It is exactly a year since a leading cyclist died in a tragic hit-and-run accident near Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq. This sad anniversary follows closely a Eurobarometer study showing that Malta had the highest increase in road fatalities in the EU in the past eight years.
Over the years, numerous government transport reports about promoting a shift to alternative transport modes and promoting a cultural change from motor vehicle to cycling were made. Yet, the position on cycling remains stuck in a rut.
Cycling is still universally perceived as dangerous and not that many people in Malta ride a bicycle. Cyclists who venture out on Malta’s roads face fearsome conditions from motorists and have to make do with poor road amenities. A badly-injured cyclist who fell off her bicycle due to the hazardous state of the road is planning to sue the government for damages.
The picture in other western countries is different. Decades ago, road design was modernised to accommodate healthy mobility in countries such as Holland and Denmark. Cycling became a safe mainstream mode of transport. Many other countries are now catching up. London and a number of cities in the UK are investing hugely in a bicycle revolution. A fleet of 6,000 bicycles is available to the public in London. Paris and Vienna introduced this system long ago. Other cities and towns aim to have cycle-hire schemes. In most western countries, the bicycle has now become the accepted way to travel.
By contrast, conditions in this tiny island are so bad that bicycles on roads are few and far between. Parents are too scared to let children out on a bicycle.
Walking and riding a bicycle are very accessible forms of exercise to improve health but this is not the case in Malta because roads have continued to be designed mainly, if not solely, for motor vehicles to the exclusion of other legitimate users, including children, pedestrians and cyclists. Children are being denied the health benefits of exercise and most youngsters continue to grow up without ever having possessed a bicycle. They, thus, lose the opportunity of a healthy form of exercise. It is little wonder that Malta has the lowest level of physical activity of all EU countries.
Ironically, Malta became a signatory to the Parma Declaration on Environment and Health some months ago. The declaration includes a commitment to “promote environments that are safe and conducive to a healthy lifestyle” and “provide each child with access to healthy and safe environments in which to walk and cycle to schools and green spaces in which children can play and undertake physical activity”.
It seems the prospects of the Parma Declaration being followed up are remote. Sadly, it would appear that progress in the past half century can only be measured by spiralling car ownership and more roads to accommodate motor traffic. In every other way, many of us seem to have remained in denial of the abysmal road usage record. So much more needs to be done, so much is promised but so very little, if anything, is achieved in this direction.
It is time Malta develops a more modern approach to transport. That includes a change in attitude to encourage the healthy non-polluting bicycle for short trips and, dare one say it, a healthy way for children to get to school.