‘Tindak board’ to handle bike lanes

CEBU, Philippines - A board composed of government and private representatives is now being eyed to effectively manage the future implementation of bike lanes in Cebu City.

To be called “Tindak” Board, the idea was unanimously agreed upon during yesterday’s meeting discussing the draft ordinance of Committee on Environment chairwoman Councilor Nida Cabrera.

Tindak is a Cebuano word that means “to pedal”.

The meeting was attended by Cabrera’s office staff members, City Traffic Operations Management executive director Rafael Christopher Yap and civil society organizations specifically the Movement for a Livable Cebu as well as biking enthusiast groups Critical Mass Cebu and Bike To Work Cebu.

MLC was represented by its lead convenor Marc Canton and another convenor Rudy Alix while road sharing activist Ryan “Rye Kido” Noval also joined the meeting.

Former city planning officer and now private environmental planning practitioner Elipio Bacalso also came.

Noval volunteered to be part of the board to provide input from a bicycle rider’s perspective keeping the balance with government officials who will take care of the legal steps in accordance with local government code and related, necessary laws.

During yesterday’s meeting at Cabrera’s office, the group helped out in finalizing the draft legislation to be called “The Tindak Lanes Ordinance.”

The proposed ordinance aims to clearly cite roles of government, motorists, pedestrians and bike riders in the successful implementation of the bike lanes project.

Regulations penalizing establishments and riders violating the ordinance were also discussed.

Since the ordinance will eventually institutionalize bike lanes in private and public establishments, those who will be found to have violated will be fined P1,000 for the first offense, P3,000 for second offense, P5,000 for the third and revocation of permits for the subsequent offense.

Violating bikers who will not heed the safety and legal provisions will also be fined P500 for first offense, P1,000 for second offense and P1,500 for third offense.

Cebu City and its private partners are pushing for bike lanes as an alternative and eco-friendly mode of transportation. –(FREEMAN)