On and off, for the past few years, Malta has taken part in Car Free Day. This year, it was entirely voluntary. We say, without reservations, that this is merely an attempt at keeping up appearances.

Let us start from the crux of the matter. We understand Malta’s geographical limitations. Over the years, villages have grown and housing estates have mushroomed around village cores. Much of the blame lies in the absence of planning over decades – a blight that was caused by both political parties during their terms in office.

But there are also other issues. Malta’s public transport system is shambled, rudimentary and does not entice the general public to leave their cars at home.

Any other country in the world (including developing nations) is served by buses, trams, trains, underground rail and water taxis. We have a few shoddy boats and a fleet of buses. What we write today is not an all out attack on Arriva. Despite its best attempts, it is clear that Arriva’s buses alone can never keep up with the rigours of every day commutes.

The amount of vehicles that clog our roads are staggering – over 300,000. Considering that the number of licensed motorists is about half that number, then we can start to try and get our heads around the sheer volume of traffic on our roads.

But what is a commuter to do? Getting to work on time by bus is still an odyssey; it can take over an hour. While it is cheap and somewhat reliable, having buses alone is just ridiculous. We have seen the re-introduction of water taxis in the past couple of years, but nothing is ever easy. Operators in that sector have had to seek redress in court because they are not being allowed to berth (for a few minutes) in hotspots such as Sliema, Valletta and the three Cities.

All the while, traffic continues to belch smoke out into the atmosphere because people have no other option aside from their cars. There are supposedly plans in the offing to introduce a tram service, but nothing has been heard of them over the past couple of years.

It was former Minister Michael Frendo who embarked on a crusade about 10 years ago to jog cabinet into considering the idea of setting up an underground metro network. Again, nothing came of it and his pleas in parliament fell on deaf ears. Surely, if we are entertaining the idea of a tunnel to Gozo, then we must entertain the idea of mass transit.

Certain streets have become main roads, passing right through residential areas – a quick look at the black facades of buildings is enough to show us that there is far too much pollution and it is going straight into our lungs. Certain towns, such as Fgura and Paola have high incidences of asthma and other respiratory diseases that are caused by traffic pollution. And this brings us back to the points we made originally – one day a year of token alternative travel use is not going to help matters. What we need is a good, holistic public transport system that will allow people to not have to use their cars on a daily basis. In addition, new traffic routing is needed, coupled with the pedestrianisation of village cores – else, we will just continue to breathe in filth.