If there ever was a wake-up call that our islands are traffic choked and gridlocked, it was Tom Hanl’s recent tweet.

We live on a tiny island where people get stuck in traffic jams for more than an hour, just to get to work in the morning. Well, it seems Mr Hanks had a first-hand experience of what we go through while here on the set of Captain Phillips. Of all the things Mr Hanks has seen, it was the traffic which caught his attention the most.

Well, Mr Hanks, thank you. You see in Malta, a Maltese citizen can scream at the top of his lungs, yet no one listens. For years, we have grumbled and moaned about the state of affairs, yet Transport Malta and the government pretend that all is well. Roads are built on the important arteries, yet management of these same roads is amateurish and borders on the ridiculous. So perhaps now that a superstar has spoken up, someone might take notice.

I appeal for Mr Hanks to give us more of these tweets, maybe one fine day, we might get a decent system befitting of a modern European country. We were promised that Arriva would help solve all issues, but it is amply clear that a bus system is not enough. We need buses, trams and an underground system. Malta is the size of a normal European underground grid. Why is it that we can hop on an underground train anywhere in Europe and get to a destination kilometres away in a matter of 15 minutes – yet not here in Malta.

We are wasting time and money on a feasibility study for a tunnel between Malta and Gozo, yet we cannot afford to commission a feasibility study for an underground network? The politicians will tell us that the economies of scale are too skewed. But the demand is there. All it takes is a leap in cultural thinking and we could have each and every corner of Malta connected and within easy reach. Just think, people could take a metro from Birżebbuġa to Valletta for work, head down to Sliema for a coffee after work and grab the metro back home. Cars on the road would be reduced drastically and pollution would also be radically cut. This is the way forward. It is not rocket science. Surely, we can commission a study and apply to the EU for funding… or, we could request another special purpose vehicle.

Something radical is needed, our roads are choked, as are our lungs.

■ John Abela

Birkirkara