Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1508764
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 OCTOBER 2023 NEWS JAMES DEBONO DO you fancy giving up your driving licence for a period and receive vouchers to be used at supermarkets and taxi services? This is one of 25 suggestions being made in Malta's plan to combat air pollution, which was published recently for pub- lic consultation. The Air Quality Plan drawn up by the Environment and Resources Authority in collab- oration with the Environment Ministry targets Malta's pri- mary source of air pollution – transport. The proposal suggests a scheme whereby motorists vol- untarily surrender their driving licence for a period and in re- turn they will gain credit on a proposed mobility wallet. The intention is to reward their en- vironmentally friendly behav- iour. Rewards suggested in the plan are taxi services (pref- erably electric ones), grants to purchase electric bicycles, and vouchers which can be re- deemed at supermarkets and other service providers. The proposal should be imple- mented in the 'medium term' but details are still sketchy and unlike other measures contem- plated in the plan no timeline is given for its implementation. In view local studies show- ing that only a small fraction of particulate matter (PM10) originates from car exhaust pipes with more dust being caused by tyre and brake fric- tion, the policy document calls for an "urgent need for modal shifts and reducing cars from the road, moving to more sus- tainable modes of transport such as cycling and walking". New app with green mobility wallet But the measure to voluntar- ily give up the driving licence depends on the introduction of a new mobile app that will al- low users to have a green mo- bility wallet where credits can be deposited. The app will be developed and tested in 2024 and intro- duced to the public after 2025, according to the plan. This application will not only be used by those who partially surrender their licence but will also offer incentives to em- ployees who commute to their workplace using sustainable modes of transport like walk- ing, using shared vehicles (car- pooling) and cycling or who telework on most days. Green travel plans The plan also aims at incen- tivising employers who imple- ment green travel plans which are increasingly becoming a re- quirement in the issue of plan- ning permits for large scale de- velopments. Employers can already claim a tax deduction of the costs in- curred for the transportation of employees to and from the place of work, using vehicles capable of carrying more than eight persons. It is now being proposed to amend this legis- lation to include vehicles car- rying four or more employees. Further incentives are also planned to encourage the col- lective transport for employ- ees, which could be organised by private companies with the government's support by cre- ating specific pick-up points in localities from which the em- ployees originate. This option would be open to all employees, especially those in manufacturing, hospitals and the hospitality sector, and to those willing to commute to and from work during a par- ticular time of day. Supervised walking bus The document also proposes a pilot project in one school whereby children would be su- pervised walking to school. This would apply for students living near the school. Depend- ing on the outcome of the exer- cise and location of school, this exercise would feed into the possible extension of a nation- wide project. Supervised and safe walking will also encour- age children to understand the benefits of active travel from a young age. Another measure to reduce the traffic impact of schools is the provision of more online learning opportunities by ter- tiary educational institutions. If the effects on students' learning and well-being are found to be positive, tertiary institutions will be supported in providing these opportunities. The government also intends to start a public consultation process on whether 16-year-olds will be able to sit for the driving test to obtain a licence to drive scooters with an engine no larg- er than 125cc. Tax on bulldozers The plan also departs from La- bour's no taxation mantra, pro- posing an annual circulation tax for 'non-road mobile machinery' such as excavators and bulldoz- ers that make use of the road network. Agricultural non-road mobile machinery is to be exempt from this measure, since these are mainly used and driven in rural areas and do not affect traffic in urban localities. The tax should be based ac- cording to the machine's emis- sions with new machinery con- forming to EU standards paying the least. The plan also proposes a revi- sion of the annual circulation tax (road licence) but this should be accompanied by an impact as- sessment to determine the im- pact on lower income families. The proposed reform envis- ages that the annual circulation license fee will be the same for all vehicles, doing away with the current distinction between pre and post 2009 vehicles. In addition, the system pro- posed should include an adap- tation of the post-2009 system linking the tax paid to the vehi- cle's Euro standard. A Euro VI petrol vehicle would have a low- er tax factor than a diesel vehi- cle with an older Euro standard. The annual circulation will thus reflect the emission standard of the vehicle and the weighting used will penalize vehicles with lower Euro standards. The amount of kilometres travelled could also be a factor in calculating the tax, but this will depend on how enforceable this measure is. Getting rid of old second-hand cars The plan also seeks to address the high number of imported second-hand vehicles on Mal- tese roads, which increases the average age of the vehicle fleet. To decrease emissions, the num- ber of imported vehicles, having a Euro 4 standard, or equivalent, must decrease. To this effect, the plan proposes a cut-off date on the importation of Euro 4 vehicles and older. This would be an intermediate cut-off date happening prior to the ban of imports on all internal combus- tion engine vehicles, proposed to start in 2034. But this propos- al will also be subject to an as- sessment of its impact on social equity. Supermarkets and taxi vouchers in exchange for driving licence Above: The transport sector is Malta's primary source of air pollution Right: Government is proposing a consultation process as to whether 16-year-olds should be allowed to drive scooters with small engines