A photograph in The Times recently raised questions about the legality or otherwise of a person riding a bicycle along Bisazza Street in Sliema (June 27).
The photograph in question could have been taken in any European town since the bicycle culture is now so pervasive in EU countries that it is commonplace to see pedestrians and people on bicycles sharing city roads all across Europe. Given the traffic/parking chaos in Sliema, the presence of a cyclist in Bisazza Street was like a breath of fresh air because it showed somebody using a healthy, non-polluting space-saving bicycle.
Traffic authorities in progressive countries are investing heavily in redesigning urban roads so that they can be shared by cyclists and pedestrians so as to persuade people to commute by bicycle. In inner-city roads people on bicycles, pedestrians – and sometimes even cars – now share the whole street.
There are no pavements and the street functions as a public living space, where children can cycle safely because vehicles are absent, or their speed kept to a minimum. The attitude to cycling has become so positive in many European cities and towns that the bicycle is now becoming a fashion statement and a chic (and sociable) way to go shopping – both on roads and among pedestrians because the bicycle has largely ceased to be regarded as a “vehicle”, but as a safe and healthy mobility option for all environments. There has been discussion on the issue of parking space in Sliema. There are few, if any, answers to Sliema’s gruesome parking situation and gridlocked traffic (not to mention intense traffic pollution). One answer is to encourage bicycle use for short journeys.
The bicycle rider in the photo was riding legally because the Sliema council initially made a positive gesture aimed at encouraging healthy mobility by allowing bicycle use in Bisazza Street. The council has now had second thoughts and removed this privilege. Whether people are asked to dismount or not is a small point, but demanding that people passing through get off their bikes simply sends a negative message. Doubtless this was done at the instigation of people with an old-fashioned, anti-bicycle bias. Giving in to them was a backward step.
Malta still has to get down to developing a healthier attitude to inner-urban mobility. The bicycle has a tremendous amount to offer and everything possible should now be done to encourage bicycle use. One healthy solution is to emulate the trend toward discouraging car use and promoting cycle use now prevalent in European towns and cities. This would help diminish Sliema’s traffic woes and get people out of their cars and to pollute less.
In this context the Sliema council deserves congratulations for having the courage to allow bicycle use on the Sliema promenade. The only thing one might disagree with is the wording of the notices. These ask cyclists to proceed “slowly”. Unfortunately “slowly” may be 5kms/h to an adult cyclist but 50kms/h to a youngster. The original suggestion was to limit speed more explicitly by simply saying “cycling only allowed at walking speed” (or 8kms/h) so that youngsters (who anyway cannot use the road) might be induced to ride more carefully.
Some years ago Malta’s National Commission for Sustainable Development for the Maltese Islands 2007-2016 advocated “promotion of walking and cycling for short-distance trips” but nothing happened. Malta , as a signatory to the Parma Declaration, undertook “to provide each child with an environment in which they can walk and cycle to kindergartens and schools…”. But, through ignorance and lack of political will, nothing happened.
So the vicious circle goes on; we get more underground car parks, more roads, more traffic, more pollution, more cars, more parking problems, more obesity and more ill-health from lack of exercise. How long will it take Malta to snap out of the old-fashioned mindset that one can only travel a short distance from A to B in a motor vehicle?
Sliema council, please continue to set an example – do everything possible to open Sliema up to the bicycle.