In a news article by Romina Cabrera in The Philippine STAR ( 22 December) the news reporter said that the Department of Transportation (DoTr) is considering motorcycles to serve as a public transportation. The rationale is understandable: the continuing population implosion in the country and the metropolis on the one hand and the limited road networks and public means of transportation available on the other hand, led to this unusual proposal of turning motorbikes as public transport.
However, will motorbikes be a sustainable transportation vehicle?
Sustainability in this sense means having to ensure road safety of drivers, the public including pedestrians. Whilst motorbikes may ferry an individual from home to work and vice versa more quickly, the number of daily commuters will require a huge number of motorbikes to ply within the metropolis. If we were to rely on motorbikes as public transport, we will witness a swarm of bikes in no time at all. We hope motorbikers would have the discipline to avoid swerving in and out of lanes and being mindful of traffic rules that apply to any other vehicle. Education and discipline characterize respectable motorbikers in some other countries and such attitude primarily shapes the success of biking including motorbiking. Road safety primarily rests on discipline strongly supported by enforcement of rules.
Motorbikes may serve as public transport. Only meanwhile. In the long term, a thoughtful mass transport system is imperative in Metro Manila and this should be one of those in the “Build, Build, Build checklist.” – EDNA E. A. CO, University of the Philippines, CIFAL Philippines, eaco@up.edu.ph