Friends of the Earth Malta, Rota, and Moviment Graffitti welcome the draft National Transport Masterplan for 2030. While the plan contains a number of positive proposals, including an acknowledgement of various problems resulting from Malta’s car-dependent transport model, the masterplan largely fails to adequately address this model and the resulting mobility injustices. We welcome the acknowledgment of the importance of active travel and public transport, and the inclusion of measures such as the provision of active travel facilities, the promotion of walking and cycling to schools, and the greater consideration of bus lanes along key (and congestion-prone) routes.
We also welcome greater consideration and proposals for a Bus Rapid Transit system. However, a broader reading of the strategy suggests that the overriding priority of the strategy remains the accommodation of private vehicles. In the Forecasting chapter of the masterplan, only very limited consideration is given to major investments in public transport and measures to promote active mobility, suggesting that the ‘Do Something’ scenario does not actually present much of a departure from the ‘Business as Usual’ scenario. Furthermore, only one objective to promote the use of cycling, walking and micro-mobility as alternatives to private vehicles has a timeline in the Delivery and Timelines chapter, and this relates only to the ferry connection from Sliema to Valletta. All measures require clear targets, milestones and deadlines, to ensure their actual implementation. The masterplan overall remains a plan that attempts to manage Malta’s transport and mobility challenges, rather than actively tackle and overcome them, and thus falls short of what is required.
We urge the Government to give greater priority to measures encouraging the use of public transport and active mobility, as well as the use of both incentives and disincentives to promote a meaningful shift away from cars as the dominant form of transportation. We would like to remind the Government that the masterplan – and Malta’s transport model more broadly – should cater to all transport users, not just car drivers, and that the current model which prioritises cars at all costs also marginalises various segments of the population. These include: children and young people, the elderly, those with mobility challenges and other disabilities, those who cannot afford to own a car, and those who for various reasons choose not to own a car or use one sparingly. It is fundamentally unjust that those who have contributed the least to Malta’s transport woes continue to bear the brunt of decades of poor policy direction. As the masterplan itself acknowledges, shifting away from a car-dependent transport model not only improves access to mobility, but also has various health, social, environmental and economic benefits. Malta’s transport issues should thus not only be viewed as a challenge to overcome, but also an opportunity to improve the quality of life of Malta’s inhabitants through thoughtful and necessary interventions in the transport system.