The new traffic management plan for the Valletta Waterfront was yesterday unveiled at the VISET offices with the emphasis being on organisation, very much like a choreographed dance.

VISET General Manager Chris Paris and Malta Transport Authority (ADT) CEO Gianfranco Selvaggi said that people who work in the sector, including horse cab drivers, taxi drivers and coach drivers, needed to recognise the fact that organisation and self-discipline were fundamental to making sure that the area is serviced efficiently.

Mr Selvaggi said: “One of the first things we are going to do is to organise courses for taxi drivers who will become certified. In the future, this will be a requirement to get taxi licences.” The courses will be funded by the EU.

He said that unfortunately, in Malta, people simply did not know how to be organised, especially in the field of traffic management. “When cruise liners come in, we had a situation of 200 taxis and about 30 horse drawn cabs swooping down to the waterfront, all fighting over the same customers and that is wrong. There is more than enough business to go round for everyone,” said Mr Selvaggi.

Mr Paris explained that VISET had a problem in that there was not much land area, and the land that was there was a long narrow strip. “But with good planning, we have sorted that out,” he said.

He and Mr Selvaggi explained that a permanent six-cab stand had been set up to serve passengers. This is supplemented with a 24-space area further back which will serve as a cache, with one taxi immediately moving to the six space permanent bay as soon as a fare has been secured. “This is not inventing the wheel. This is the normal orderly fashion that you come across anywhere else in the world. But it does not stop there, the ADT will provide additional taxi space for another catchment area,” he said.

Meanwhile, space will also be provided for 12 horse drawn cabs, which will also be also served by a catchment area.

Coaches on the other hand, have been given dispensation to pick up passengers from the actual quay, explained Mr Paris. On their return to the Waterfront, they will drop passengers off in a drop-off area.

“We simply cannot have situations like we had in the past with double and triple-parked taxis blocking roads, doing U-turns and many other dangerous manoeuvers. People need self-discipline. And there are more than enough slices of the cake to go round,” he said.

Asked whether this plan had to be drawn up because the Malta Environment and Planning Authority decision on a cable car has not yet been made, Mr Paris said: “It is an alternative, but we would still have needed to implement this project.”

Mr Paris and Mr Selvaggi said that while discussions with stakeholders had been at times heated, most seemed to be on board. “We spoke to the cabbies about horse-dirt and they said they did not want to use the nappies. I in turn told them to come back with a solution and they are working on it. In fact, they have already subcontracted someone to clean up the dirt in a specific area on a full-time basis,” said Mr Selvaggi.

He continued: “People need to realise that we must be more orderly, clean and efficient. In that way, we will make progress. General behaviour also counts for a lot.”

Valletta Police Superintendent Patrick Spiteri was also in attendance and said that a lot of work had been put in by the police, the ADT and VISET to come up with a consistent and coherent management plan. “But it doesn’t simply boil down to enforcement. People need to start being more conscious and obey the rules and regulations,” he said.

He also pointed out that VISET had spent Lm50,000 to kit out a 24-hour police station at the Waterfront. “This is manned by a sergeant and two constables. Their job is to provide a security presence and to make sure that the traffic runs smoothly, punishing those who do not adhere to the rules,” said Supt Spiteri.

Mr Paris wound up by pointing out that there were several CCTV cameras in operation around the area to boost security and to alert the police to any traffic flow problems. “And it is also worth mentioning that there is a foot tunnel between the MCP car park and the waterfront meaning that anyone who parks there can get to the terminal in five minutes,” he concluded.