While the country debates the need for an undersea tunnel between Malta and Gozo, with one of the arguments being that such an investment is needed by Gozitan workers who cross daily to Malta for work, the NSO has revealed that there were less than 3,500 commuter workers in 2017.
The figures came to light in the Regional Statistics 2019 report, published by the National Statistics Office on Thursday.
The report says that, in 2017, commuter workers were predominantly Gozo and Comino residents working in the Malta region, accounting to 3,410 employed persons.
Road transport
According to the report, there were 358,947 licensed vehicles in Malta in 2016, with largest proportion recorded in the Northern Harbour district.
Passenger cars accounted for 78.8% of total licensed motor vehicles, but motorcycles registered the highest increase at 16.7%
Driving licence holders amounted to 252,276, an increase of 1.8% over 2015.
The number of vehicles per 1,000 driving licence holders stood at 1,423.
Passenger cars were on average 14 years old.
The number of public transport commuters totalled 43,253,238, with just 4.6% of public transport commuters pertaining to Gozo and Comino region.
Accidents and contraventions in 2016
Reported traffic accidents decreased by 3.1% over 2015, with 38.1% of total accidents recorded in the Northern Harbour district. The Gozo and Comino district had the lowest registered accidents, 773 cases.
Birkirkara was the locality with the highest rate of traffic accidents, with 1,209 cases, followed by Ħal Qormi and St Paul's Bay.
Traffic-related contraventions issued by the Police increased by 2% from 2015, while those issued by Local Wardens decreased by 4.1%.
Speed camera contraventions totalled 73 257, 88.1% of which exceed the speed limit within the range of 15km/h.
The camera installed in Triq in-Nutar Żarb, Ħ’Attard, caught the most over-speeding vehicles, totalling 13,127 contraventions
Passengers and vehicles travelling between Malta and Gozo increased by 7% and 7.5%, respectively when compared to 2017. Passenger traffic originating from Ċirkewwa was busiest on Friday and Saturday, whereas highest numbers from Mġarr were recorded on Sunday and Saturday.