More than half the population thinks road traffic is a “big problem” that impacts their quality of life, according to a new study published by the University of Malta.

While most of the 600 people surveyed said they were satisfied with life overall, the familiar bugbear of being delayed by congestion was flagged as a major disruption to wellbeing.

Respondents were asked how problematic traffic on a scale from one to five – where one meant a “very big problem” and five meant “not a problem”. Some 38.8 per cent picked number 1, 13.8 per cent chose number 2, 23.7 per cent number 3, 11.4 per cent said 4 and 12.3 per cent said 5.

The survey was carried out in October and lawyer Simon Micallef Stafrace, who specialises in traffic issues, said that the impact of COVID-19 might have had a bearing on the results.

Over the past few months, the relative absence of cars on the roads – brought about by more people staying indoors – made people aware of the environmental impact that traffic has on their lives. 

Apart from this, he said, there were more cars on the road with the trend being that, as soon as someone turned 18, they got their driver’s licence.

“There’s also an element of people being impatient and wanting to get from A to B in the least possible time… Ongoing road works may also cause people to see this is an inconvenience. However, we must keep in mind the bigger picture that a little patience now will give us a better infrastructure in future,” he said.

Pierre Vella, executive chairman of the Malta Road Safety Council, said people’s perception of traffic stemmed from the fact that over the past decade the number of cars on the roads had mushroomed. According to National Statistics Office figures issued last year, 45 new vehicles a day appeared on Malta’s roads.

Vella said this meant that people can no longer expect to get to their destination in 20 minutes, as they did when there were less cars on the roads. “This is the reality. There are lots of cars on the road and it impacts our time. We need to address our time management to reduce frustration,” he said.

We need to address our time management to reduce frustration

Vella stressed the importance of people observing road regulations since cars blocking roads, through being double-parked, increased traffic and upped road rage.

Andrew Azzopardi, dean of the university’s faculty for social wellbeing that commissioned the survey, said that while transportation was the catalyst for a growing economy, it also created a major discomfort in a person’s life.

“Our over-reliance on the use of the car is taking its toll. This situation is having a considerable effect on the quality of community life, on the individuals sitting in cars for endless hours, and the impact of traffic on the inhabitants of the busy streets,” he said, adding that this study was another attempt by the faculty at recommending traffic planning and policy over merely developing new road infrastructure.

Currently, Infrastructure Malta is implementing several upgrades to the arterial road network as part of an ongoing €700 million, seven-year programme.

But vast majority are satisfied with life

Aside from traffic issues, the survey carried out by statistician Vince Marmara asked respondents if they were satisfied with their life. A total of 40.9 per cent said they were very satisfied, 33.7 per cent were satisfied, 19.8 per cent were neutral, three per cent were not satisfied and 2.5 per cent were absolutely dissatisfied.

Asked if they felt neighbours take care of each other: 37.2 per cent strongly agreed, 21.6 per cent agreed, 22.1 per cent were neutral, 10.9 per cent disagreed and 8.2 per cent strongly disagreed.

Asked about noise in their neighborhood in the past month, 34.4 per cent said they were “not uncomfortable” with the noise levels, 28.2 per cent were neutral and 17.7 per cent “very uncomfortable”.

Respondents were also asked how problematic they thought waste management to be: 15 per cent thought it was a very big problem, 8.2 per cent said it was a problem, 22.9 per cent were neutral, while the rest (53.9 per cent) said it was not a problem. They were also asked about the necessity of local councils where 40.6 per cent said they were “very necessary” while 23.5 per cent said they were necessary, 22.6 per cent were neutral, 5.7 per cent said they were unnecessary and 7.7 per cent said they were very unnecessary.

Asked if they considered themselves to be involved in activities organised by councils, 82 per cent said they were not involved.