Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1253597
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 MAY 2020 NEWS Malta's 60-minute radius On aver- age, cars in the South- ern Harbour district, which includes Cotton- era and nearby towns like Zabbar, stay on the road three years longer than those in the Northern region, which in- cludes more affluent localities like Naxxar and Mosta. In fact, the South Harbour had the highest average age of pas- senger cars, 15.6 years, followed by Gozo and Comino (15.1 years). As at end of 2018, the num- ber of vehicles per 1,000 resi- dents went s l i g h t l y down from 782 in 2017 to 781. This could reflect the increase of foreign residents, some of which do not have a licence. On the oth- er hand, the number of vehicles for every 1,000 licence-holders stood at 1,489 by the end of 2018. Nevertheless, while Gozo reg- istered the highest ratio of vehi- cles (1,071 per 1,000 total resi- dents), the Northern Harbour, with the large number of for- eigners, registered the lowest ratio (658). However, when only li- cence-holders are taken in- to account the highest num- ber of vehicles is found in the Northern district (1,591); on the other hand, the South East- ern registered the lowest ratio with 1,386 vehicles per 1,000 licence-holders. Birkirkara was the locality with the highest rate of traf- fic accidents, with 1,322 cases. Qormi and Naxxar followed, with 862 and 682, respectively. Traffic contraventions issued by local wardens amounted to 135,288, a decrease of 29.5% when compared to 2018. The majority (35.1%) were issued in the Northern Harbour, which includes major urban centres like Sliema and St Julian's. St Paul's Bay had the highest tal- ly of contraventions issued by wardens, with 11,662 or 8.6% of the total. In 2019, traf- fic-related con- traventions is- sued by Transport Malta amounted to 16,547, with the majority being issued in the Northern Harbour. At 2,451 St Julian's was highest in terms of contraventions. Speed camera contraventions totalled 53,847 in 2019: the camera which caught the most over-speeding vehicles was on Triq Mikiel Anton Vassalli (Re- gional Road, St Julian's), with 7,221 contraventions. During 2019, movements be- tween Malta and Gozo contin- ued to increase, with trips up by 17% (4,012) over 2018. Vehicle movements between the islands increased by 123,007 (7.4%), with passengers up by 159,462 or 2.8%. 3,662 Gozitans working in Malta In 2018, 3,662 Gozo residents com- muted to Malta to work. This implies that approximate- ly one out of every five employed persons resident in Gozo worked in Malta. Of these 3,309 worked full time. 50% worked in the public sector. Women in the public sector ac- counted for 30.6% of the total. Graduates live in the north The majority of graduates re- side in the Northern Harbour (28.8%) and the Northern dis- trict (17.2%). The localities with the largest number of graduates were Mo- sta, Birkirkara, Zabbar, Naxxar and St Paul's Bay. The share of graduates at MQF levels 6 (bachelor's de- gree) and 7 (masters degree) per 1,000 inhabitants was highest in the Western district where 12.6 per 1,000 residents possessed a BA while 8.3 pos- sessed an MA. Gozo was second highest for bachelor's degrees (11.8). The Northern district had the second highest share of people with master's degree (6.2). The lowest share of residents with a BA was the Northern Harbour and Southern Harbour districts (7.3 each) while the lowest share of graduates with a Master's degree was in the Southern Harbour (3.9). The greatest share of residents with a doctorate was in Gozo – one in every 2,000 inhabitants holds a PhD. Social benefits In a reflection of ageing pop- ulations and greater social deprivation in some towns, the expenditure per capita on so- cial benefits was highest in the localities of Mdina, Floriana, Birgu and Santa Lucija, where the expenditure per capita was greater than €2,000 in each of these localities. In contrast, the expenditure per capita was less than €900 in the localities of Marsascala, Pembroke, St Paul's Bay, Mtarfa and Swieqi. In the region of Gozo, the expend- iture per capita on social benefits was highest in Rabat and Għasri with ex- penditure per capita exceeding €1,450 in each of the localities. At-risk-of-poverty (Percent of population) 2013 2018 S Harbour 18.7% 18.5% -0.2 N Harbour 15% 18.9% +3.9 S Eastern 12.2% 15.8% +3.6 Western 15.3% 12% +3.3 Northern 17.5% 16.9% -0.6 Gozo 15.8% 14.1% -1.7 The share of graduates at MQF levels 6 (bachelor's degree) and 7 (masters degree) per 1,000 inhabitants was highest in the Western district where 12.6 per 1,000 residents possessed a BA while 8.3 possessed an MA Speed camera contraventions totalled 53,847 in 2019: the camera which caught the most over-speeding vehicles was on Triq Mikiel Anton Vassalli (Regional Road, St Julian's), with 7,221 contraventions Persons at-risk-of-poverty in the Southern Harbour, Western and Gozo districts decreased by 17.2%, 11.2% and 5.5%, respectively The lowest number of vehicles per 1,000 licence holders is in the South Eastern with 1,386 vehicles per 1,000 licence- holders When calculating the number of PV installations per 1,000 population by locality, the top 10 localities are all Gozitan – which has small populations – with an average of 111 domestic installations per 1,000 population