In his letter ‘Alternative transport’ (Times of Malta, October 11) Frans Said argues against the introduction of trams in Malta because these have to make use of roads that are already congested with other transport – this is not necessarily the case; tram rails do not have to follow roads or be on them. They would also cost far less than an underground metro system.
Of course, traffic congestion problems are not peculiar to Malta, traffic congestion is of concern the world over – even in cities where trams or an underground metros already exist, such as in Paris, New York and London.
Rather than considering expensive solutions, two basic straightforward solutions are being applied by town councils. These combine restricting urban private car traffic by pedestrianising roads, decreasing urban parking space or making it expensive, and creating conditions that encourage active mobility, such as walking and cycling.
Increasing traffic congestion is causing a spontaneous transition to cycle mobility in many cities, and city councils are responding positively to this by encouraging bicycle uptake.
Countries as far as Colombia and as near as Italy are implementing measures to encourage bicycle uptake, and cyclists are increasingly being seen on roads all over continental Europe as a result of participation in the EU co-funded ‘bike2work’ project.
Many town councils have introduced subsidies for people who commute to work by bicycle. The philosophy behind this is that bicycle mobility increases the overall quality of city life in addition to many benefits as improved health, fitness, weight loss and transport costs savings.
Phillipe Crist, an economist at the International Transport Forum, of which Malta is a member, predicts that 21st century cities won’t work without cycling.
The question of healthy, active mobility continues to be met with closed minds in Malta. The default transport mode stubbornly remains the car, and everything possible is being done to facilitate car traffic flow. This includes the creation of urban, centrally situated multi-level car parks, which is totally counter-intuitive.
At the same time, suggestions of the bicycle as a valid transport option for short and medium journeys continues to be met with derision and hostility. Mr Said himself railed repeatedly against the bicycle in this newspaper some years ago.
A small number of people are starting to commute by bicycle in Malta as a result of frustration with our traffic chaos. This is happening against great odds owing to lack of support from Transport Malta and the prevailing attitude of motorists who continue to regard people on bicycles as vermin. Even our police have a negative attitude to cyclists and sometimes shoo them away when they try to park their bicycles.
Sales of electric bicycles that conform to EU standards (pedelecs) are soaring in Europe but continue to be obstructed by Transport Malta’s ridiculous requirement to register them. So we all continue depending on our car to the detriment of our health and traffic flow.
Surely traffic congestion relief should also be approached by simple and inexpensive measures – such as reversing excessive car-dependency and encouraging alternative active mobility.