Roller skating is back with a boom, but is Malta equipped enough?

During the global pandemic many trends came forward to bring people and communities together, such as in England where roller skating is coming back with a boom, so much so that the BBC reported a world-wide shortage on skates earlier this year!

Since many people have taken to social media to share their skating stories and tiktoks of the latest skating trend, hopefully this can be utilized in a more permanent form of travel in Malta. The perk of roller skating is that either clip-on wheels or skate shoes can be worn to simply cut travel time in half, while being low maintenance and slip-on to go option as opposed to bikes or skateboards which have to be tied down or carried until they're needed again. On the other hand, roller skates are barely as bulky to carry as much as travel with, as the user just stands and controls their cruising with their own body, and an added bonus is any rider to pedestrian injuries are half as bad than those with bikes, where the frames and wheels of bikes may cause more direct injury than roller-skater injuries.

Although in Malta we're further from the trend than those in the UK, private roller skating organizations in Malta are spreading the word on the fun yet forgotten form on travel with lessons and hiring skater-persons as a service for events. This travel in Malta can help us reach various emission related goals while also aiding in the National obesity crisis due to this high impact sport! Yet with an already existing limit on available bike lanes, most pavements and sidewalks are far from ideal to rollerblade onto, as small pipes, broken sidewalks and litter bags may be found lining the street, an option is to safely skate alongside the sidewalk on the street. Considering if this takes off in Malta, vehicle drivers would be forced to yield to other travelers and in turn diminish the car-first mentality of our Islands. 

There are so many forms of wheels we can use to get from place to place, what's your take on roller skating to commute? Let us know in the comments below!