Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/739032
14 THERE is something to be said about getting stuck in traffic on my way to an interview with Angelo Xuereb, specifically on the subject of Malta's traffic crisis. Luckily for me, I heeded Xuereb's advice on the phone the previous day, and planned my approach to the Lija- Mosta bypass a good two hours ahead of schedule. This way, I only got there five minutes late... to find Xuereb await- ing me armed with files upon files of official documents on the subject of traffic management in Malta. "There have been around 60 re- ports about traffic in the last 10 years," he begins. "And there were five master plans. Just think how much taxpayer money was spent on all these studies. And what was the result? We are worse off than we were before. So something is clearly wrong..." Xuereb rifles through a particular file. "Here are two recent reports: a strategy for transport in Malta, to be implemented 2050; and the other, a master plan for 2025. That's only 14 years down the line. If there's something I've been talk- ing about for the past 20 years, it is the need to do something about traffic in Malta. What I can tell you today is: if there is not going to be anybody to own these plans, and take the lead... we will end up with yet another expensive report on the shelf, gathering dust." He hands me one of these reports, and refers me to a particular section highlighted in orange. "This graph represents the crucial issue. Malta spends only 60% of the EU average on transport and infrastructure. In all the graphs comparing Malta's expenditure on transport, we are by far the lowest in Europe. The only exception was when we joined, where for one year our expenditure exceeded the European advantage. You can understand why. But since then, we have slipped to the bottom of every list..." He skims a few pages to another highlighted paragraph. "This is in- teresting, too. By 2050, the amount of productive work-time lost be- cause of traffic will cost the country 1.28 billion each year. Each year, please note... equivalent to 8.2% of Malta's GDP. That is huge. On top of that, you have the issue of pol- lution. Look at this other map: it's alarming..." The map marks heavy pollution in deepening shades of red. The en- tire north/central part of the island looks as though someone spilt red ink all over it. "This is a health hazard. We need to do something about it. On my part, I prepared a report: 'Action Plan to Mitigate the Traffic Prob- lem'. I gave them practical solu- tions. All the studies I'm mention- ing here... they only give a general overview. By coincidence, just this morning I received a press release from the GRTU. 'Traffic situation unacceptable... crisis needs imme- diate solution'. See? They, too are talking generically. 'We need to solve the problem'... yes, of course we do. The question is, how?" It is a question Xuereb has tried to answer on several occasions in the past. Some 15 years ago, he proposed a circular railway system (metro and monorail) servicing the central part of the island, linked to the existing bus network. Later he will explain how the original plans have been upgraded and simplified in line with recent developments. All the same, neither Xuereb's proposals, nor even the aforemen- tioned consultants' reports, have ever translated into any practical solution. Why does the Naxxar- born entrepreneur expect the gov- ernment to react positively to his proposals, when it has ignored the recommendations even of its own commissioned reports? "I don't want to criticise whoever drew up these reports. The data they contain is very interesting and useful. But foreign consultants, while they know a lot about traffic in general, are not familiar with the local roads. They don't know the specific problems, so they can only speak in generic terms. As for my own report... well, there was a time I used to do 100 miles a day in my car in Malta. Miles, not kilometres. These days I don't drive that much... but I still know Malta inside out. I can even name you all the potholes we have: that's how well I know our roads. So I'm in a position to take a more practical point of view..." Before turning to the specifics of his plan, Xuereb outlines the need for a change in the country's sys- temic approach to the problem. "A master plan for traffic can only work if it is agreed upon by both sides of the House. One side made a mess of it before, the other side is making a mess of it now... and who's suffering? The people. They need to agree. This is a national problem. And then, once we have consensus on the plan itself, there has to be someone – or a team – in place to make it work..." But there already are entities that are supposedly responsible for op- erations. Isn't that the job of Trans- port Malta, for instance? "Unfortunately, TM has a lot on its plate. Either they can't cope, or they don't have the knowledge and power to implement their plans. If you have the knowledge and the power, you could in one week do some of the things I propose here. Others might take months. Some might take one year. There are long-term objectives that can only be achieved in 10 years. But if you don't start even the short-term pro- jects..." Xuereb breaks off to outline a few of what he calls the simpler problems. "At Mater Dei Hospi- tal, all outpatients are given an ap- pointment for 7am. It's like the