Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1531608
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 JANUARY 2025 NEWS Expression of Interest For more info visit micas.art/get-involved or contact procurement@micas.art micas.art Closing at noon on Friday 31 st January 2024 Mobile Coffee Kiosk Service MICAS/EOI/001/2025 growth after the pandemic growing by 459% to reach 4,917, with the most significant increase occurring between 2021 and 2023 when their num- bers rose from 2,575 to 4,787. The growth slowed slightly be- tween 2023 and 2024, with an increase of 230 cabs. Privately owned motorcycles and electric bicycles, which are grouped together, have al- so surged, increasing by 238% from 15,568 in 2012 to 43,980 in 2024. In contrast, some transport modes have seen little or no growth. White taxis have slight- ly declined, from 291 to 286, while coaches have increased modestly, from 345 to 397. Y-plated minibuses dropped significantly, from 270 to 92, even as privately owned min- ibuses increased from 837 to 1,545. Maltese roads now also host 173 rented quads, 1,196 privately owned quads, and 356 e-kick scooters. However, one transport al- ternative disappeared entirely between 2023 and 2024. Rent- ed scooters, which had grown from 174 in 2020 to 4,242 in 2023, were eliminated follow- ing legislative changes. Al- though privately owned scoot- ers were not banned, their numbers only increased by 60 during this period. Presently there are only 356 scooters in Malta. The data also highlights that the increase in buses has not reduced private transporta- tion. While the number of buses rose over the 12-year period, the pandemic caused a temporary decline, with the fleet shrinking from 450 in 2019 to 435 in 2020 only to increase to 498 by 2024. This means that compared to 2012 when the whole island was ser- viced by 288 buses, the num- ber of buses has increased by 210. Post-pandemic trends The pandemic triggered a significant increase in pri- vately owned motorcycles and e-bicycles, whose numbers rose from 29,034 in 2019 to 31,163 in 2020 and 34,657 in 2021. While rented motorcy- cles with QZ plates declined from 1,231 to 942 during the first year of the pandemic, their numbers rebounded to 1,414 by mid-2024. Y-plated cabs also experi- enced a dip during the pan- demic, falling from 2,575 in 2019 to 2,340 in 2020. How- ever, they surged to 3,639 by 2022 and 4,787 in 2023. More- over, rented scooters saw rap- id growth during the pandem- ic, increasing from 174 in 2020 to 998 in 2021 and 4,242 by 2023 before being banned. Despite the increased inten- sity of construction, the num- ber of road tractors has only risen by 100 since 2012. How- ever, vehicles carrying mer- chandise have increased by 31%, reaching 54,414. Overall, Malta's entire vehicle fleet has grown from 314,510 in 2012 to 440,163 in 2024—an increase of 40%. 2012 2024 % change Y plate cars 879 4917 459 QZ plate rental cars 3264 11264 245 K plate rental cars 3029 338 -89 White taxis 291 286 -1.7 Private cars 242149 310822 28 Vehicles carrying merchandise 41642 54414 31 Road tractors 1058 1158 9.5 Other commercial vehicles 2950 4525 54 Route Buses 288 498 74 Coaches 345 397 15 E kick scooters 0 356 NA Quads 0 2369 NA Minibuses 1107 1637 48 Motor cyles/E bicycles 15568 43980 283 Total number of vehicles 314510 440163 40 2012-2013 2.5 2013-2014 3.9 2014-2015 3.2 2015-2016 2.6 2016-2017 2.9 2017-2018 2.6 201-2019 2 2019-2020 1.2 2020-2021 1.3 2021-2022 0.7 2022-2023 1.6 2023-2024 0.9* * till second quarter of 2024 % change in number of personal cars Change in number of different vehicles between 2012 and 2024