Back to the Future

It's 2008 and Transport is on the agenda. Public transport that is. We're not reinventing the wheel - transport is on the agenda everywhere - see the UK and it's airport terminal, railway and motorway mess, see the Europeans dealing with too many cars and too many fumes, see Beijing engulfed in smog... It's good to keep that perspective in mind, if only not to be accused of the "malti ta' barra" syndrome - criticising what is going on back home because you have supposedly found a greener grass elsewhere.

So it's down to the nitty-gritty. The facts are in our face. A brontosauran bus system, a taxi market that is still not as liberalised as it should be and the increasing dependence on private cars in an island that is barely 20 by 15 km in size. Malta is fast shooting up the charts for the number of cars per capita and yet the words "public transport" still bring to mind the same old xarabank.

I'm interested in contributing to this blog because the idea is one that obsesses me. I will put my cards on the table and state what, in my mind, constitute the main lines of a proper transport system (a sort of brainstorming exercise to introduce my point of view):

1. LESS CARS - much much less.
2. SMALLER CARS - preferably with a limit on power
3. SKELETON RAIL SYSTEM - mainframe of public transport based on one largish train linking ends of island (incuding Gozo?) and smaller trams in built up areas
4. ELECTRIC BUSES
5. RENT-a-CYCLE AREAS IN BUILT UP AREAS - like Veloh in Luxembourg and Paris
6. USE OF THE SEA IN CLEMENT WEATHER - more water taxis
7. MORE LEGISLATION ON PARKING - no building commercial or private allowed if it does not cater for parking
8. INCREASE IN PARK & RIDE AREAS until phasing out of cars is finalised

There that's a five minute quick taster. More elaboration with more time. I dream of the day when a person can live in Gharb and commute by Bike or Bus + Train + Tram to Valletta for work. An efficient system will probably get him there in under fourty minutes. Less cars on the road, cleaner air and all you do is sit on the train, listen to the ipod and take in what will probably be one of the most scenic clean rides in the Mediterranean. How's that for a cool tourist destination?