Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Public Works Chris Bonett presented a set of measures aimed at alleviating traffic congestion. These measures are based on a number of proposals announced in recent months along with a series of public consultations and bilateral meetings where over 600 ideas were submitted through the website reshapingourmobility.com.
The minister explained how after this process, a detailed analysis and study was carried out so that under seven pillars, these are the main measures; The first pillar incorporates measures to limit the use of vehicles, with a number of incentives and grants offered including:
• A grant of €25,000 if you surrender your license and car for 5 years.
• A grant of €1,500 per year for 4 years for 17-year-olds who ride a scooter and surrender their license.
• A grant of €6,000 if you surrender your license and use a scooter for 4 years.
• A grant of up to €1,000 if you refuse to purchase a motorbike.
• Parking for University students who car-pool and carry 2 or more passengers with them.
• Better incentives for employers who promote transport for workers.
The second pillar is a 24-hour economy where a number of measures address public and private services to be carried out during off-peak hours. The Government will lead by example by changing the timing of services such as waste collection, street cleaning and public services such as paying for licenses in TM.
• Waste collection and street cleaning during off-peak hours.
• Service during off-peak hours in the public and private sectors.
• Study on a new cargo ferry service from Kordin and the Freeport apart from Ċirkewwa to Gozo.
The third pillar offers solutions for parking in communities.
• Park & ride services offered by various localities.
• Digital solutions for parking and for those who use car-pooling.
• A national strategy aimed at increasing parking for motorcycles, EVs and scooters. The fourth pillar concerns public transport, with new and more frequent routes.
• New routes for industrial areas.
• Review of a number of routes to improve their connectivity and frequency.
• Review the bus route network and study public transport routes. The fifth pillar is the improvement of the coordination of works between all concerned entities and road infrastructure projects.
• Create Standard Operating Procedures for all those involved including entities, contractors and local councils.
• Draw up an annual works plan. The sixth pillar promotes methods for travelling by alternative modes of transport.
• Conclude the National Cycling Strategy.
• Develop a national strategy to promote walking.
• Create a committee and appoint an ambassador for alternative mobility. The seventh pillar concerns remote-working where in principle, there seems to be public agreement that this will help alleviate the traffic problem.
• A discussion with social partners begins through the MCESD to identify the most effective way to incentivize remote-working in the private sector.
Minister Chris Bonett stated that “in recent months, a broad public participation exercise has been concluded, where the aim was to put on the table a set of proposals to change the way we look at transport, not only with infrastructure but also habits, practices and accessibility”. He continued by saying that “we have transformed these into measures, so-called Short-Term Objectives, which will form the first implementation package and which in the coming days, will begin to be taken off the paper and come into effect in a concrete way”. The introduction of these measures will be spread over eighteen months with a transition process, a coordination plan between different entities and, in some cases, even changes to the legislative framework which together will continue to directly address traffic congestion.
All measures can be accessed via the website www.reshapingourmobility.com.
