MANILA, Philippines – The forthcoming conversion of protected bicycle lanes along Ayala Avenue in Makati to “shared” lanes with public utility vehicles will only serve car owners, not cyclists or PUVs, a commuters’ advocate said on Thursday, February 16.
BIKES VS CARS. A Social Weather Stations survey finds that just 6% of Metro Manila households own cars as of April 2022. Rappler screenshot Ayala Avenue has four to five lanes on each side. According to Make It Makati, there are 1,073 buses authorized by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to ply Ayala Avenue as of January 2023. This represented a 34% increase compared to early 2019, when there were 799 LTFRB-authorized buses on the major street in Makati’s central business district .has increased from 10,000 a day in November 2022 to about 37,000 a day as of January 2023.
“He was not able to work during that time because he was injured. Not to mention the stress and trauma that crash victims feel. So, you know, removing protective barriers can discourage people who may possibly want to cycle, and there are so many implications on safety,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Same thing in BGC - all the talk of going “green” is laughable. World class cities have protected bike lanes. Guess we know now where Manila sits