Earlier this month, the Malta Transport Authority together with the Urban Development and Roads Ministry organised a conference on the future transport policy in Malta and the way forward for transport in such a small country. The conference was part of the PAGUS project, managed by a consortium of which the ministry and the ADT form part. Matthew Xuereb spoke to PETER PAUL BARBARA, the man responsible for EU affairs within the ADT’s Transport Management Directorate, about the project and more
A conference held in Malta recently, which was addressed by a panel of international and local experts, discussed important transport related issues and projects that the Malta Transport Authority (ADT) and the Urban Development and Roads Ministry (MUDR) will embark on, over the next two to four years.
Peter Paul Barbara explained that the Pagus project is an Interreg IIIC – South Zone, EU-funded project financed through Structural Funds but which are of a centralised nature. Interreg is a community initiative financed under the European Regional Development Fund which aims to stimulate interregional cooperation in the EU.
The project is based on previous joint experiences of some of the partners in other European programmes related to the main sectors of urban sustainable development and management.
The PAGUS acronym stands for Programme of Assistance and Sustainable Urban Management, and deals with various aspects of urban management.
The consortium is made up of the following countries and respective entities:
Lead Partner - Regione Umbria – Italy; Xunta de Galicia – Spain, Junta de Andalucia – Spain, Amave (Associaçao Municipios Ave) – Portugal; East Makedonia / Thrace – Greece, and Valletta – Malta.
Some of the regional authorities participating in the operational activities joined with public bodies or agencies directly responsible for urban renewal and territorial development programmes.
Participation from Malta is divided in-between different entities coordinated by the Valletta Rehabilitation Project, as the Maltese project leader, managed by Dr Ray Bondin and which falls under the Resources and Infrastructure Ministry (MRES).
The project is subdivided into other sub-projects or components and these are allocated between MRES, MUDR and ADT.
Mr Barbara said the initial cost of the project was in excess of EURO seven million, 75 per cent of which is financed by the European Commission.
Turning to the overall objectives of the Pagus project, Mr Barbara said the objectives are aimed at developing strategies and common instruments in the participating member states for the sustainable rehabilitation and regeneration of historical cities and/or town centres.
He said this will be achieved through diverse and integrated types of actions, intending to address the following issues:
* Facilitating the permanence of residents by promoting high standards of housing, productive and commercial facilities, services and a long-term sustainable tourism activity;
* Providing high quality training of all the people involved in the main sectors of the urban development, such as building renewal, transport and mobility and the use of multimedia information systems; and
* To identify new professional skills and expertise, both public and private, in urban integrated development policies and programmes and management of pluri-sectoral projects.
Mr Barbara said the project will include the improvement and implementation of professional skills of the different experts involved in the urban development process and transfer of know-how between partner regions. Moreover, research will be carried out and analysed while experiments will be carried out on new sustainable systems for urban mobility and goods distribution in historical town centres, as well as the identification of innovative control and monitoring technologies, which fall directly under the responsibility of MUDR and ADT.
In addition to this, he said, the project aimed to define and experiment on the best-integrated systems of urban information and citizens’ participation in the planning and management of these historical centres.
Three main actions within PAGUS, and which fall directly under the responsibility of MUDR and ADT, are divided under three different sub-projects and actions, namely Pagus IIIA – Mobilplan; Pagus IIIB – C-Centre; and Pagus IIIC – Innotrans.
Mr Barbara said that over the past two years, ADT and the MUDR were heavily involved in the project in order to maximise the potential of this extra funding.
The idea was to supplement a number of initiatives that the ministry was already working on and implement them in the short term.
Other projects that were still on the drawing board were also studied as medium- to long-term initiatives. These projects fit exactly the actions falling with the mobility arm of the project.
PAGUS IIIA – Mobilplan
Mr Barbara said Mobilplan effectively deals with improving transportation of people. In the local context, the limitations of the public transport system coupled with a high dependency on private cars over the last 15 years has resulted in problems which had to be tackled.
Among them, he said, the high car ownership and usage has increase average journeys from 17 to 19 minutes between 1989 and 1998. Moreover, there has been a shift from public transport to private car use with a good 12 per cent of public transport patronage shifting between 1989 and 1998.
Another problem that has been noticed is a decline of 10 million passengers using public transport due to an inefficient public transport system while, at the same time, the subsidy has been increasing.
Although, over the last few years, there has been an improvement in road infrastructure, traffic management systems had to be changed in order to cater for traffic growth.
