by Toppin' Up
Traffic on the Maltese streets isn’t news any more…
The fact that people rely heavily on private means of transportation is still very evident and arguably little has been done to promote alternative ways on how one can commute back and forth to college or University.
While we try to keep things related to student life, reality quickly hits that it is not just students who travel using private means that are the culprit to long chock-a-block queues. In fact many others who need to travel to their workplace often continue to contribute to this nationwide problem.
So how can we, as students, improve this? After all, it has to start from somewhere, no?
It’s useless trying to come up with hypothetical solutions or large scale projects, without starting to tackle the everyday perspective of how we travel. We all know that the streets are blocked with lines of traffic in the morning and afternoon rush hours, and so we can start by doing the following:
1
Ride a bike
Riding a bike to work or school can help not only with the environment but also will allow you to whizz through traffic, thus arriving at your destination earlier than if you had to use a car in traffic.
2
Using a bus
A classic solution but this means of transport has improved over the years to a decent level of service.
With virtually a bus stop every few metres, you are almost never too far away from your nearest stop.
Buses do use the road infrastructure, so they will only become effective if more people make use of them as opposed to their personal vehicles.
3
Carpooling
This is undoubtedly the most interesting (and realistic) way which in theory should reduce the traffic jams across Malta. Why?
A car often provides 4 to 5 seats (2 in front, 3 at the back), and while this is still a private means of transport, having to take it in turns with your friends reduces the number of cars by a drastic amount.
That potentially means less traffic in peak hours.
4
Travelling on foot
Not necessarily a hike to school, but if you live relatively close to college or university, you can potentially consider walking it there.
It not only eliminates any kind of carbon footprint, but could also improve your day by doing some physical activity just before you start focusing on more important matters.
What do you think of the above ideas?
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