The news that the Park & Ride in Floriana will now be against payment, to the tune of €500 a year for those who use it on a daily basis because they work in Valletta, has created predictable uproar.

Despite this being a hefty amount, one must also stop and think about how changes to the public transport system should, in effect, be changing the way we look at our own means of transport. Can Malta really continue to encourage private car use, when pollution, traffic jams and the lack of enough parking spaces all point to the unfeasibility of sustaining more and more cars on the road? Not to mention the sheer amount of aggravation being caused by gridlocks on our streets, leading to more and more stress.

Obviously, as long as it remained free, the Park & Ride system was ideal for Valletta employees, but it was also unrealistic to expect that this situation would remain as it was forever, no matter what may have been promised in the past. In this respect, it would be much more honest if politicians stopped promising what they clearly cannot deliver.

As much as it may hurt our pocket, we need to accept that payment for parking needs to be factored in as part of the expense of running one’s own car, along with fuel, insurance, VRT tests and the car licence. It is the choice one makes for the independence and convenience which using one’s own car, rather than public transport, brings with it. There will be those who argue, as the Labour Party is doing, that this is another ‘tax’ on motorists, but this argument does not hold water. It would only be a tax if there were no other option, but this is not the case. Indeed, nowhere in the world do you park for free, except perhaps in isolated rural areas which are relatively free of traffic. Where there is traffic congestion and a high percentage of car owners who need to find somewhere to park their car, you have to pay for the parking.

Granted, the resistance of the average Maltese driver towards public transport won’t be changed overnight, and using one’s own car will always be considered the better option. It is a resistance borne out of years of frustration and exasperation towards a ramshackle, outdated service which did not cater for our needs.

However, as the new bus system overcomes the first hurdles and more and more people see the advantages of leaving their car at home, it is hoped that there will be an increase in the number of commuters who realise (when they do their sums) that using the bus is truly the more viable option. Some people who work in Valletta will, of course, point out that they must use their car because they have errands to run, or children to drop off and collect, and using the bus just won’t do.

This again, will all come down to choices; much in the same way that some parents have stopped opting for school transport because of rising costs, because they have realised that it is less expensive to take their children to school themselves. Ultimately, one has to decide what one prefers: Convenience at a price, or saving money.