Another problem which research and studies have revealed is a reduced quality of life. Around 16 per cent of 13-14 year olds suffer from episodes of wheezing with almost four per cent of them experiencing severe attacks of asthma.
Mr Barbara said that the EU-Funding Unit at ADT managed the actions under this sub-project.
He said a feasibility study on the possible implementation of an intelligent traffic management system was outsourced and was financed through the PAGUS project.
The experts came up with a comprehensive study that will be implemented this year. The project will be phased over three years and will include the building of a central digitised and computerised hub where all the data traffic flows will be monitored 24/7.
This means that the local major road network will be online and real-time image/video data will be transmitted to the ADT hub. Pending the data received, ADT officers may advise motorists to take different journey routes according to that prevailing situation.
The dissemination of information from the ADT to the driver and commuter will be transmitted through electronic variable message signs system run on electronic boards that will be placed in key and strategic areas, in time to make it possible for the driver to change route.
Other information will be transmitted via website as well as through radio broadcasts, which will give information to the driver in real time.
The second phase of the project refers to the implementation of the intelligent traffic system itself. This will entail the refurbishment of all junctions and building of new ones at strategic traffic junctions.
The traffic lights will also be placed online and synchronised in order to give a platoon of vehicles the opportunity to move as one from one stretch of road to the next and from one junction to the other.
The system will be tailored to give our public transport system an advantage as far as priority is concerned, called bus-priority. The system will be able to read a bus on a junction and immediately turn from red to green to give that bus priority. This will make our buses more efficient and reliable in journey times. This action will be done through the design of more bus lanes.
Mr Barbara said that the overall idea is to provide a better service to its user, to make people shift from their private cars on to public transport. It is envisaged that the upgrading will guarantee 10 to 20 per cent reduction in congestion.
Transport and the excessive car use are unsustainable. All European countries are working to create this modal shift which will also help us to achieve the CO2 emissions level according to the levels directed by the Kyoto Agreement and the European Union. This will be benefit the whole country and create Eco-friendly urban areas for future generations.
PAGUS IIIB – C–Centre
Under the sub-project C-Centre, the ADT and MUDR targeted the park and ride project and related studies on users’ perceptions and attitudes towards the new service.
The park and ride facility has been launched to cater for a modal shift, he said. This means that motorists will resort to other means of transport - including bicycles - to enter Valletta.
This will give Valletta a healthier and a cleaner environment with a reduction in pollution effecting the main Floriana thoroughfare, primarily St Anne’s Street. This also has further implications on the local historic fabric and the public and private funds directed on the cleaning, conservation and restoration of the capital’s cultural heritage.
The traffic generation in the Floriana and Valletta area is making the state unsustainable and inefficient. Alleviating the traffic congestion has a direct impact on the economic drive of the country and sustainable communities through regeneration.
Pagus IIIC – Innotrans
The sub-project Innotrans deals with mass transit directed to the city and around the harbour area. Under this sub-project, the ADT commissioned a feasibility study for the introduction of a Bus Rapid Transport System in Malta. The report suggested the setting up of two express routes, running on a bus priority lane to create a more frequent and efficient.
This report was dealt with extensively by the experts and consultants as it incorporated a feasibility study, a proposed route and a study of technological innovation.
There are a number of buses that have been studied, including bendy-buses. This system is not envisaged to run through small village cores as was suggested by some, but will operate on one main line, he said.
The buses should also run on clean energy systems, such as LPG or bio-diesel, or other possible fuel including hydrogen. The latter technology is at the moment on the cards of the European Commission and it is expected that funding from the Framework Programme will be devoted for further research on this type of bus, as from next year.
Other initiatives dealt under Innotrans were the electric mini cabs that will be introduced next month to operate in Valletta as well as the Vertical Connections Project.
Concluding, Mr Barbara said that all the projects sponsored by PAGUS supported the strategy of Transit Orientated Development, which integrates innovative transport with redevelopment and regeneration.
The strategy seeks to develop sustainable regeneration projects as crucial transit points. This vision has been developed also through the support of the PAGUS project, which financed the ancillary research of the main strategic document compiled in March 2005. The Projects Development and Coordination Unit under the MUDR have rolled this out.
A keynote speaker, Professor Luca Bertolini from the University of Amsterdam, who is an expert on Transit Orientated Development, led the conference. He presented the various aspects of the strategy endorsing the ministry’s endeavours in the sector, Mr Barbara said.
