Today, various Gozitan stakeholders met at the Gozo Regional Development Authority offices to discuss with Ms Rachel Galea, Deputy Opertions Manager at the Malta Public Transport and two CPD officials Mr Anthony Pisani (CARO) and Mr Joseph Azzopardi (ARO), during the second Sustainable Mobility Forum organised by the Gozo Business Chamber.
The upgrading of our public transport network, and the transition to the use of electric vehicles, are two key elements towards achieveing the country’s sustainable mobility targets. These are also some of the key priorities of the European Commission.
The shift to more sustainable forms of transport in Gozo poses particular challenges. Mobility and accessibility in Gozo are still very much reliant on the use of private forms of transport, even more than the main island of Malta. This is an important indicator that the shift to more sustainable forms of transport in Gozo has to come through an increased uptake of public transport.
This forum helped to understand better the plans being discussed in connection with the way forward for the public transport sector and how these can be achieved. Also, this forum increased further the awareness on EV vehicles. Though the risk of fires in EV vehicles is very low, a different approach is required if this occurs. This requires new guidelines to be adopted.