The Bicycling Advocacy Group is deeply concerned by the comments made in the article 'PL spin and concerns about traffic do not stop MEPA from approving Lowenbrau building regeneration' (TMI 21/12/12)' in which the former Qormi mayor and MEPA board member, the honorable Roderick Galdes, rubbished the green travel plan saying that this was 'a joke: whoever heard of people bicycling to work?. The simple answer is we have, being the whole point of the Bicycling Advocacy Group that was set up to cater for commuting cyclists, a transport mode that has clearly doubled since the inception of Arriva.

We therefore find it rather strange that Mr Galdes has failed to realise this, as its quite common in other countries too. While clearly bicycles are not the silver bullet to our traffic woes, it is well documented that even a small percentage of commuters switching from cars to two wheels has a far greater (exponential) beneficial effect on general traffic flow than the actual number of riders. Therefore, while it's not every bodies cup of tea, encouraging bicycle use will have a far greater impact on the Four Saints Roundabout congestion than ignoring them. That's significant given that it was actually Qormi that polled the highest number of bicycle commuters during the Bicycling Advocacy Groups peak traffic national bike count, earlier in the year, that saw 39 riders pass the Qormi checkpoint as opposed to Sliema's 33. 

Additionally we are concerned that little is often done by shopping centres and supermarkets to encourage cyclists, who might and do looking at the responses to our members blogs actually shop at supermarkets. Several members have complained about the poor parking facilities at the Pavi supermarket for instance. 

The Bicycling Advocacy Group also find it odd that a board member of MEPA rights off bicycle commuting when it, MEPA, is a key sponsor and force behind 'Car Free Day' and other bicycling activities. 

Jim Wightman

PRO Bicycling Advocacy Group (Malta)

St Julian’s