Taks Barbin
The article was originally published at Transit Dialog
I have been biking since I was a child. I always associated the feeling of riding bikes with freedom, with flying. My friends and I can go to places where it would take us hours and a lot of walking energy to reach.
Even the renegade writer from Indonesia, ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ฎ ๐ง๐ผ๐ฒ๐ฟ, once described bicycles as humanityโs best invention. We could cover distances with only pedal power as fuel, and with no smoke.
When the pandemic happened, it highlighted a number of inequalities. When public transport was banned, bikes became the reliable companion of anyone who canโt afford to buy a car or motorcycle. Suddenly, bikes became a necessity. In the country’s capital Metro Manila where only 12% of the population, owns a car, bicycles became the lifeline of many workers.
Bicycle prices sky-rocketed after a few months. It was horrible how profit-minded people took advantage of many buyers. The bike my brother gave me used to cost around P8,500, but now itโs around P15,000. Yet, bikes still are the most affordable and efficient mode of transportation. You can still buy a used bike for a good price.
But bike prices are not the only issue concerning bike-commuters. Safety for bikers hasnโt yet been thought of by many road users and lawmakers. Car drivers still open their doors without looking on their left first. Jeepney and taxi drivers still cut bikers to make sudden stops. Bikers still need to ride alongside 16-wheeler trucks if they want to make it on time for work. And most of them wonder if there really is such a law as the Clean Air Act.
I canโt help compare these scenarios with those from developed cities abroad where commuter safety is the number one priority. They take care of their constituents to a point where even if you forgot your helmet or even if youโre only using a cheap bike, youโre still safe and wonโt have to die.
Slowly, local governments recognize the need for bike facilities. They recognize that many of their constituents are indeed bike-commuters. But still, most bike lanes are not connected to each other. Some are not even safe for biking because of road conditions, or because bikers still share the lanes with awaiting pedestrians and motorists who think their time is more important than the lives of some bikers.
Moreover, many establishments are still without safely guarded parking spaces. Bikes continue to be prone to stealing, making one think twice before using a bike.
Itโs a good thing though that some groups pressure the governments to do their jobs. A group in QC made bike lanes by putting colored containers on the side of the roads, sparking a little friction with the Metro Manila Development Authority.
Others gave away reflectors and bike helmets. MNL Moves conducted mappings of bike paths across cities. And in November 2020, the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities along with 350.org and MNL Moves launched the Mobility Awards. It recognized the efforts of governments, establishments, and workplaces for being biker-friendly.
As a biker, I volunteered in this effort. As I promoted the awards in many biking groups, I witnessed how some bikers are bitter with their local governments. Someone even said online that there shouldnโt be awards like this because local governments donโt deserve them. I was quick enough to explain that it was more of an encouragement, a sort of positive reinforcement.
More campaigns for bike-commuting were eventually initiated. After the awards, a campaign for safe biking for women was launched. It turns out, biking infrastructures were not the only issue. Many women hesitate to bike because cases of cat-calling and unwanted touching are still prevalent.
Some men claim that women are harassed because of what they wear. But if we think of it, even in places where women cover their bodies up to their eyes, harassment and rape still happen.
These issues we face in biking communities reveal the symptoms of bigger problems. Harassments will continue as long sexism persists. Who does the government really serve, the majority of the people or the fewer elite who own multiple cars? And why do people need to steal bikes in order to survive in the first place?
Surely, these problems canโt be solved by blaming drug users, oppositions, or by establishing ceiling prices. Pointing out the existence of bike-communities may be a good first step. Besides, we deserve to be safe. Not only because we pay taxes, but because we are human beings. If we canโt bike in the cities, it means that the cities are not safe.
Recently, I gave my 20-year-old bike to my young nephews after using it for almost ten years. I did it hoping that my nephews would find the freedom I once discovered in riding bikes. And I also hope it would inspire them to fight for freedom, in all its forms.
These bike-commuting problems will persist if governments and people continue to lack sympathy. Yet we best not wait for that. Developments in bike-commuting will surely take longer if we wait for non-biking politicians to act for us.
There is strength in numbers, and biking communities already have that. Just remember not to ride too close to the gutters. Make sure you are noticed, or those four-wheelers will cut in and ignore you as fast as they could.
๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ด ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ-๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ด๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ท๐ช๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ต๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ฑ๐ช, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ต 350.๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ต๐ถ๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ถ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ.