Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1476201
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 AUGUST 2022 9 INTERVIEW cars… identified, all the way back in 1992 – and government realised that it needed a plan, in case the population grew (which it did); and if the need for mobility in- creased (which also happened) – not enough was done about it. Of course, you can't say that 'nothing happened' at all. There were some improvements: the bus system has been overhauled, and modernised; we have seen new modes of mobility being in- troduced – like the harbour fer- ries, for instance. And in the last five-to-ten years, we have also seen the rise of 'shared mobili- ty modes': shared bikes, shared rides, shared scooters… But at the heart of it all: have we really seen any massive in- vestment, in ways to promote that shift away from private cars, and towards public transport? Or active transport, like walking or cycling? No, not really. In- stead, we have seen massive in- vestment in the creation of new road networks, for cars. And while they might claim that these new projects include a little bus-lane here, or a tiny cycling lane there… sorry, but this is all still just 'car-oriented infrastructure'. Because in real- ity, what we're doing is taking cyclists and pedestrians out of the way of cars… to 'improve the traffic flow'. Which is a com- pletely out-dated policy… But anyway: all that has been done, over the past few dec- ades, was to push us all into our cars. We have always been told that: "this is the way you should travel… to go to work, to go to University; to take your kids to school… even to do your shop- ping". Supermarkets have, in fact, grown bigger; and they have moved outside the urban centres… where before, people were perhaps shopping at the lo- cal grocer, mainly on foot. Thankfully, many of these lo- cal groceries do still exist; but a lot of people have now shifted to the bigger supermarkets, out of town. So of course, they're going to use their cars… This brings me to a small irony in all this. Farrugia also claimed that his priority was to 'make the roads safer'. At the same time, NSO statistics have just revealed that traffic accidents have increased by almost one- fifth, since last year. You your- self wrote that "road safety is the main barrier for people cycling". So do you see a corre- lation between Malta's official traffic-management policy, and the rising rate of accidents? Let me start with this: the in- crease in traffic accidents is across the board. It's not just 'cars with bicycles'; it's 'cars with pedestrians'; 'cars with other cars'; 'cars with buildings'; and sometimes, 'cars with all sorts of things you wouldn't even im- agine'! But what's all behind this? First of all, I would say that – while it was important to improve the road surfaces, from what they used to be like 10 years ago – creating 'smoother', 'wider', and 'straighter' roads may make them more pleasant to drive on: but it also means that you can drive much faster. All these measures have, of course, been sold to us as part of the 'improving the traffic flow' narrative. But what it does to an individual, is encourage you to speed. Now: unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be very much local research into this subject. We don't have any statistics, so I'm basing myself more on my own observations, and experi- ence. But it is supported by the wider literature: wider, smooth- er and straighter roads, encour- age higher speeds. We've seen a lot of that, here; and we've also seen a lot of in- vestment in removing 'obstacles' that used to slow traffic down. This has created 'speeding al- leys', even in town and village centres. At the same time, these are all spaces where other modes of transport also have to co-ex- ist: because sometimes, there is simply no other road to take. Speaking as a cyclist, now – though it obviously applies to other modes of mobility - there is no dedicated infrastructure for bicycles; and there is no 'cycling culture' either. Drivers are not always aware of how they should behave around cyclists. They might not give enough space, while overtaking; or they might overtake too fast. And they don't always look at their side-mirror, before opening the car-door into a cyclist's path: which results in 'dooring', one of the biggest risks cyclists face. These are all things that make cyclists – or people who might want to cycle –say: "I would consider it; but I'd rather not, because I fear for my life.' At the same time, however, this 'coexistence' between cars and bikes (in the broader sense) may be problematic for other reasons. The recent pro- liferation of e-scooters, for ex- ample, is giving rise to a lot of frustration: partly because it is unclear whether these contrap- tions should be following the same Highway Code as every- body else; and partly because they may also hinder mobility on pavements, etc. Isn't there some truth to these complaints? I would say it certainly is an important issue, that needs to be addressed. But once again: what the problems you describe actu- ally boil down to is that… we ha- ven't planned for this new mode of transport. And we're still not planning for it now: even though it has been present in Malta – and growing in popularity – for the past five years, or so. If it were up to me, I would say this is a great opportunity to of- fer a mode of transport which is actually ideal for the country's short distances. Remember: half of our daily trips are less than five km; they could easily be done on an e-bike, or a e-scoot- er, or something similar. But we do need to make the necessary provisions for it. We need to ask ourselves: where do we want people to ride their scooters? And I would also agree with you, in that: if we have a one-way system, then yes, they should follow it, too… as cur- rently applies to bicycles as well. Having said this, there are ar- guments for a 'contra-flow' sys- tem as well: i.e., allowing cyclists and scooters 'two-way' passage, on streets that are 'one-way' for cars. This is very common, in other countries; but in Malta, it would be a new approach. So we would need a public awareness campaign; and also traffic signs, to make it clear to motorists that they might encounter cyclists coming from the opposite direc- tion. We might even need to cre- ate the necessary space to ac- commodate the new system, in certain places. And that might involve removing a lane of park- ing, for instance. Or even to reduce the number of lanes for motorised traffic: in some areas, there is no need for multi-lane carriageways. And if you reduce them to one-lane roads, for traf- fic… in the same width of road, you could also accommodate not just a cycling lane; but also a bus-lane, wider pavements for pedestrians. It all boils down to planning, though. E-scooters – along with other cleaner, and more efficient, modes of transport – could be a great opportunity, for Malta. But not in the way the situ- ation is being handled now. There may be some legislation, on paper; but there is no real en- forcement… so people ride their scooters wherever they want - sometimes on the pavement, sometimes on the road – and they leave them wherever they want, too… So yes, obviously people will get upset about it. Because on pavements that are already in bad shape… often very narrow, and already cluttered with all sorts of other obstacles… they now have something else to con- tend with. And I agree: that's not the way things should be done. It is on- ly causing further dangers, in an already dangerous road environ- ment. But I don't think the con- clusion should be, 'we should not have e-scooters, at all'. I think the conclusion should be: we need to evaluate what we really want, on our streets… PHOTO: JAMES BIANCHI / MALTATODAY