4:30PM | October 15, 2022 | Commission on Human Rights, Quezon City
Let’s light up the streets for Car-Free Day.
Photo: Fread De Mesa
On October 15, let’s ride for safer streets, clearer skies and a low-carbon future by ensuring that riders are visible and safe.
You are more than welcome to bring your bicycle, kick scooter, skateboard and rollerblades to ride with us.
It will also be an early night ride so we can observe how vulnerable the streets are at night or in the dark.
Bring their front headlights, taillights, reflectors and other light-up accessories.
Help us light the way.
The intrinsic right and ability to move is almost exclusive to car-owners when most Filipinos
do not own cars.
Photo: Leo M. Sabangan II
Climate action based on science and justice entails an improvement of urban mobility conditions in Metro Manila with better, cleaner, cost-effective transport options to lessen dependence on imported fossil fuels and reduced carbon emissions.
According to Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), over 80% of road spaces are dedicated for the use of private cars despite only 12% of Filipino households being car owners. This is not only happening in Metro Manila but everywhere else in the Philippines where the conditions for cyclists and pedestrians remain challenging.
We believe that commuters, pedestrians and cyclists can lead the way to a better normal and that cycling can be a liberative tool to eliminate inequities in community health outcomes and in mobility and transportation access that are an integral part of creating connected, equitable and thriving communities.
The goal of the ride is to broaden the scope and diversity of the mobility advocacy movement in the Metro Manila by organizing youth and student advocates by inviting them to participate in our critical mass ride in Quezon City.
We also want to highlight the need to improve our infrastructures to be more safe and accessible to the most vulnerable sectors such as the senior citizens, persons with disabilities, pregnant, women and children. So more people would be able to shift to active transportation.
We need to nurture a thriving cycling culture, that
embraces mutual respect and equal road sharing among all road users.
Photo: Leo M. Sabangan II.
We also aim to put a spotlight on the need to make our streets more inclusive, especially for women cyclists and commuters who are more exposed to street harassment and other forms of gender-based violence.
We aim to use the ride as an event to highlight the numerous benefits of going car-free to citizens—including reduced air pollution, carbon emissions, safer streets, and freedom of movement in traffic-congested cities like Metro Manila.
Moreover, the activity seeks to accentuate the need to make cyclists become visible through organizing participants to wear glowing and light-powered devices that are used for road safety of riders.
Photo: Leo Sabangan II
Sign up for safe streets, clean air and a cooler climate.