CONTENTS
Foreword The Current Situation: An analysis Survey conducted on a sample of 1,000 Junior College Students Methodology Assessment Outcome Traffic Problems and Proposed solutions: Improving current infrastructure Public Transport: Introduction of ‘Village Groups’ and ‘Student Buses’ Further Alternative Measures
FOREWORD This report being presented today is yet another milestone in our ongoing commitment to provide students with a far-reaching platform to voice their opinions and contribute to the development of an education system which empowers and not shackles their success. We want Pulse to be the agent of change which the students long to see. Following a summer in which we launched an unprecedented effort at creating a national discussion on the future of education in Malta, now is the time to turn to pushing forward tangible proposals developed by students themselves. Education should serve the student and not the contrary. Our determination grows stronger to deliver clear ideas, rather than empty promises to reach this goal. This set of proposals is the first one of a series which we shall be publishing in order to deliver the change Junior College students deserve.
WAYNE SAMMUT Pulse President
THE CURRENT SITUATION - AN ANALYSIS This report is being compiled following a consultation process with Junior College students conducted in their first week of study at the institution. An unprecedented move, this decision was motivated by a desire to capture the general feeling of both freshers and returning students in their educational environment, which comes at a time of particular social issues, chief among which is transportation. Unfortunately, the present infrastructure network seems to be buckling under the ever-increasing number of private vehicles. Already critical in summer, the situation was only made worse by the advent of the new scholastic year, with thousands of students returning to school and depending on some form of transportation to get to their institution. Despite significant improvements in the past year, especially following the takeover by Spanish company Autobuses Urbanos de Leon, public transport is still regarded as lacking consistency and reliability. And though reaching record numbers of commuters, thousands of parents and students alike still rely on private means to travel on a routine basis. This, coupled with the lack of any alternative mean of transportation other than fully land-based systems, translate into a crippling pressure on the current road network, especially in crucial hot spots such as the Kappara and Marsa junctions, as well as city cores. The public frustration at this issue seems to be reflected also in Junior College students’ concerns, as will be evidenced throughout this report. Against the aforementioned background, students are having to face stringent school rules which ignore, rather than cater for the situation. Furthermore, the College’s geographical positioning beside one of Malta’s notorious flood-ridden valleys makes the urgency of the matter even more clear during the winter months. All in all, Pulse identifies three components of this issue 1. Standardised traffic management ‘solutions’ which do not specifically cater for school rush hours. 2.
Lack of alternative means of transportation.
3. School rules which are unresponsive to the situation, and thus detached from the reality students have to face. Throughout this report, Pulse shall be proposing short-to-medium-term measures in order to provide dynamic solutions for these three categories of issues.
SURVEY CONDUCTED ON A SAMPLE OF OVER 1,000 JUNIOR COLLEGE STUDENTS MethodologyBetween Thursday 8th and Monday 12th October, 2015, over 50 Pulse Junior College affiliates distributed just over 1,000 ďźˆ1,032 questionnaires to a randomlyselected portion of students. This represents roughly a third of the total student population at the institution. The questionnaire included the following questions: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Name and Surname (Optional) First Year or Second Year? Rate your Junior College experience from 1 - 5. Name one positive thing you'll remember from your first days at Junior College. 5. Name one negative thing you'll remember from your first days at Junior College. 6. Name one thing you would propose for a better Junior College. 7. With reference to traffic congestion, should school start earlier or later than 8AM? 8. Did you finalize all your timetable before Freshers' week? Do you agree with timetables being online? Was your timetable available online before Friday? 9. Choose a subject. Comment on your lecturer's approach towards the student. 10. Would you consider yourself as be affiliated with an organisation? AssessmentAs clearly shown, the questionnaire included specific reference to the issue of traffic congestion, following numerous complaints received from students as from their very first days at Junior College. One should note that the question allowed students to select either of three options 1. That school should start earlier than 8AM - a proposal put forward initially by Education Minister Evarist Bartolo, which spurred controversy in August. 2.
That school should start later than 8AM.
3.
That school starting hours should remain as they are currently - at 8.00AM.
OutcomeOut of over 1,000 respondents, the feedback received in relation to this particular question was as follows a. b. c. d.
5% 71% 20% 4%
School should start earlier than 8AM School should start later than 8AM School should continue to start at 8AM Non-respondents
The majority of students who according to the questionnaire conducted by Pulse, believe that school opening hours should be moved to a later time is therefore clearly expressed. This result highlights an awareness by the collective student population of the traffic congestion issue, and an overall desire to not let this issue become a consistent distraction to the academic routine. Pulse shall continue working on this outcome with a thorough study of the various possibilities and subsequent outcomes of moving the opening hours forward. However in this regard, Pulse does not believe that a mere change in school hours would suffice to ease the effects of traffic congestion on Junior College students. Furthermore, any development of this concept should ensure that the current arrangements regarding free hours are maintained, and that in order to accommodate traffic issues, students would not have to forfeit their student life and opportunities to engage in extra-curricular activities and activism. Therefore, apart from being a long-term measure, its implementation should be accompanied by various other incentives.
