The Times of Malta has urged the government to pilot Momentum's subsidised shared cabs, using vehicles and roads the country already has, rather than wait years for a new mass-transport system. TaxiFeed has already reported the party's Budget 2027 request: Momentum wants Malta to fund shared cabs in Budget 2027.
The sum per journey
The annual subsidy would be €234 million for 60 million passenger journeys in each of the first two years, €3.90 a journey. Passengers heading the same way would share cabs at reduced fares, and the subsidy would stop prices surging in the rush hour. Existing platforms would connect to a central matching system. Times of Malta
Those figures match Momentum's own statement. The party sets the €234 million subsidy against €50 million in saved time, €42 million in lower fuel use and €220 million less spent on imported vehicles, a net national benefit of €78 million a year. The figures are the party's estimates. Momentum
The projections need an independent examination, above all the assumption that households would buy substantially fewer cars.
How full the cab would be
A cab carrying three passengers on each of two half-hour journeys could move six people in an hour. If all six would otherwise have driven alone, two shared journeys would replace six private car trips. Pick-ups, detours and empty running would cut that gain.
Three people separately driving 10 kilometres, in cars using seven litres per 100 kilometres, would burn 2.1 litres between them. One comparable car carrying all three would use 0.7 litres, saving 1.4 litres before any extra distance. Lower consumption would also reduce spending on the fuel subsidy.
What a pilot would measure
COOL introduced ride-pooling in 2019, matching passengers travelling towards similar destinations. COVID disrupted that model, and the service closed in January 2023, citing a lack of government transport incentives. Demand for cabs has risen since.
A funded pilot should measure how many private car journeys are displaced, how full the cabs are, waiting times, and the subsidy per passenger. Cheap cabs can also attract people who already use the bus, and that would add traffic rather than relieve it. Shared cabs need to complement better buses and ferry services.
Once those alternatives exist, parking policy and some restrictions on unnecessary car use should follow. Subsidising the alternatives, while introducing a modest charge on private car use in congested areas, or charging for parking in certain areas, would give people both a reason and a practical way to change their habits.
The editorial records that Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has again been sceptical about a proposed light rail, because energy subsidies have emptied what it calls Malta's war chest.
Malta already has the roads, the cabs and the technology. The test can start without a mass-transport system. What is still missing is the political will.