Licensing unit’s move to Paola ‘will further hinder pedelecs industry’

The shift of Transport Malta’s licensing department from Floriana to Paola will add a fresh layer of inconvenience to people wishing to register their pedelecs, the Bicycling Advocacy Group (BAG) has warned.

As of tomorrow, Transport Malta’s vehicle and licensing units will move from their old offices at Hornworks Ditch, Floriana, to the A3 Towers in Paola that it is leasing from the General Workers’ Union.

The transport watchdog is paying the GWU €500,000 a year in rent for the building that the union had purchased for €1.7 million in 2010.

BAG spokesperson Jim Wightman noted that Transport Malta’s technical section will remain in Floriana. This will mean that new owners and tourists arriving on pedelecs will have to first obtain a permit to transport their vehicles from the A3 Towers to the technical section in Floriana. After the pedelec is inspected, its owner will then have to take it back to Paola to register it.

The lobby group urged government to apply a moratorium on the law requiring pedelecs to be registered, until the technical section can be moved and accommodated in the A3 Towers.

“Malta is the only EU state to register pedelecs under 250 watts or treat it differently from a bicycle,” Wightman said. “Ultimately, the easiest solution is for the law to be rescinded to 250w electrically assisted pedelecs.”

He noted that the pedelecs industry has taken a massive hit since a law requiring their owners to register them was introduced in 2014. Pedelec use dropped by 85% between 2012 and 2014, followed by a further 15% drop the following year. Wightman said that pedelec retailers have noted a 75% drop in sales of new pedelecs in the first quarter of this year compared to last year.

“Retailers are also citing the need to wear helmets as putting off many would-be buyers interested in commuting as an additional factor,” he said. “We demand that the government address the appalling performance in encouraging green sustainable pedelecs. Even Italy, one of the poorest performers in pedelecs growth managed a 3% improvement in 2014. We fell this year so far by 75%.”