TRAFFIC PROBLEMS AND PROPOSED SOLUTIONS Earlier in this document, we identified what we believe to be the three major components of the traffic issue in relation to Junior College students. We believe that the major contributor from the aforementioned is that the current transport management system fails to take into account the different social scenarios and daily occurrences which repeat themselves on a daily basis, chief among which is the daily commute to and from schools. When it comes to Junior College, being the largest post-secondary institution on the island by far, this issue is only intensified. Currently, the management of traffic does not take into account that around three thousand students - not to mention the academics and staff members, cross on a daily basis from different localities to Msida. Pulse believes that as long as the strategies put into action do not specifically cater for this reality, current issues would only persist. Pulse also notes that overall, traffic management strategies attempt at easing issues with nation-wide measures. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be bearing the desired results. We have therefore come to a conclusion that segregation is key in providing sustainable solutions to traffic issues. Here, Pulse shall not be considering the building of new infrastructure, as this is too long-term a measure to be able to respond to students’ immediate and pressing concerns. Using the current infrastructure and resources, Pulse is putting forward the following proposal. Creation of ‘Village Groups’ One of the major complaints of students in relation to the public transport system is the lack of efficient, direct routes. This in turn leads to unnecessary waste of time, lack of punctuality in service, and an overall diminishing in the efficacy of the service. Though at first glance, direct routes seem to point towards increased buses on the road, this might not be the case at all, if an alternative system is developed with the aim of transport as many students to Junior College as possible in the shortest time period. Pulse has looked at several options as to how such system can be developed. Today, we are proposing the creation of ‘Village Groups’ based on neighbour villages, and the introduction of a direct bus service from every such group to Junior College.
Proposed ‘Village Groups’: Cirkewwa + Mellieha + San Pawl il-Bahar = Junior College Mgarr + Mosta + Naxxar = Junior College Had Dingli + Rabat + Imtarfa + Attard = Junior College Lija + Balzan + Birkirkara = Junior College Bugibba + Bahar ic-Caghaq + Gharghur = Junior College Pembroke + Swieqi + San Gwann = Junior College Siggiewi + Zebbug + Qormi = Junior College Qrendi + Mqabba + Luqa = Junior College Zurrieq + Safi + Kirkop = Junior College Birzebbuga + Ghaxaq + Gudja = Junior College Mxlokk + Zejtun + Marsa = Junior College Santa Lucija + Tarxien + Rahal Gdid = Junior College Marsascala + Fgura = Junior College Kalkara + Xghajra + Zabbar = Junior College Birgu + Bormla + Isla = Junior College San Giljan + Sliema + Gzira = Junior College Valletta + Floriana + Hamrun = Junior College
The creation of 17 ‘Village Groups’ based on this model would form the basis for a segmented system of direct transportation for students to Junior College. This would be developed as follows-
Creation of Student Buses Based on the model of the night buses and shuttle buses services already offered by Malta Public Transport, Pulse is proposing the creation of a new Student Buses service, based on seventeen new routes as aforementioned. The principal characteristics of this service would be the following: 1.
Time period: This service would only be operational between 06.30am and 07.30am for each route. This would therefore mean that any new arrangements or additional resources would only have to be allocated in this limited time period. Pulse is confident that the current public transport service can adapt to these flexible arrangements with only minimal additions.
2.
Demographically-Based Frequency: The frequency of the service for each individual ‘Village Group’ would be mapped out based on the demographic data of the student population. As an example, one would imagine that if in a given scholastic year only 150 students register from Village Group 1, while 500 students register from Village Group 2, the frequency would be of just 1-2 trips for the former, and 34 trips for the latter. The accuracy of demographic data and subsequently, the predictability factor can be further increased by introducing a system whereby students themselves sign up for the system, thus providing public transport operators with more accurate data on which to plan the route frequency.
3.
Fewer + Centralised Pick-Up Points: In the current route system, a typical bus would make 4-6 stops or more in each locality. Another feature of the proposed Student Bus would be that the pick-up points would be fewer than in the usual routes, yet planned in a manner as to be centralised and easily accessible. A rule of thumb being put forward is that the walking distance from one’s home to the nearest pick-up point would never exceed ten minutes. This would be especially significant in the case of small villages, where students can easily assemble in the main square. Similar arrangements already take place for secondary students.
Example: From Birzebbuga To Junior College, under the current system and proposed new system.
Pulse firmly believes that by adopting the current framework and applying a new element of flexibility, public transport can gain new relevance for hundreds, if not thousands of students and their parents. By adopting a fragmented approach, we believe that the overall traffic scenario would be better manageable from a micro level, improving the overall reliability of the service.
Further alternative measures: Pulse reacts with optimism at the announcement that the Government would be soon testing tidal traffic systems in key areas mostly affected by congestion. While this concept has never been tried and tested before, Pulse believes that it is a sensible proposal which deserves careful study and analysis. However, one should be cautious as to avoid creating traffic bottlenecks in areas where the infrastructure is too limited to handle the rush of traffic which can be managed with more ease by four-lane roads. Other ideas suggested by the Government, including the concept to increase seabased means of transportation are to be encouraged. Pulse in particular proposes pilot projects to be carried out in relation to the possible introduction of ‘Water Buses’ from key areas such as Sliema, Gzira, and Valletta to Msida. Allocated time periods for heavy vehicles and ‘slow’ means of transportation: A further short-term measure which might be adopted to further minimise the problem would be the introduction of a system by which heavy vehicles, such as industrial trucks, construction machinery, as well as waste collection trucks be disincentivised from getting on the road in the rush hours of the morning. This could be done both fiscally (negatively through the imposition of financial contributions, or positively through the granting of grants or subsidies) and by adopting a system of enforcement. Furthermore, particular mean of transport which are notorious for ‘slowing down’ traffic, such as traditional horse-drawn carriages and children’s electric trains should also be disheartened from frequent particularly busy areas during the rush hour period.