The Bicycle Advocacy Group recently published a press release calling on councils and Transport Malta to make bicycle commuting in their localities one of their New Year’s resolutions.
One of the methods suggested was to use bicycle contra-flows to help cyclists overcome the effect of one-way systems. This caused considerable concern among some people who perhaps did not fully understand that these can be managed safely.
Firstly, bicycle contra-flows are usually very short in length and they normally just nip off a corner of a system or a very short length. Bus contra-flows already exist in Malta, and bicycle contra-flows can be made to be just as safe with suitable signage and markings, as is done in many other European countries.
However, there are simpler ways than this. Our suggestions included using existing bus contra-flows, where drivers are already used to bidirectional traffic or using ‘residents only’ no-entry roads by adding the sign ‘and cyclists’.
We all know the problem of cyclists riding the wrong way up one-way streets. This is because we have created complex one-way systems to control car traffic, increase parking capacity or to make it difficult for cars to cut through village cores or residential areas. Unfortunately, cyclists get caught in the same process, ultimately forcing cyclists to either break the law or use main roads with other traffic.
Cutting cyclists’ journey time makes bicycle trips easier and safer. Encouraging cycling makes commuting easier for other road users as there will be fewer cars on the road.