Following the Finance Minister's unveiling of the 2025 Budget, truncating new measures which will affect every facet of Malta's economy and society can be a challenging task. An optimal starting point is none other than the central theme of the Budget, which is centered around 'A Country of Quality'. This is a clear augmentation of the government's work throughout this legislature and if one extracts, bottles and dissects this theme, it confirms that theme is reflected in every sector- and transport and infrastructure is no exception.
As part of the Budget, we are setting out a set of short-to-medium term proposals to focus on improving Malta's infrastructure through Reshaping our Mobility. The term 'reshaping' recognizes that while significant improvements have been made, traffic is still very much an daily concern for most people. As a result, this scheme makes it a point to focus on a re-rooting of our present mode de faire and putting forward micro changes that lead to the positive outcomes.
When one looks at the evidence, the facts depict a manageable foreground. Public transport usage by year has increased sporadically post-pandemic. While transport has seen a slight decrease mostly owing to ongoing roadworks and increased vehicle use, alternative methods of transport such as ferry use clearly show an increase than previous years.
Against this statistical backdrop, the Reshaping Our Mobility campaign sets out six pillars that complement each other and collectively aim at alleviating traffic congestion. The first pillar focuses on a 24-hour economy that promotes off-peak service provision. Government will follow suit, and a number of public services will aim to be provided off-peak, whilst engaging continuously with the private sector. This will be followed by an overall reduction of vehicles. Aside from incentives, we are focusing on our laws by revisiting the Employment Transport Deduction Act to ensure that our legal backdrop ensures the enforcement that is needed. The third pillar, which is a concern that emanates from traffic is parking shortages. One need only look around a village square to realise that the current approach to parking causes disgruntlement. But what if we look a bit more closely around us- what if there are suitable potential parking spaces that can facilitate our problem? An example of this utilising public spaces in localities for residents, such as using public facilities such as school grounds on weekends.
Although the aforementioned statistics relating to public transport are promising, this does not mean that the work must stop there. Rather, continuous improvement leading to excellence is the primary goal- which is the reason why a unique focus on public transport as a pillar is a crucial part of the scheme. In tandem with this, we are also focusing the blinders on improving the standards for road works and the interaction between sustainability and public transport.
It is not hard to see how these initiatives are intertwined- by establishing separate and focused pillars, we clearly recognise that each one must be performative. As seen in Parliament earlier this week, the Opposition is clearly inclined to declare that these proposals show an exasperated and pessimistic attitude. By contrast, facts, evidence, public input and intellectual optimism are the only catalysts that led to the development of these proposals. As is necessary in our democratic process, the Opposition has every right to rally their narrative in the public interest. However, pugnacious tactics not backed by tangible solutions show that this very same narrative is devoid of any credibility. Ultimately, it is the everyday man and woman who will be using our roads and relying on public transport to take them to a hospital appointment, or an important meeting. The Rethinking Our Mobility scheme is open for public consultation, to ensure that the main users of public transport and our roads can be satisfied with our infrastructure. We want to listen to your suggestions, your disgruntlements and what area you think can be improved and we want to deliver fully.
The platform to submit suggestions on Reshaping Our Mobility can be found on reshapingourmobility.com and is open to everyone. The deadline for submissions is the 31 December 2024.