More than 4,000 owners of cars made use of the park and ride scheme to do their Christmas shopping on Wednesday, the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises said yesterday.

The GRTU once again appealed to commercial centres to provide parking facilities, especially at this time of the year, as this will help to improve business. It added that shop owners should do their best to create an atmosphere of celebration in order to entice more customers, as happened in Valletta and Mosta.

The success of the park and ride scheme should lead to a better system of traffic management in Valletta, especially when the new scheme for parking in Valletta is introduced some time next year.

The GRTU said it is supporting the Floriana local council in its ambition to create a parking system that would encourage more people to go shopping in the locality. It said the authorities should do their best to implement any plans as soon as possible.