Transport Malta’s CEO James Piscopo hints at strategies and measures for the country’s ailing transport network, (‘Traffic is no perception’, The Sunday Times of Malta, October 19).

The blogs were immediately alive with calls for underground and overground public transport systems, most of which merely wanted to move public buses out of the way of cars. This is without acknowledging the rather obvious elephant in the room, namely that buses are stuck behind cars, not the other way around.

Yet meanwhile, a small percentage of urban cyclists (and here I’m limiting myself to commuting cyclists rather pastime/sports riders) are choosing to leave their car at home. Instead they ride to work, reducing pollution and the country’s social health bill and alleviating in some small way the issues of congestion and parking availability. That’s happening right now. And the cost? Zero.

Unfortunately, far more needs to be done to make bicycle (and for that matter, low-capacity motorcycle) commuting efficient and safe in urban areas, to help reduce congestion. The cost is tiny in comparison to underground and overground projects. That might be why so many other European cities are encouraging bicycle use.

That’s already happening at the University, where bicycles are being encouraged and help to increase parking capacity. But if you don’t think a couple of bicycles are important, try telling the same number of students why they can’t park their cars on campus. They’ll soon ask you why a couple of bicycles are important.