Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/585489
10 Editorial MaltaToday, MediaToday Co. Ltd, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 MANAGING DIRECTOR: ROGER DE GIORGIO MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN Tel: (356) 21 382741-3, 21 382745-6 • Fax: (356) 21 385075 Website: www.maltatoday.com.mt E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt Apart from an auditing exercise and an annual distribution of public funds, the Budget also serves as an indicator of govern- ment policy priorities. This year, 'traffic' rose to occupy an entire section of Finance Minister Ed- ward Scicluna's lengthy Budget speech: attesting to the sheer complexity of an infrastruc- tural problem which has clearly stumped both administrations in recent years. And yet, despite all this at- tention and the announcement of several new measures, it remains unclear how the pro- posals in this year's Budget will help improve the traffic f low on Malta's roads. At a glance, Scicluna appears to be taking a multi-pronged approach: target- ing certain specific contribut- ing factors, such as parents of schoolchildren who opt out of using school transport… while at the same proposing measures which may arguably incentivise private vehicle use even more. For instance, Scicluna an- nounced that government has increased its expenditure on the road network by €3 million to €13 million for 2016. Next year's funds are to be utilised for a re- design of the notorious Kappara juncture. Few would deny that Malta's roads do need precisely such investment; but if the intention is to reduce traffic, this invest- ment on its own is clearly insuf- ficient. Better roads and greater availability of parking will argu- ably entice more motorists on the road at the expense of public transport. And while this is cer- tainly not an argument to leave roads in their present, often dilapidated state… it illustrates that this measure, even if neces- sary, does not in itself address the issue of traffic congestion. Likewise, the announcement of incentives to buyers of newer, 'greener' cars is by no means un- welcome in itself. The problem is that this measure is useful to address the pollution caused by traffic congestion. But it takes us no closer to solving the con- gestion itself. Perhaps the best example of this approach was the govern- ment's decision to resuscitate an older proposal for a tunnel link between Malta and Gozo. Again, one can appreciate the need (especially from the per- spective of Gozitans who work or study in Malta) for this link to be improved. This is an end that should be pursued in its own right, irrespective of traffic problems elsewhere. But once again, this proposal does not take into consideration the implications for a traffic problem that is certainly not caused by the Gozo-Malta link. There is no reason to suppose that a direct road link between the islands (below or above sea-level) would have any impact at all on the f low of traffic. If anything, it is perfectly possible that Gozo's relatively uncongest- ed roads would suffer heavier traffic as a result, without any improvement in Malta. On a separate note, one must also question why the govern- ment is even contemplating this measure, when the necessary geological studies to determine feasibility have not yet been conducted. Surely it would make more sense to await all technical reports before deciding that a tunnel is 'economically viable'. Ultimately, though, what was absent from this year's Budget speech was any clear vision or strategy to tackle the traffic phenomenon in its totality. In- stead, we got a series of propos- als which represent a piece-meal approach that retroactively responds to problems as they arise. One does not need to look far for a possible reason. The Finance Minister himself admit- ted the key to any long-term strategy is public transport: and that despite 'improvements' (ac- cording to Scicluna), the service still leaves much to be desired. The Budget therefore iden- tified the need for a more punctual and efficient service… even if the methods to achieve this were not specified, beyond 'insisting with the [private] operator'. It remains debatable whether this would be enough to allevi- ate the problem. Certainly, an improved bus service would help enormously to improve the traffic situation – if this can be achieved in practice. But as the traffic problem intensifies, it is becoming clear that we need to broaden our understanding of the term 'public transport' beyond buses alone. No matter how punctual or efficient, buses are, by defini- tion, net contributors to road congestion. The time has come to start considering alternative transport technologies, to be used alongside the present bus service, which provide genuine alternative to vehicles on the road. Government has in part ad- dressed this need by proposing improvements to sea-links in the North Harbour area. Also, a policy on heav y vehicles and horse-drawn carriages is in the pipeline. But this is by no means enough. At this point, a contradic- tion swims into view. Govern- ment seems willing to consider investing hundreds of millions into a tunnel-link between Malta and Gozo – despite the fact that this will not neces- sarily have any impact at all on the problem – while ostensibly ignoring other, arguably cheaper technological solutions. On at least two separate oc- casions, private investors have proposed establishing a railway line – be it an underground sys- tem or a monorail – as part of a far-reaching traffic reform. As with the tunnel idea, one would naturally have to await the con- clusions of the relevant reports. Nonetheless, this is precisely the sort of outside-the-box thinking we should be resorting to, it we are to come up with a practical solution to Malta's traffic woes. Traffic needs a radical rethink maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 14 OCTOBER 2015