'Unsafe': Transpo advocates blast plan to merge EDSA bike, motorcycle lanes
MANILA, Philippines — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) earned the ire of active transport advocates and a commuter group after baring its plan of a "shared lane" for motorcycles and bicycles along EDSA.
MMDA acting chair Don Artes recently stated said that a preliminary study is already ongoing regarding the possible lane sharing in one of the country's busiest highways. He said this while citing the supposed the dedicated bike path's "underutilization."
"This idea is scary since it's dangerous for those riding bicycles," said The Passenger Forum convenor Primo Morillo in Filipino in an interview with Philstar.com this Wednesday.
"We all know who will be suffer should a collision happen between a motorcycle and a bicycle. We will only lessen those who would want to take up cycling because of policies such as this," he added.
Morillo's group is saddened by the MMDA's idea of zeroing in on bike lanes which only take up a few meters wide, especially since the agency earlier "blamed" motorcyclists of clogging the roads.
The Passenger Forum also said that the plan would ironically counter the Department of Transportation's active transport program.
"We call for the stricter implementation of exclusivity of bike lanes," continued Morillo while clarifying that they agree with the MMDA's No Contact Apprehension Policy.
'How about we lessen car-only lanes?'
In a separate interview, AltMobility PH director Ira Cruz voiced a similar condemnation of the said plan, citing the importance of the exclusivity of bike lanes for the sake of safety.
"First of all, the MMDA should change this point of view: What we need to be studying is how many car lanes we should be taking out so that motorcycles and cyclists would have their own lanes," Cruz explained.
"This is the only way to genuinely intensify the safety of cyclists. They should also publicize the study being undertaken and invite civil society organizations and advocacy groups in crafting it."
AltMobility PH is also dissappointed at how the MMDA came to the aforementioned conclusion prior to the finishing the study.
The group, alongside the Make It Safer Movement, have long been clamoring for the increase of protected bike lanes to lessen injuries and fatal crashes on the road.
Stakesholder meeting
Artes says that there will be a stakeholder's meeting on August 29 which will be attended by cyclists and motorcyle riders regarding the planned sharing of lanes.
The MMDA acting chair said that the huge number of motorcycles plying the 23.8-kilometer stretch of EDSA from Querzon City to Pasay City continue to be a challenge. As of July 17, there are about 165,000 motorcycles use EDSA daily.
"We will consult our stakeholders before we finalize and make recommendations to the Department of Transportation. The DOTr has the final say on the matter because the bike lane is their project," according to the MMDA official.
"We have observed that many motorcycle riders use the bicycle lanes on EDSA since the suspension of the no contact apprehension policy. Additionally, we have been receiving complaints from the bicycle groups stating that they could not use the dedicated lane for them," he added.
The United Nations in October 2022 said that nearly 30% of all road crash deaths involve two to three-wheeled vehicles such as motorcycles, scooters and electrical bikes.
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