By Anne Suarez
More and more people – the young, working or retired – are hopping on a bike. In 2015, there is already such a thing called Manila’s cycling culture. Cycling groups are being founded and are open for more members, with an increasing number of young professionals switching from a 4-wheeled drive to a 2-wheeled pedal. With kilometers of bike lanes already built, Manila’s cycling culture has indisputably come a long way.
But why is it that riding bikes in Manila still sucks?
But why is it that riding bikes in Manila still sucks?
It is crystal clear that driving in Manila to get to work on time with an hour-drive is now just a dream. When going to Quezon City from Makati is three times longer than travelling to Boracay and riding a motorcycle is just too dangerous, more people find themselves riding a bike.
However, bike lanes can often be spotted with cars parked on, construction on the site, or pedestrians making it an extension of the sidewalk. Without a protected bike lane, cyclists – elbow to bumper with cars – remain riding through the thin line between arriving to work early and getting crushed by a passing vehicle with the slightest turn of the steering wheel. Not to mention the possibility of your bike being stolen, parked or not. Cyclists are now left to choose: the luxury of getting to work early and not having to pay for the commute, the many perils of Manila’s streets, or the bloodbath that could easily get yours mixed in.
Drivers don’t respect your space.
Regardless of Manila’s growing cycling culture and more people joining in its advocacy, the city still finds itself covered with the frustrations of its motorists. For society, cyclists remain the scofflaws of the city, hated by drivers and pedestrians. It’s a matter of the Right of passage. Drivers, thinking that roads are meant for cars, honk at cyclists that they think are blocking their way, which is at the outermost lane called the bike lane. Filipino drivers are trained to fit their cars to wherever space they can find on the road, even if it’s not within their Right of passage. It is so easy to illegally park your car on a lane where there is no barrier. Besides, pay parking is just too expensive in the city when compared to a free bike lane’s space. It’s a system we’ve created years before laborers were the only ones using bikes in the city as a means of transportation.
In 2015 the MMDA reported that there have been 1, 127 bicycle-related deaths from 2005 to 2013, most of which involved a jeepney. Though the question of whether helmets, lights and riding in painted bike lanes actually make bikers safer still remains, because none of that can protect you from the carmageddon waiting there, it’s just not enough.
However, bike lanes can often be spotted with cars parked on, construction on the site, or pedestrians making it an extension of the sidewalk. Without a protected bike lane, cyclists – elbow to bumper with cars – remain riding through the thin line between arriving to work early and getting crushed by a passing vehicle with the slightest turn of the steering wheel. Not to mention the possibility of your bike being stolen, parked or not. Cyclists are now left to choose: the luxury of getting to work early and not having to pay for the commute, the many perils of Manila’s streets, or the bloodbath that could easily get yours mixed in.
Drivers don’t respect your space.
Regardless of Manila’s growing cycling culture and more people joining in its advocacy, the city still finds itself covered with the frustrations of its motorists. For society, cyclists remain the scofflaws of the city, hated by drivers and pedestrians. It’s a matter of the Right of passage. Drivers, thinking that roads are meant for cars, honk at cyclists that they think are blocking their way, which is at the outermost lane called the bike lane. Filipino drivers are trained to fit their cars to wherever space they can find on the road, even if it’s not within their Right of passage. It is so easy to illegally park your car on a lane where there is no barrier. Besides, pay parking is just too expensive in the city when compared to a free bike lane’s space. It’s a system we’ve created years before laborers were the only ones using bikes in the city as a means of transportation.
In 2015 the MMDA reported that there have been 1, 127 bicycle-related deaths from 2005 to 2013, most of which involved a jeepney. Though the question of whether helmets, lights and riding in painted bike lanes actually make bikers safer still remains, because none of that can protect you from the carmageddon waiting there, it’s just not enough.