The shift from vehicular oriented to pedestrian oriented environments : the case of Malta

Abstract

In Malta, the modal shares for walking and cycling are decreasing whereas that for driving is on the increase. This suggests car dependency, the effects of which, are also being observed in town centres where residents opt to use their vehicles for short trips, which could easily be walked or cycled (Scerri et al., 2013). The main hypothesis tested is that people do actually want to walk and cycle, however, the urban design and spatial treatment of the streets favouring cars impedes this. It is suggested that retrofitting streets to shift focus from vehicles to people, will stimulate walking and cycling of short trips. Through interviews and site observations in streets in the towns of Birkirkara and Sliema, qualitative data is gathered to determine respondents' preferences to various street design options and characteristics that stimulate or inhibit walkability. From the data gathered, it is observed that improvement of the surrounding environment stimulates half of respondents to walk or cycle, whereas the rest of the respondents preferred parking, therefore, are less likely to be stimulated to walk even if streets are improved. Additionally, the availability of good infrastructure, which enhances the pedestrian experience, was one of the requirements identified to stimulate active mobility. In this regard, the barriers hindering active mobility were observed to be: inadequate infrastructure, approach to street design and car dependency. It is concluded that retrofitting streets alone will not be enough to encourage everyone to walk or cycle. for this reason, it is suggested that such interventions are accompanied by other measures.