Design
“Whilst we appreciate that we cannot continue to build
more and more roads” explained the Minister, “we still
need to establish a network which meets the traffic demand
to ensure economic development. Various measures are
being taken to address this though. In fact, currently major
works are being undertaken to upgrade the Kappara Junc-
tion in San Gwann. The Addolorata junction will also be
upgraded. This is an important junction because it man-
ages all the traffic proceeding southbound on the island.
Other smaller projects will also be implemented to address
specific bottlenecks in various localities” he added.
Time is a commodity which is focusing on
connectivity rather than on driving.
with stipulated regulations) is one thing that will – and
is – implemented in all his dealings. Minister Mizzi also
explained that operations performing under his wings
strive to involve - and work closely with - the stakeholders
to the projects. “This includes the Police, the GRTU, local
councils and many other bodies.”
TRAFFIC
Our conversation quickly turned to the traffic situation in
these Islands. As a result we were shown one of Mr Mizzi’s
prized tools on his desk - a computer link to all the major
CC-cameras monitoring the traffic flows on our major ar-
teries. “In this way I am able to personally monitor the sit-
uation and give directions for immediate implementation
and for solution-finding” he pointed out.
He explained that although the road infrastructure foot-
print did not change much in the past 28 years, the road
network today is still basically the same. Although the traf-
fic volumes have increased drastically in these past three
decades, the road infrastructure had not expanded pro-
portionately to match demand; the sole development hav-
ing been the Mriehel/Santa Venera Bypass.
DESIGN&BUILD
Minister Mizzi con tinued that “The car has been a status
symbol for many who also enjoy driving and are depend-
ant on their cars – this is our culture. But up to three years
ago, the public transport system did not meet the needs of
patrons. As a result, public transport patronage decreased
drastically. Over these past three years we have worked very hard
to improve the service. New bus lanes and bus infrastructure
were constructed, an efficient bus card system was introduced
and incentives were made, and the bus routes were revised in
consultation with stakeholders. These measures resulted in a
steady increase in public transport usage. The resulting modal
shift following the improvement, efficiency and permeability
within the urban area of the public transport service and infra-
structure shows that we are on the right track.” he pointed out.
He added that they are currently seeing a change in youths
where electronic gadgets seem to be the new markers of so-
cial status. As a result, even the value of time is changing.
Time is a commodity which is focusing on connectivity via
Twitter, Facebook etc rather than on driving a car. “Things
are changing,” he pointed out.
The Minister added that a National Transport Strategy and
its accompanying Master Plan have recently been proposed
for the first time, comprehensive plans with do-able meas-
ures, that have been presented for public consultation.
These two main documents will be the model for transport
for the coming 30 years, and will be a guide for a national
long term, wide, coherent and studied strategy based on
Transport Malta’s intensive study of the country’s travel-
ling patterns, especially how, where and when we travel.
These plans led to the creation of a national transport
model, a system of computer simulations that look to
identify the problems that are looming in the future in
Q1, 2017
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