‘Bold decisions need to be taken immediately’ – Malta Chamber underscores urgency of tackling traffic

The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry has underscored the need for urgency in tackling the country’s traffic problems, pointing out that incentives alone will not bring about a shift in behaviour.

“Traffic is not merely an inconvenience. It is a drag on national productivity, a daily cost to businesses, a burden on workers, has negative effect on the wellbeing and is a serious obstacle to Malta’s competitiveness.”

The Malta Chamber said that lost time in congestion translates directly into delayed deliveries, missed appointments, reduced efficiency, higher operating costs, and lower quality of life.

“When traffic becomes normalised, the country pays for it in hours lost, fuel wasted, wellbeing reduced and business opportunities diminished.”

The Chamber stressed that it has put forward proposals to address the “traffic and mobility crises” throughout the last legislature, but that very few of its recommendations were meaningfully taken on board.

It stressed that a real shift in behaviour will not happen through incentives and positive reinforcement alone.

“If the objective is to reduce private car dependency, disincentives must also form part of the policy mix. Without a balanced approach that includes practical alternatives and measures that make continued car use less attractive in peak conditions, behavioural change will remain limited and the roads will remain congested.”

It stated its concern that effective implementation improves quality of life and productivity has been lagging far behind. “In an age of digitalisation and AI, Malta is still discussing basic coordination issues, with too many roadworks, permits and transport decisions still managed in fragmented ways. The country cannot continue deploying manpower to manage roundabouts and congestion manually when intelligent traffic-light systems, smarter data tools, and better coordination platforms should already be standard.”

It called for a fundamental change in traffic management, which it said requires coherent national effort, backed by strong governance, proper coordination and the political courage to take decisions that may be difficult in the short term “but are essential for the country’s long-term health.”

It outlined its proposals, which include the use of an AI driven solution through which local councils process domestic and business requests for road closures and permits, including an interactive public-facing platform to give residents and businesses advance visibility of disruptions to allow for their proper planning.

It also called for a reform of school transport through geographic pooling and wider use of supervised walking and community-based initiatives; the introduction of mobility e-wallets funded through targeted urban parking and congestion-management revenues; and the use of public-private partnerships to relocate on-road parking into underground or multi-storey facilities, among other proposals.

“If Government does not act decisively now, the country risks entrenching inefficiency, weakening competitiveness and failing residents, workers and businesses alike.”