustainable, safe, healthy, and efficient, a nationwide initiative was launched. The Slow Streets Project is a collaboration of various entities and stakeholders coming together following the COVID-19 pandemic, in view of the impact it has had on the citizens’ needs within their locality with regard to social interaction and giving a less of a central role to the private car.
Through a temporary network of connected corridors of safe passage for pedestrians and cyclists connecting local shopping hubs, churches and piazzas, schools, primary health clinics, playgrounds, and gardens, the project aims to promote walking and cycling for short journeys within the localities, encourage the use of public transport as the primary mobility source for movement from one locality to another, promote other solutions such as ‘remote working’ to avoid unnecessary travel, encourage a healthier lifestyle through physical exercise and outdoor sports for all ages, reduce pollution levels and achieve better air quality in urban areas and support, as well as encourage and build confidence in local businesses and consumers in their localities, all within the necessary health and safety standards as recommended by the health authorities.
The Slow Streets Project will see the conversion of traffic lanes (three metres) to pedestrianised routes and cycle lanes, the conversion of open spaces currently used as parking areas into play and recreational areas, and the designation of a number of essential ‘connectors’ as shared streets at 20km/h.
Laura Sue Mallia is Director Operations, Office of the Deputy CEO, Transport Malta