During a Press Conference held outside G. F. Abela Junior College gates, Pulse presented the results of a survey on public transport and proposed solutions to traffic problems.
After Wayne Sammut, Pulse President, thanked students and media for attending the Press Conference, Pulse Vice-President, Ayrton Mifsud, presented the results of the survey. He stated that the survey was conducted on a sample of approximately 1,032 students. The feedback received in relation to question 7 of the survey, which read, ‘with reference to traffic congestion, should school start earlier or later than 8AM?,’ was as follows:
- 5% answered that school should start earlier than 8am
- 71% answered that school should start later than 8am
- 20% answered that school should continue to start at 8am
- 4% did not respond to this question.
Sammut held that Pulse felt it would have been useless to publish results without taking action and therefore presented possible measures that could be taken. If school were to commence later, free lessons would be reduced. As a student organisation that believes in student activism, proposing that school should start later would run counter to the organisation’s values. Pulse did not want to reduce free time during which students could involve themselves in extracurricular activities. Therefore, Pulse attempted to address the traffic situation by means of student buses from 17 village groups to Junior College. The scope of such groups is to avoid a large amount of stops, which are unnecessary and time consuming, by means of express routes to Junior College.
In order to fulfil the ambitious proposal, a total of 17 buses are needed between 6.30am and 7.30am. When signing up as a student at Junior College, students will be asked to list their address on the application forms and therefore an appropriate amount of buses will be organised to cater for the amount of students from their respective village group. These routes will be exclusively for Junior College students, who will be able to use their Junior College cards in order to make use of the transport system.
Pulse also felt that it needed to propose alternative measures apart from the project of student suses. One of the things that the organisation addressed was the possibility of a tidal water system that would be beneficial when one considers the location of Junior College. Pulse believes that the country’s full potential must be taken advantage of.
In conclusion, Wayne Sammut and Ayrton Mifsud emphasised that students are to be placed at the centre of this discussion.
