P2 billion earmarked for bike lane improvement

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City has been identified as one of the beneficiaries of the P2 billion the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has allocated for the creation and improvement of bike lanes.

DOTr environmental planner, Architect Fe Isabel Adarne, said in a zoom meeting with the City Planning Office that a bike counting system will be established to help improve the city’s existing bike lanes.

Adarne said the bike counting system will help improve DOTr’s “Biking to Work” commuter program as it plans to establish dedicated bike lanes in key metropolitan areas by 2023.

“Manila, Cebu, and Davao will be the first to benefit from this development,” Adarne was quoted in a report by the city public information office.

DOTr has proposed a partnership with the Cebu City government for the establishment of the bike counting system.

“That is why we are tapping your city to help us out para maka gawa na tayo ng Memorandum of Agreement (MOA),” added Adarne.

With the MOA, DOTr will be able to transfer a portion of its funds to the City to purchase an automated bike counting system.

Such is an electronic device that detects the number of bicycles at a location for a particular period.

The collected data will then be sent through DOTr to help planners whether to extend the existing bike lane system in key areas.

“With this, we can help map out a bike lane system for a better commuter experience and Cebu has a number of bikers which is why we wanted to partner with you on this,” Adarne said.

The bike counting system is also aimed to help create a safer bike experience for commuters.

The proposal is timely as the city government through the Sugbo Bike Lanes Board is just doing random surveys per street to determine the area that has the most number of cyclists passing.

So far, the N. Bacalso avenue has the most number of cyclists with a thousand of them using the bike lane and the rest of the road in a span of two hours, Sugbo Bike Lanes Board executive director Bernard Maraasin told The Freeman in an earlier interview.

The bike lanes board is also looking at registering the cyclists here for better identification and monitoring.

Cebu City had been awarded as a “bike-friendly” city and the city government thru the Sugbo Bike Lanes Board wants to improve further together with the support of the other concerned agencies.-  FPL (FREEMAN)