The Malta Independent on Sunday
Robotaxi – one solution for congested roads
Of late, a number of polemics arose around the number of new imported cars registered with “Y” plates crowding the streets.
It is about time that there needs to be some form of incentive to achieve better streamlining of public and private transport services.
The daily struggle for drivers to find parking spaces is becoming increasingly unbearable, as there is a lack of serious planning for village parking facilities, exacerbated by drivers' expectation of free spaces.
No serious planning of central car parking complexes are made obligatory for developers wishing to erect more flats, showrooms, hotels and restaurants.
Our heavy reliance on cars due to the convenience of using personal vehicles is undeniable. But equally undeniable is that temperatures are rising and pressures are mounting due to the constant ubiquitous traffic that has wiped out any trace of tranquillity, Malta once knew.
Property barons and their alliances with Castille have long been dictating how spatial planning should be run. What they seem not to understand, or pretend not to understand, is that we collectively need a new way of doing things. We can no longer afford the convenience of those few who want to be able to park (or even double park, a common occurrence) their cars right outside the outlets they want to visit.
Countries including Australia, China, India and the Philippines require developers to create parking spaces whenever they put up a new building. Cupertino (USA) has a requirement for every building such that a developer who wants to build a block of flats, for example, must provide two parking spaces per apartment, one of which must be covered. For a fast-food restaurant, the city demands one space for every three seats; for a bowling alley, seven spaces per lane plus one for every worker. If selfdriving cars are eventually allowed to trundle around by themselves, picking up and dropping off person after person, they might render many car parks unnecessary.
That would be like Alice in Wonderland for tiny Malta. Any longterm solution for a 316 square kilometres and with more than 62 cars imported daily (added to a fleet of over 430,000 vehicles) highlights the need for a serious study such as the one Transport Malta financed three years ago with the publication of a mass transit solution (costing over €6bn).
Now, everyone realizes that the mass transit dream was just that… smoke and no fire. Realistically, we are at a stage where Malta’s traffic congestion is no longer a daily annoyance but a crisis – and crises can only be solved with some difficult decisions. In a recent interview, a cab driver mentioned, among other things, that due to high motoring costs and car accidents, ride charges are increasing. He highlighted the soaring cost of insurance, noting that some people are now paying as much as €3,000 per year.
There have been protests by non EU cab drivers claiming that they were being exploited by fleet platforms. Most work 16 hours daily to earn a living. Naturally, with a sudden explosion in population in the past decade, there has never been a drop in the amount of trips – hence locals are showered with more carcinogenic fumes (electric vehicles are still expensive accounting for under 4% with few charging points). Is the introduction of Robotaxis alien to Malta? In China, the USA and some cities in northern Europe, this new kind of vehicle is taking to the roads and people are not sure what to make of it. Is it safe? If slowly introduced here – how will it get along with other road users? Will it really shake up the way we travel? These questions are being asked today about autonomous vehicles (AVs).
Exactly the same questions were posed when the first motor cars rumbled onto the roads. By granting drivers unprecedented freedom, automobiles changed the world. Now AVs are poised to rewrite the rules of transport – and there is a danger that the same mistake will be made all over again. Naturally, islanders tend to join late in any new transport revolution and since the lobby group of ICE car importers is powerful, one may see some resistance to change. However, we need to speed our understanding of this wonder car as business is coming to a standstill.
We challenge Castille to change. Wonderful algorithms guide such AVs to travel smoothly from point A to point B but, more importantly, optimise overall traffic by allowing robot vehicles to interact with vehicles driven by people. Such algorithm teaches robocars to optimise traffic flow by communicating with each other. The collective system of cars aims for smooth traffic flow even as each individual car decides when to enter an intersection based on its immediate environment. Because robocars are dispersed among cars driven by people, all traffic is affected by the algorithm and harmony prevails.
There are many levels of sophistication in such cars and for a start a Level 4 is defined as one that can do all driving, without any input from a human driver, within a limited area.
A Level 5 vehicle (something that as yet is still under study) is one that can in theory drive anywhere, like a human driver. The upshot is that advanced AVs on the roads today operate within specific regions of particular cities. Can Malta’s chaotic driving patterns lead its way for AVs to navigate safely and avoid accidents? The answer depends on the density of AVs on the road. Studies have found that when robot vehicles make up just 5% of traffic in a simulation, traffic jams are eliminated.
The combination of autonomy and ride-hailing, together with a switch to electric vehicles, seems likely to undermine the logic of car ownership for many people.
Autonomous vehicles will be nice for everyone, because they will let people get on with something worthwhile as they travel. As a stark reminder, by 2030, all ICE cars are expected to be replaced by fully electric or plug-in hybrids so it is never too late for Malta to consider the alternative solution of a robotaxi fleet.