A growing awareness of the impacts our actions have on our immediate environment as well as on the wider living world, especially among young people, is catalysing changes in the way decisions are taken.

Nowhere is this consciousness more important than in transportation, integral as it is to both our daily activities and to society’s efforts for a greener, healthier future.

Ask anyone about their favourite part of the day, and you are unlikely to hear that it is sitting in traffic and looking for parking – a daily frustration with a high environmental cost.

Changing the way people think isn’t easy, but that’s exactly what Debono Group is trying to do, explains the company’s Head of Innovation Michael Debono.

“Our vision is centred around the well-being of the country and its population, where people can move from A to B, free of traffic congestion, free from the fear of being late, and free from anxiety of not finding anywhere to park,” he says.

“However,” he continues, “today’s reality is far from our vision. What we see is a highly dense and urban environment with people wasting time in traffic and the never-ending search for parking. There is no joy in this and we really ought to be asking ourselves how we can do it differently.”

With 83 per cent of trips taking place in a private car, and with Malta having the third highest rate of vehicle ownership in Europe, there is certainly a lot of room for this car-centric behaviour to change.

“People are living busier and fuller lives, in which they want to do more and more, and do not want to get stuck doing so,” says Mr Debono.

Ultimately, a shift in mentality comes when alternative mobility is just as if not more efficient, cost-effective and trustworthy as the private vehicle.

“That’s what commuters rightly expect when deciding how to get to their destination, and that’s what we are providing through Cool,” – Debono Group’s on-demand ride-pooling service, which aims to change the way we think when it comes to deciding how to get to our destination.

“Our goal is to create sustainable alternatives to the private car which have a positive impact on traffic congestion, that lowers emissions and that lower the demand for public open spaces being taken up by roads and parking.”

With each Cool vehicle serving the needs of 70+ individuals daily, the impact is enormous. Between July 2019 and December 2021, in fact, the fleet of over 120 Cool vehicles saved more than 1.5 million miles and decreased CO2 emissions by over 1.3 million pounds, playing a key part in Malta’s efforts to go green.

Debono Group’s climate initiatives go beyond the Cool service, with the company also supporting research by industry professionals and academics, such as studies on autonomous vehicles currently being conducted by the University of Malta – evidence of its holistic approach to the problem.

Mr Debono acknowledges that getting the Maltese to ditch their cars is an uphill struggle: “It is no secret that we love driving our cars, and purchasing a vehicle, especially your very first vehicle, is as much an emotional milestone as it is a practical investment.”

In this, however, he draws hope and inspiration from the younger generation, which is more environmentally conscious and more inclined to change their mentality. “This augurs well for the future, we believe.”

There is no silver bullet when it comes to mobility, and no single solution will induce the change in mentality required. “It’s about bringing together different modes of transport which reduce the need for a private vehicles. Multi-model adoption is crucial, particularly in certain areas which experience gridlock.”

Mr Debono describes Government initiatives like grants to those wanting to invest in low emission private vehicles and free public transport as of October 2022 as “encouraging” and argues that a punctual and efficient public transport system is “crucial in encouraging a shift in the present behaviour we have come to be accustomed to.”

At the end of the day, what such a shift boils down to is an increasing awareness of the options available to us for each commute, with the different requirements of different trips – whether it is going to the office, the supermarket or even running errands close to home - leading to different choices.

For example, choosing a ride pooling service for certain commutes saves the hassle of searching for a space to park in, especially in localities such as Sliema or Valletta which are notorious for their lack of parking spaces.

“We also need to consider the residents of such localities, particularly those who do not own a garage and are therefore struggling to park in the vicinity of their homes. Choosing a ride pooling service, in this case, relieves the driver, the resident, and aesthetically, our public spaces, as there would be fewer cars occupying our roads.”

Mr Debono concludes by saying that the way forward for Debono Group is to strengthen its current ride pooling and ride hailing services in order to encourage more commuters to opt for these alternative mobility solutions.

“It’s about having a vision and working towards making it a reality,” he says. “It won’t happen overnight, but it is happening, and we are proud of our contribution to the development of a better future.”