DOTr told: More bike, pedestrian lanes needed

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) should prioritize completing short-term projects like bike lanes and pedestrian walkways to ease the commute of millions of Filipinos, according to a mobility advocate.

Move As One Coalition said the active transport budget should be to hiked to as much as P3 billion as Filipinos are now more open to cycling and walking to their destinations.

Robert Siy, Move As One Coalition co-convenor, said the DOTr has to switch up its infrastructure mindset to prioritize as well the completion of active transport facilities.

He said the DOTr is too focused on building large-scale railways, particularly the P873.6-billion North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) and the P488.5-billion Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP). Although these projects would bring the most benefits, they require at least a decade to be built.

The NSCR, the country’s single largest infrastructure investment to date, will operate entirely by 2032. Partial operations for the NSCR are scheduled by 2027 for the Malolos-Valenzuela section and by 2028 for the Malolos-Clark line.

Meanwhile, the MMSP faced challenges in obtaining right of way in business districts and posh villages, pushing completion to as far as 2032.

Given this, Siy said it is important for the DOTr to make more transit options available now, and this can be achieved if the agency invests in active transport.

“Because for us, active transport infrastructure is what you can deliver faster and it has the most inclusivity, and it has profound impact on the mobility of ordinary Filipinos.”

The DOTr was given just P69.38 million for active transport projects in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for next year. However, lawmakers injected an additional P250 million to boost funding for bike lanes and pedestrian walkways.

Still, Siy believes at least P3 billion is needed annually to build up the active transport network in line with the demand. Siy said Filipinos are becoming more inclined to bike or walk to school or work to avoid dealing with traffic congestion.

Preliminary results from the Active Transport Strategic Master Plan (ATSMP) showed walking is now the main mode of transport among Filipinos, beating tricycles and jeeps.

“About one third of all trips around our big cities are three kilometers or less, short trips, making them bikeable and walkable,” Siy said.

So far, the ATSMP has found that Filipinos are okay to walk to their destination for as long as it just takes half a kilometer and around 15 minutes.

The ATSMP, commissioned by the DOTr, seeks to develop the country’s national framework for active transport like cycling and walking. It also aims to come up with designs and strategies for the development of bike lanes and pedestrian networks.

Transportation Development Officer Francis Troy Caiga said the DOTr is set to finish studies for the ATSMP by the first quarter of 2026. He noted that the ATSMP was supposed to be concluded this year, but researchers faced struggles in data gathering due to the midterm elections.