Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1495665
James Debono MaltaToday DESPITE increased awareness on global warming and emis- sions, younger people and stu- dents seem to be more attached to their cars than older people, a survey on the effect of traffic on wellbeing undertaken by pollster Vincent Marmara and commis- sioned by the Faculty for Social Wellbeing at the University of Malta, suggests. This may show that for young people the car remains a pow- e r f u l s y m b o l of inde- pendence a n d s e l f - a c - t u a l i s - ation, despite its negative social and ecological impact, and a prevailing perception echoed in other questions in the survey that traffic is having a negative impact on well-being and men- tal health. One of the questions asked to respondents in this survey was whether they agreed with the statement: "I would pre- fer to not use my car if public transport was more reliable". The question is particularly in- teresting as it measures public willingness for a nodal shift if public transport becomes more reliable. The most likely to agree with the statement were respond- ents aged over 70, while the least likely to agree were re- spondents aged between 18 to 29. While among the former the average level of agreement was 5 out of a maximum 7, among the latter the average level of agreement was 3.7. In the survey, 1 represented the least level of agreement while 7 represented full agreement. Unity PRINTED WITH MALTATODAY 26 MARCH 2023 EDITION 2 A SPECIAL EDITION FROM THE FACULTY FOR SOCIAL WELLBEING UNIVERSITY OF MALTA PAGES 20-21 Survey suggests that a third of respondents would still use their car less even if public transport is more reliable YOUNG LEAST LIKELY to DITCH CAR FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT Inside... Matt Paris: My life with psychosis... "I have four negative hallucinations which I experience on a day-to-day basis. At times they are all around, especially on bad days, three persons and a talking dog" INTERVIEW PAGES 14-15 For & Against Euthanasia OUR EXPERTS DEBATE PAGES 4-5