The whole idea of a car free day is to almost blackmail, if you will, the public into using alternatives to private vehicles. That should have been easier this year as people using bicycles to commute seem to be on the increase. I would hazard a guess this is largely due to Arriva’s appalling performance as commuters are finding out it really is actually quicker by bike! As such, the powers that be, from Transport Malta to the local councils, would have been in an ideal position to capitalise on this for car free day.

But you’ve just got to love the Maltese way of doing things. As usual, Malta wimped out again, unable to do what other European countries seem to have no problem doing. Therefore, Car Free Day, already bumped off from being on the 22nd, a working day, is now Car Free Day but with cars. This due to dropping the planned ban on private vehicles on arterial roads.

Fine, so here is a novel counter-proposal. Rather than closing arterial roads, motorised traffic should be barred from using tunnels and allow cyclists to use them instead. This will shorten cyclists’ journeys considerably and allow car drivers to use most arterial roads. It will also help the latter to see what big detours cyclists have to put up with for a change. If you don’t believe me, and I do hope the minister responsible for transport will try this anyway, try not using a tunnel for a day or two anyway just to see what I mean.