One recent development in Metro Manila, when it comes to how our car-centric transportation system is developing, is the news that the Metro Manila Development Authority is considering the removal of EDSA’s bike lanes.
This interesting because the provinces usually refer to what is happening in the National Capital Region as they form their own transportation plans and policies, and how that area is dealing a topic as controversial as bike lanes will usually influence the mindset of our local officials who usually don’t know any better and are just content with the “monkey see, monkey do” style of governance.
According to news reports, the EDSA bike lanes are now in danger of being removed by the MMDA. Acting MMDA Chairman Romando Artes said they are exploring the possibility of removing the bike lanes as part of a study they are conducting with the Department of Transportation to consider an exclusive motorcycle lane instead.
If you come to think of it, this proposal doesn’t really come as a surprise because the EDSA bike lanes are mostly crappy anyway. It’s not very protected, so all sorts of non-bicycles encroach into it. Aside from that, being in a concrete jungle, there is no shade at all. These two factors alone would make it one of the worst bike lanes in the world, if we were knackered enough to consider entering it into any sort of contest. In that case, the only reason for keeping it is because it exists.
Because it’s a terrible bike lane, it doesn’t get the use the space deserves, so it naturally gets the attention of the MMDA and DOTR, who see much more motorcycles clogging that highway. Hence, the proposal to reallocate the space occupied by the bike lane for motorcycles. On a purely rational level, that proposal makes sense. This is happening because of our government’s typical inclination to do things half-baked, and then give up on it because it doesn’t deliver the results. All the officials involved want to say is “well, at least we tried.”
What makes the EDSA bike lane important is its symbolism because it shows that once upon a time, our government was serious enough about active transport to put a bike lane in one of the country’s most well-known and busiest highways. I reckon that this is why advocates of biking are up in arms over its proposed erasure. A bike lane on EDSA tells local officials all over the country that it is something they should consider on the major roads of their own towns and cities as well.
If our government is serious about making active transport a viable option for Filipinos, it would not only keep the bike lane on EDSA, but improve it further as well. In an ideal world, it would be a protected one, with shading from trees, ala Barcelona’s. Such a sight, if and when it is efficiently utilized by cyclists, would provide a beacon of bicycling hope throughout the country, and maybe even the world.
However, unfortunately for us, we live in the opposite of an ideal world, one where a bike lane on EDSA may have to be replaced by a motorcycle lane because it makes more efficient use of limited resources in a very congested highway.
If the EDSA bike lane is removed, government can still commit to active transportation by building a better alternative network of bike lanes in Metro Manila. Better only means two things: protected and shaded, which can be achieved by designing barriers/plant boxes where skinny but shady trees can be planted. Because if you come to think of it, EDSA, while symbolic, isn’t really the right place for the nation’s premier bike lane network. However, if government removes the EDSA bike lane and then does not work on its replacement, both in terms of symbolism and access, then it becomes clear that the active transportation project has been abandoned.
However, just because Metro Manila seems to be giving up on bike lanes, it doesn’t mean that those in the provinces should follow suit. After all, with or without bike lanes, nobody wants an EDSA. What we want in our towns and cities is for our transportation systems to be planned and implemented so that we prevent what is happening over there from ever happening over here.
On that end, our city officials can and should look to metropolitan areas other than Metro Manila for inspiration. Why would any Negrense city want to be like that failed experiment anyway? There are so many bigger but better designed and managed metropolitan areas that we can take inspiration from. Barcelona is one. Aside from emulating the shady streets with generous bike lanes, and the beautifully grid-designed layout of the city, perhaps we should channel La Rambla, instead of EDSA.
The beauty of being here in Negros Island is that we have can still do something about our transportation system and urban planning, ideally before it’s too late. The caveat is that the clock is ticking, and doing nothing is no longer an option.*
