A resident named Marie Claire Gatt has written an open letter to the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Public Works, Chris Bonett, and has called to extend Valletta ferry times and to bolster the connectivity of pedestrian and cycle routes after surrounding infrastructure forced her into an uncomfortable 9-kilometre bike ride.

In the letter, which was copied to the media, Gatt stated that on Sunday afternoon she and others were invited over for lunch at their friend's house in Cospicua. Being from Gżira and not feeling like driving there in traffic, they decided to avoid driving altogether and travel there with their bicycles and with the Valletta Ferry Services ferries.

After spending the day with their friends, Gatt and co. made their way back the same way but quickly realised that they could not use the Valletta ferry to return home. Whilst they planned to catch the ferry at 7pm, once arriving at the Conspicua pier, ten minutes early, they became aware that the final ferry back to Valletta leaves at 6pm during the winter on Sundays and public holidays.

The resident has therefore called for these ferry services to be extended so that more people can make use of them in the evening from November to May.

During the summer, the Valletta ferries offer a night service with the last ferry departing at midnight. However, during its winter schedule from November to May, the last ferry of every weekday departs at 7:15pm; on Sundays and public holidays, the entire service closes at 6:15pm. Each ferry traversing between Valletta and the Three Cities takes 15 minutes to arrive at the opposite pier.

She wrote that the ferry they were able to cross on early Sunday afternoon was packed, mostly with tourists. She calculated that the ferry services must have received some €400 in fares just from this trip and lamented, "Is it possible that there are no funds to maintain a connection between the ports all year round for residents?"

Since Gatt and company were unable to catch the ferry back to Valletta to shorten their trip, they were forced to make their way back to Gżira with their bicycles - a journey of approximately nine kilometres. After not managing to catch the returning ferry, Gatt's bike ride back was met with several difficulties - not because of anything extraordinary, but thanks to lacking infrastructure to ensure a safe cycling journey throughout.

In this open letter to the Infrastructure Minister, Gatt wrote: "I don't know if you've ever cycled this road, Minister, but everyone can tell you that we still have a long way to go in terms of having safe and practical routes for bicycles."

She described that once cycling from Cospicua to Paola to Marsa, there is no way for one to safely enter a cycle lane. Gatt noted that to possibly converge into a cycle lane in Marsa, "the first possibility is the bus stop under the flyover, but there is no ramp to get onto the pavement."

In addition, she stated that while the Pietà promenade is beautiful to look at, "there is no safe way to get to it" if one is coming from Blata l-Bajda. She also criticised the "new iteration of sloppy infrastructure for cyclists and walkers" present in Msida where the Msida Creek Project is being constructed, labelling it as "narrow and impractical."

Gatt added that for all those people who choose not to get from one place to another with their personal car, "it is obvious that, before we build election campaigns on expensive and unsustainable dreams for another generation, there is still so so much that can be done practically from today to tomorrow."

Gatt concluded her open letter to Minister Bonett by calling upon him, Transport Malta, and Infrastructure Malta to "extend the ferry times to Valletta so that we can rely on them all year round" and to "increase and strengthen the connectivity of cycle and pedestrian routes."

Earlier this summer, works began to develop the C-SAM cycling network. Works are projected to cost around €27.4 million. The network is expected for completion in 2028 after the first phase faced extensive tender delays, forcing it to miss its first deadline at the end of last year.

The Connections for Active Safer Mobility (C-SAM) network is meant to add between 50-60km of cycling routes to the national road network, pre-dominantly around the Grand Harbour region. This project is a key project in the government's aim to improve infrastructure and offer safer routes for alternative modes of transport.