Very good points! A passenger only ferry service needs to be implemented between Gozo, Sliema and Valletta. Just bring the boat, the ocean is ready. No need to build a tunnel, track or a road
Those are ALL BRILLIANT ideas, and some of those can be implemented right away, a lot cheaper than a tunnel for traffic. I like the idea of a tunnel just for walk on traffic. You are right about the buses when one breaks down. Is there a way you can start a group that can help sort of like a government think tank without the government? Private sector can get involved. I know I am talking like an American who has no clue how things are done there.Please forgive me. I do think you are definitively on the RIGHT track.
Hello Fed, as you say I don't think they have really thought of this one properly. I can't imagine how well it would work especially at both ends. I heard a interview with a excavation contractor and he pointed out a lot of the problems with the idea but in the ways with traffic management. I don't want to sound like I am knocking Maltese road users/ car owners but the car is what is killing the Maltese Islands. I see all the wonderful changes that have happened on both islands with restoration works and then see the traffic :(
60km/h... 14km long... 14min and not 20min would be fastest Toll would probably be charged like it is for Valletta (CVA) and there wouldnt be a need to stop and pay. You said people should move closer to work but then at the same time you ask why do Gozitans move to Malta. Of course foreigners want to keep Gozo as a crib. They live here by choice. Before foreigners immigrated to Malta and Gozo there was never an issue with Gozo Channel. Trips were further apart but no one complained. Problems started with the huge influx of people. In 2018 Malta‘s population growth was 15times more that of the EU average! From 2007 to 2017 native native Maltese population increased by 15,000, however, number of foreigners increased by 52,000. Foreigner population rose from 4% to 14% in 10 years. The fast ferry you mentioned was in place in the late 90s (obviously you were somewhere else not in Gozo). From Mgarr to Sa Maison and then to University/Valletta/St Lukes used to take around 1h15m whereas normal ferry and bus used to take around 1h30m... Saved only 15m but paid 3times more the price (Lm1 vs Lm0.30). Trips were very irregular because it couldnt work in rough seas. Isnt it ironic foreigners complaining about foreigners(overpopulation)?
Karl Vella you obviously don’t know Federico. His name is Italian and he spent half his childhood in Italy, but he’s also half Gozitan grew up here with us half the year (and full time for almost two decades).
Thanks for your feedback, Karl. You might find it strange, but I think we agree on quite a few points. The level the population of the Maltese Islands is growing is surely not sustainable. Too fast, too uncontrolled. The CVA would surely be the best way to implement a toll, and yes, going at a flat 60Km/h from the entry point to the exit point would be 14 minutes of travel. But my point is a different one. Slashing the commuting time from 2 hours to 1.5h would surely save some time, but just like your 15 minutes faster trip with the old "fast ferry" it would not really make your day. Finally ( just to make things more clear), let me inform you that I am Gozitan, not by birth but by descendance, I am a Maltese citizen, have lived in Gozo most of my life and have seen the Island change for the past 46 years. In fact, I do remember the little hovercraft who connected Gozo to Sa Maison and which made its trips from Mgarr and in summer (when it could berth) from Marsalforn. I took it a few times and didn't think much of it. That hovercraft was way too small and inadeguate. 1h15m to University, would be still a pretty good time today, but I am talking about real fast ferries which have no problems with neither waves nor weather. Have a nice day!
@@FedsWorld by foreigners i didnt mean you or anyone specific, but it is easy to criticise whilst sitting behind a keyboard and haven't experienced the change. The proposed fast ferry (whose tender was appealed) is intended for 300pax and needs to do just 4trips to Valletta. What would this solve? In the late 90s it cost 3 times normal ferry, how much would it cost today? Please keep in mind that normal ferry prices have last been revised in 2006 and they don't reflect 2019 prices. Inevitably they will be revised at some point. How much would the daily commuters be willing to spend daily to travel for work? One must not just think of time saved to commute, but also the money spent. Would the Maltese/tourists coming for a holiday use the fast ferry and public transport? In Italy you can only carry a small luggage with you on a bus, and it is almost impossible to carry a pushchair . On the vaporetto in Venice I wasn't allowed to carry a puschair and a luggage. Instead of fast ferries, I think it would be easier and less costly to build/buy smaller ferries (for cars and pax) that leave from other ports in Malta. Last year 80 new vehicles were registered daily in Malta. Thats around 30k! In 10years native Maltese population went up by 15k... The problem of overpopulation is clear and it is reaching a breaking point very quickly. Unless it is tackled it is useless to discuss Gozo Channel problems because today's solutions (whatever they may be... Tunnel, metro, ferries) wont be valid for long.
Hi Karl, again you find me in agreement on most points. That's why I suggest to tackle the main reason most people commute. Eventually, someone would HAVE to travel daily anyway, but it would possibly be more of a choice rather than a necessity. The car and the population increase beyond sustainability is another urgent topic I would sincerely like to tackle, but it's even more delicate and even more political. Which makes it hard to be discussed in an apolitical way, as I would prefer rather do.