law courts: it doesn't matter when you will be seen, the appointment is given to everyone at the same time. So they're basically telling everyone to go there – by bus, by car, what- ever – by 7am. In the rush hour. Why not start at 9am? And why not give out proper appointments: at 9, 9.30, 10, 10.30, and so on? On top of causing unnecessary traffic, you're also wasting people's time..." While still in the area, Xuereb points towards University as an- other traffic magnet. "Today, every- one at University has a car. Why do they start lectures at 8? Why not at 9? You don't have to be Einstein to work out that it would ease traffic congestion..." I imagine he would have no dif- ficulty convincing the students to back him on that one... "Yes, it will benefit everybody," he replies with a laugh. "But there are other things too. The people who water plants on roundabouts... at 8am. It's bad enough that the junc- tures themselves would be jam- packed at that time. But you also have bowsers blocking entire lanes, so that they can water the plants. How difficult is this to solve? All you need is a phone-call to the ag- riculture department, or whoever's responsible, to tell them that from tomorrow, no watering is to take place before 9am. Same with Mater Dei and University. All it takes is a phone call..." All this sounds sensible and would probably make a significant differ- ence, too. But aren't we also miss- ing the wood for the trees? The real unspoken issue regarding traffic in Malta is the unsustainable number of cars on the roads... "Yes, definitely. The examples I gave you are of things that can be done in less than a month. There's a lot more to come. Another thing I am suggesting is to cap the number of cars. Buy one car, and scrap an- other. We cannot keep increasing the number of cars... and to make matters worse, it is the number of old cars that are increasing. The second-hand car market is grow- ing, which means more pollution. We should be going in the opposite direction: raising taxes on second- hand cars, and legislating so that car dealers have to scrap an old car for every new one they sell. The ex- pense would be factored into the price of the new car. If someone can buy a car for 30,000 euros, they can buy one for 31,000..." This leads Xuereb to another statistic from the master plan. "The average age of cars in Malta is 13.8 years. I see that on the low side myself. But still: according to the report, Malta should reach the average vehicle age of 8.2 years by 2030. That's quite a jump, from 14% to 8% in 14 years. How are we going to manage, when the average vehi- cle age is getting older not younger? Unless we start introducing tax dis- incentives for old cars, we will never get there..." Turning to the infrastructure, Xuereb also complains that there are not enough results to show for the areas where we did invest: namely, the roads. He produces a map of the main roundabout at Tar- ga Gap, which branches off in four directions: Rabat, Mosta, Salina/St Paul's Bay and Mgarr. Highlighted in red ink are additional (proposed) lanes joining two of the routes on either side of the roundabout. "These are express routes," he says, indicating the imaginary lanes with a pencil. "Let's say you were driving to Mgarr from Rabat: why should you wait at the roundabout for all the traffic that is heading to Mosta or St Paul's Bay? You just use the express route and carry on go- ing. And it isn't difficult to do. Just a few metres of road. It could be done in a week..." He turns to another map, this time of the Burmarrad rounda- bout. "You will surely be familiar with this one. There are five main arterial roads all leading to this one roundabout. One of them is the Coast Road, which has just been re- done. They did a very nice job of the road, I agree. But when you get to the end of it on the Qawra side, you have to wait for everyone on that roundabout. In summer, there will be a traffic jam all the way to Mosta. All you need is an exit route here, so you cut past the roundabout alto- gether. Same on the other side. The only thing this bit of road will pass through is some landscaping..." Another problem, he adds, is that we're investing in the wrong areas. "If you look at recent roadworks, they're all long, straight roads that are being resurfaced. The problem is not long, straight roads. You nev- er see traffic on the straight; only at the junctions. Yet when they did the Mosta bypass, it ends in a T-junc- tion leading to another main road. Not even a roundabout..." I can now confirm that Xuereb's earlier boast was no bluff. For the next 20 minutes he will give me a guided tour of several arterial traf- fic choke points – some of which I didn't even know existed – all printed out as maps in his report. In nearly all cases, he argues that a simple, inexpensive bit of infra- structural surgery could help allevi- ate the problem. "But these are the short- to medi- um-term objectives. Ultimately, the Interview By Raphael Vassallo maltatoday, SUNDAY, 16 OCTOBER 2016 One side made a mess of it before, the other side is making a mess of it now... and who's suffering? The people. They need to agree. This is a national problem I know Malta inside out. I can even name you all the potholes we have: that's how well I know our roads. So I'm in a position to take a more practical point of view..." NATIONAL PROBLEM PRACTICAL SOLUTION Roadmaps to nowhere