Polluted Travelling
During the Martial Law years in the Philippines (1970s to early 1980s), there was a story widely shared (discreetly) about a popular TV variety show host who was made to ride the bicycle all day in a military camp. According to accounts, he apparently displeased the rulers at the time for making a quip about the government's running slogan that goes, "sa ika-uunlad ng bayan, disiplina ang kailangan."Loosely translated, it means, "for the country to progress, discipline is what is needed."
What the TV host jokingly proclaimed was – "sa ika-uunlad ng bayan, bisikleta ang kailangan" ("what the country needs for progress is the bicycle"). True or not, the story fascinates me to this day. First, because some people just can't take a good joke. More importantly, because I thought the TV host must be a real visionary! He may have foreseen the traffic and pollution conditions some 15 years in the future and the need for cheaper alternatives for mobility.
Some 20 years later, the idea of bicycles as a mainstream means of transport resurfaces. When the Philippine government and the World Bank started to prepare an urban transport for Metro Manila, serious discussion of a pilot bikeways project took place. But where to pilot this idea in a metropolis notorious at that time for horrendous traffic jams and poor transport system? One would need a city where the leaders are not only willing to experiment, but also fully committed to make the cycling project work.
Marikina City, a medium-sized city at the eastern edge of Metro Manila, with a population of 500,000 was identified for the demonstration project. Known for its cleanliness, peace and order and steady economic growth, the city was ideal as it already started to think about bike lanes. In the late 1990s the city mayor already constructed jogging lanes, initially along the riverbanks (after relocating informal settlers living in the area), then transformed the jogging lanes into bike lanes when he saw that some
What the TV host jokingly proclaimed was – "sa ika-uunlad ng bayan, bisikleta ang kailangan" ("what the country needs for progress is the bicycle"). True or not, the story fascinates me to this day. First, because some people just can't take a good joke. More importantly, because I thought the TV host must be a real visionary! He may have foreseen the traffic and pollution conditions some 15 years in the future and the need for cheaper alternatives for mobility.
Some 20 years later, the idea of bicycles as a mainstream means of transport resurfaces. When the Philippine government and the World Bank started to prepare an urban transport for Metro Manila, serious discussion of a pilot bikeways project took place. But where to pilot this idea in a metropolis notorious at that time for horrendous traffic jams and poor transport system? One would need a city where the leaders are not only willing to experiment, but also fully committed to make the cycling project work.
Marikina City, a medium-sized city at the eastern edge of Metro Manila, with a population of 500,000 was identified for the demonstration project. Known for its cleanliness, peace and order and steady economic growth, the city was ideal as it already started to think about bike lanes. In the late 1990s the city mayor already constructed jogging lanes, initially along the riverbanks (after relocating informal settlers living in the area), then transformed the jogging lanes into bike lanes when he saw that some