Working towards a better Car-Free Day

Mary Rose Cassar gives a somewhat dull account (October 6) of Car-Free Day, one that somehow throws a grey shadow on positive initiatives such as this.

In planning the Car-Free Day initiatives we go into great detail to minimise any possible hardships and if these actually occurred we are the first to apologise. However, the police and wardens were given clear instructions to facilitate the movement of essential transportation, such as the case of the correspondent's family member with special needs.

This point was also highlighted by Lawrence Dalli (October 8). It must be pointed out that if such incidents were pointed out to us on that same day on our dedicated telephone line, we would have certainly acted immediately to solve these unfortunate problems and the consequent hardships.

The ministry, being the event's promoter, is the first one to admit that Car-Free Day can be improved to ensure more active and wider participation. However, it has to be kept in mind that the 34 local councils that voluntarily decided to adhere to this year's initiative were joining forces with more than 1,200 cities in 34 countries throughout the world. The overwhelming majority of these cities actually observed their Car-Free Day on September 22, which is the official day chosen by the European Commission.

In order to achieve our goals to constantly improve this initiative, the minister has just set up a working group that includes various stakeholders in order to draw up a list of possible improvements in future Car-Free Day activities. We are also inviting comments from the public and to facilitate this we have set up an email address and a dedicated telephone line 2295 2143.

The government is fully aware of the need for a reform in the way our public transport system works and, just days ago, a breakthrough agreement was announced that should hopefully lead to tangible improvements.

In criticising this, or any other initiative, one should also keep in mind the benefits that arise from them. Besides guaranteeing safe roads, even if for just one day, some local councils took initiatives that will have long-term positive impacts on the community. One such example was the Birkirkara local council who chose Car-Free Day to launch a park-and-ride system and a bicycle parking bay.

These actions determine the success, or otherwise, of Car-Free Day and similar activities. Obviously, we dream of having more participation and we also dream of having this activity organised on a more frequent basis. That is surely a dream worth having, and one worth sharing with the rest of the citizens.

mobility.week@gov.mt