Valletta traffic management consultation talks kick off

A sustainable urban mobility plan (SUMP) is being drawn up for Valletta, in an attempt to organise and improve the capital city’s traffic management.

Transport Minister Ian Borg today delivered an opening speech at the first consultation meeting of the European Commission's SUMP, which aims to provide help to national authorities to fulfil their targets regarding sustainable urban mobility.

“SUMP is one of the European Commission’s priorities, when it comes to urban mobility,” Borg said.

Borg said that an urban mobility plan was one of various measures that were being put together in order to help the Valletta region. He explained that the main aim of the consultation meeting with stakeholders was to create a traffic plan for Valletta, which will be part of a national transport plan.

Once the potential problems in formulating such a transport plan are identified, the next step would be to look for solutions. Therefore, Borg said, a shortlisting of solutions would take place.

A number of stakeholders were invited to the meeting, including public transport operators, Planning Authority personnel and representatives of local councils and trade unions. A wider public consultation will take place in the future.

“The government is also looking into options such as promoting car sharing, and better integration of ferries into the public transport network”, Borg said. “The government and Transport Malta have, for the past 15 months, also been working on plans for a rapid mass transport system”, he added.

Borg said that the overall aim was to alleviate the transport problem and improve quality of life.