Updated - German expert advocates fiscal measures to discourage car use - Government considering light rail

Updated - Government considering light rail or monorail - Improving the roads infrastructure was important, but, on its own, it would not solve the traffic problems, according to a German traffic expert. Manfred Boltze from Darmstadt University of Technology this afternoon insisted that fiscal measures to make private car use unattractive were a must in any transport plan. Prof. Boltze was the keynote speaker at a conference on traffic management organised by the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry in Valletta. He cautioned that to gain wider acceptance, restrictive measures had to lead to tangible improvements in the environment and travel efficiency. Alternative means of  transport  had to be cheaper and offer shorter travel times to make people leave their cars at home. He acknowledged the difficulty of such an approach as politicians dithered on using taxation as a tool to control traffic congestion. His observation was picked up by economist Lino Briguglio, who insisted the Valletta CVA system - Malta's equivalent of the congestion tax - should be tweaked and extended beyond Valletta. "This should not be used to raise revenue but to cut air pollution and ease...