Although some headway is being made and attitudes are changing to bicycle commuting, the Finance Minister’s Budget announcements in reality did little to encourage cycling.

The proposed 15 per cent rebate on pedelecs has done little to reverse the harm done by cycling legislation that makes riding a pedelec more complicated than a normal bicycle, unlike in other EU states.

In many other countries, pedelecs are being encouraged as an answer to the sweat and effort issues of cycling, helping to reduce congestion in a practical and non-polluting way.

During the Bicycling Advocacy Group (Malta)’s recent national bike count, only 0.85 per cent of the sample were found to be using pedelecs, a pitiful number compared to other EU states.

Strangely, none of the other five proposals that were put forward to assist in a modal shift were taken up. Neither is the proposed pilot project to place bicycle racks in the capital city, Valletta, striking a cord with Malta’s riders. There are a few racks in place already.

Cycling in Malta needs to be made to feel safe, not stopped somewhere.

We still have this car-centric mentality that all cyclists need are parking facilities.

That’s treating bikes as if they were cars and is a massive failure to comprehend the problem.