ADPD calls for people-first streets as pedestrian bridges draw criticism

ADPD-The Green Party has called for a complete overhaul of Malta’s transport system, arguing that decades of car-centric planning have made streets unsafe, inaccessible, and exclusionary.

The party made the call next to the site of a proposed new pedestrian bridge in Msida, using the location to illustrate what it described as a wider pattern of infrastructure that prioritises vehicle flow over people.

“With successive governments lacking a long-term vision on mobility, roads have been designed primarily for vehicles rather than people, leading to unsafe and inaccessible public spaces,” said ADPD Public Relations Officer Brian Decelis. “Our streets should serve communities, not just vehicles or commercial interests.”

Decelis said pedestrians are frequently forced off pavements by commercial encroachment, putting vulnerable groups, including children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, at risk. He pointed to pedestrian bridges being built in Msida, Swieqi, Marsa, Imrieħel and other localities as evidence of a planning philosophy that bends people around traffic rather than the other way around. “This is not mobility; it is exclusion,” he said.

The party argued that successive governments have paid lip service to sustainable transport while continuing to widen roads and push cyclists and pedestrians aside. Public spaces, it said, have been progressively privatised, with pavements left obstructed and enforcement absent.

ADPD Chairperson Sandra Gauci said Malta needed to adopt what she described as a mobility pyramid, placing walking, cycling, and public transport at the top, and reducing reliance on private cars.

She proposed five core measures: redesigning streets to include wider pavements, safe street-level crossings, and protected cycling lanes; investing in a Bus Rapid Transit system with dedicated lanes and priority at junctions; introducing policies to discourage excessive parking and support shared and electric mobility; enforcing the protection of public space from private takeover; and aligning transport policy with climate and public health targets.

“Malta’s future depends on bold decisions,” Gauci said. “By placing people at the centre of mobility policy, we can create safer streets, stronger communities, and a more sustainable country.”