Last Updated on Friday, 22 October, 2021 at 9:43 am by Andre Camilleri
A survey which looks into the transport habits of households across the country has been launched by the Transport Ministry, with a collaboration between Transport Malta and the National Statistics Office enabling it to take place.
It’s the fourth such survey to take place and the first since 2010. It will be conducted digitally for the first time as well.
The National Transport Household Survey is designed to get a snapshot of current travel patterns and behaviour from a representative sample of Maltese households.
The NSO will be conducting the survey as well as collecting the required data. The data will be used to introduce new policies and measures to be included in the Transport Master Plan update by 2030 and will be an effective contribution in helping to meet the EU’s environmental targets, the ministry said in a statement.
The survey consists of two parts. The first part contains general questions including those regarding the members of the selected household and vehicles that the household has access to. This part of the survey is to be completed before Travel Day which is the 17th of November 2021.
The second part asks every member of the household above the age of 14 to record the travel movements on Travel Day, this being 17th November.
Transport Minister Ian Borg said that this survey will be another effective way through which it will facilitate the plans for our country’s future and which will further show, as clearly as possible, the best possible ways of moving forward and make the natural shift towards more mobility and clean transport.
“Many changes have taken place in the last 10 years and specifically in recent years we have witnessed several improvements in the transport sector. We have given more opportunities and incentivised people to use other sustainable means of transport. Free public transport will be provided for everyone. This is a measure that has been very well-received in this year’s budget and through which, in line with this social government’s vision, everyone from every sphere of our society is reached and no one is left out,” Borg said.
“We have given the largest package of grants to lift some of the burden off the people and to incentivise switching to electric vehicles. We launched bike-sharing services, we provided a fast ferry service which is worth noting that already, in the first four months, a total of 250,000 people used this service. The longest cycle lane in our country, with a length of 4.3km as part of the central Link project that will soon be inaugurated, will be given to the people. Certain decisions such as the metro require large amounts of data to test, and the data from this survey will allow us to further refine the current proposal”, said Borg.
In order to participate in the survey, one can visit the website: https://webapp.nhts21.gov.mt
For household members who do not have internet access or are not in a position to complete the online survey, they can call 8007 4474.
