More cycling, better mobility
Credit to Author: ROBERT SIY| Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2019 16:18:13 +0000
To describe the potential of personal computers, Steve Jobs called them “bicycles for the mind.” For Jobs, computers enable humans to amplify their mental abilities–the same way bicycles allow humans to travel much faster and further with their own energy.
Bicycles may not be so visible on our streets, but they move many more people than one would expect. Just check out any bicycle rack in any commercial complex or office building in your city on a week day—they will be full of parked bicycles.
Bicycles are already the vehicle of choice for many who have fixed reporting hours, who have to be at work by a definite time. A friend who travels from Cainta to Bonifacio Global City everyday (a 13.8-kilometer trip) used to endure a journey of 85 to 130 minutes using public transport (or about 75 to 90 minutes driving a car). When he shifted to using a bicycle, his one-way travel time was cut to 45 to 50 minutes, with greater predictability.
Using a bicycle also means lower travel cost, zero emissions, and health benefits from the daily exercise. Research studies have shown that people who bike regularly are happier, are more creative and have better mental health.
In a “livable” city, cycling should be one of the top mobility options—allowing commuters to bike the first or last miles or to complete a journey entirely by bicycle. If there were a network of safe bake paths connecting different parts of a city, many more Filipino commuters, even car owners, would switch to using bicycles for their daily travel — a healthier, more efficient and climate-friendly mode of transport
Reserving more road space for bicycles makes more efficient use of an important public asset. A 3.5-meter-wide lane of road devoted to cars moves, at most, 2,000 persons per hour; devoting the same road space to bicycles can move up to 14,000 persons per hour. The promotion of cycling also supports disaster preparedness. In an emergency, bicycles can provide personal mobility even when public transport services are unavailable or fuel supplies are cut.
Many of the world’s great cities have invested in bicycle-friendly infrastructure. New York City, with over 1,900 kilometers of bike paths, has the largest bicycle lane network in North America. Bogota, Columbia boasts over 360 kilometers of cycle paths. Taipei, already with over 500 kms of bikeways, plans to build another 200 kms by the end of this year. Singapore, a city with much the same climate as the Philippines, has set an ambitious target of 700 kms of cycling paths by 2030 and 1,000 kms by 2040. We need to do the same for Philippine cities.
Here are few ideas on what can be done to promote cycling as a daily travel option:
Identify roads or areas that would be exclusively for pedestrians, bicycles (human-powered or electric-powered) and electric public transport. These areas or corridors would be designated as “low pollution zones” because they are historic places, tourist sites or around schools. Intramuros, Boracay and the UP Diliman campus would be possible pilot sites.
Bike lanes can be created where illegally-parked vehicles were previously located. Removing the illegally parking vehicles frees up road space for use as a bicycle lane. Having a protected bike lane also helps to prevent the road from being appropriated for private parking.
Create bike lanes by reducing the width of car lanes. In some streets, car lanes are much wider than needed. An average car is about 2.7 meters wide while some car lanes are 3.5 meters or more in width. Narrowing the width of the car lane can actually contribute to road safety by forcing cars to go slower.
Teach elementary and high school students how to ride a bicycle. Today, there seems to be many more Filipino adults who never learned how to ride a bicycle. It would be great if all Philippine schools would be required to offer bicycle lessons to students as part of the physical education curriculum.
Require bicycle parking slots (i.e., bike racks) in every school, activity center, office building, place of worship, factory or commercial establishment. For buildings and establishments which are required to have car parking spaces, bike parking slots can substitute for the provision of car parking spaces. [Note: Singapore will have 267,000 bicycle parking spaces in place by 2020.] Shower facilities would also be very much appreciated by cyclists.
Pass legislation to allow bicycles, both electric and non-electric, on all urban roads. Recently, there was a proposal to limit the use of electric bicycles to private and barangay roads; this would be a big mistake. We need to remove restrictions on the use of bicycles of all kinds, so that they can become the preferred travel option for most Filipinos.
Electric bicycles (with their potential for attracting car and motorcycle users and for replacing fossil fuel motor vehicles) represent one of the most powerful tools for reducing traffic congestion, vlowering carbon emissions, achieving better air quality, and improving mobility for a large segment of the population, especially the elderly and those who are less active physically.
The Philippines needs to make safe cycling one of its top transportation sector priorities. Investments in bicycle infrastructure are low cost, highly visible, pro-poor, and require less time to implement than many other types of transport infrastructure. If each of the 17 LGUs in Metro Manila create 10 kilometers of protected bike lanes every year, the metropolis can have over 500 kilometers of bike lanes by the end of the Duterte administration, offering millions of Filipinos a safe, convenient and environment-friendly travel option.
Robert Y. Siy is a development economist, city and regional planner, and public transport advocate. He can be reached at mobilitymatters.ph@yahoo.com or followed on Twitter @RobertRsiy
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