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On transportation and global health – article share
I was supposed to write about the keynote lecture delivered during the 30th Annual Conference of the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines (TSSP). I am sharing instead an article written by Dr. Renzo Guinto who is an Associate Professor at the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute based at the National University of Singapore.
Here is the link to his article on the Philippine Daily Inquirer: Health at the center of transport and mobility
I will not quote from the article and leave it to my readers to read and appreciate the articles content.
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On ride hailing replacing more sustainable options for transport
We’ve long suspected that ride hailing or ride sharing is not as sustainable as their proponents and companies would project them to be. Here is more evidence showing how ride hailing has diminished other more sustainable transport options.
Kerlin, K. (August 28, 2024) “Half of Uber, Lyft Trips Replace More Sustainable Options,” UC Davis News, https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/half-uber-lyft-trips-replace-more-sustainable-options [Last accessed: 9/8/2024]
Quoting from the article:
“About 47% of the trips replaced a public transit, carpool, walking or cycling trip. An additional 5.8% of trips represented “induced travel,” meaning the person would not have made the trip were an Uber or Lyft unavailable. This suggests ride-hailing often tends to replace most sustainable transportation modes and leads to additional vehicle miles traveled. “
The article and the study by UC Davis is limited to their experiences with Uber and Lyft and perhaps others that employ cars. In our case, we have in addition motorcycle taxis or habal-habal that further takes away passengers from public and active transportation. Motorcycle taxis provide a very attractive alternative to conventional public transport modes as these are perceived to reduce travel times among other advantages they provide to users.
I will share some information later about the current mode shares in Metro Manila and how drastically public transport mode shares have been eroded post pandemic.
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Designing a “Runnable” City
I’m sure you’ve read or heard about walkable cities. But have you read or heard about “runnable” ones? Here’s a quick share of an article about cities where you can run, jog or walk.
Source: Designing a “Runnable” City
To quote from the article:
“Several urban design principles can enhance the runnability of a city:
Connectivity and accessibility: This means developing a network of interconnected running paths and trails that are easily accessed from various parts of the city (especially neighborhoods). Even better if can be green corridors that connect to other parks and open spaces, and support continuous movement.
Safety and security: Ensuring running paths are well-lit and separated from vehicle traffic is crucial. Traffic calming measures such as vehicle lane narrowing, wider footpaths, and appropriate landscaping enhance runner safety. Street trees also help reduce car speeds, as they alter our perception of how wide the road is and provide a psychological cue that we’re in a residential area. Redesigning urban infrastructure to include dedicated running paths alongside walking paths and bicycle lanes, is a great idea.
Inclusive design: City design should encourage active mobility, which means including benches, water fountains, and restrooms along running routes. It means building footpaths that enables running, and avoiding uneven, slippery or unfavorable surfaces such as cobblestones. It also means making it easy to find your way around — even in unfamiliar environments.”
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Technical sessions at the TSSP 2024 Conference
I am sharing here the latest draft of the technical sessions for the 30th Annual Conference of the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines (TSSP). The conference will be held in Iloilo City this coming September 13, 2024.
I will share the draft program for the morning plenary session in the next post.
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On mountain biking and its history
Here is another quick share of a rather informative and amusing article about cycling, particularly about mountain-biking:
Septer, Q. (June 29, 2024) “The Poetry of Cycling,” Medium.com, https://medium.com/the-new-outdoors/the-poetry-of-cycling-dffeb752b510 [Last accessed: 8/24/2024]
To quote from the article:
“Mountain biking continues to ascend in popularity. New trails are built. New records are set. New technologies are fine-tuned to the subtleties of the sport’s sub-disciplines. But the ethos of mountain biking hasn’t changed all that much since the days of the Buffalo Soldiers, more than a century ago, when folks simply wondered how far a bicycle might take them.”
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Pedestrian-Friendly Cities: The Impact of Walkability Grants
Here is a quick share of an article on how to encourage cities to be more pedestrian-friendly:
Source: Pedestrian-Friendly Cities: The Impact of Walkability Grants
Many of our cities, particularly the highly urbanized ones, are not as walkable as we want them to be. Lacking are the most basic facilities such as sidewalks and safe crossings. Walkability Grants such as those in the US can encourage cities to build and/or enhance pedestrian infrastructure. Many designs such as those footbridges along EDSA and Commonwealth Avenue, for example, are anti-walking. Grants may be used to come up with better designs for walkways and footbridges.
To quote from the article:
“Walkability grants are awards for programs and projects creating innovative pedestrian infrastructure, such as new sidewalks, crosswalks, plazas, street lights and green spaces. For example, in February 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program, delivering $800 million in monetary awards for 511 projects addressing public safety and road improvements…
Reshaping the built environment into a walkable haven helps boost the local economy and sustainability. By changing the urban landscape, citizens are more inclined to walk instead of drive, allowing cities to reduce emissions, improve air quality and create healthier neighborhoods. This is critical, considering air pollution is responsible for 7 million early deaths yearly.”
Perhaps we can have similar grants coming from national government via the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in cooperation with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)? There was some funding for bikeways during the pandemic but this new one should put more emphasis on walkability.
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Article share: on how transportation impacts your health
I’ve written or shared articles here about transportation and health. I share another article concerning how transportation impacts our health. Here’s our first article share this August:
Harris, A. (August 1, 2024) “Getting there is half the battle: how transportation impacts your health,” The Flint Courier News, https://theflintcouriernews.com/getting-there-is-half-the-battle-how-transportation-impacts-your-health/ [Last accessed: 8/14/2024]
To quote from the article:
“In health, transportation is essential to how people access health care and maintain health,
whether it is getting to the doctor, picking up medication from the pharmacy, going to the
grocery store to maintain nutritional needs, or walking around their neighborhood to get more
exercise.”
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On a city’s part in making bike and scooter shares succeed
I recently posted about Bonifacio Global City (BGC) and the bike and scooter share they have there. There was one bike share there and in the Ortigas Center before the pandemic. But those fizzled out for various reasons including not so many people using it. Here’s a report on bike and scooter shares in the US and the observation that cities are not making it easy for these to succeed:
Tu, M. (July 29, 2024) “Report: People Want to Ride Shared Bikes and Scooters, But Cities aren’t Making it Easy,” Next City [Last accessed: 8/2/2024]
To quote from the article:
“Even long standing bike share systems can fall victim to the whims of leaders who are not committed to investing in greener modes of transportation. Houston recently lost its bike share system, ending 12 years of operations for BCycle after a new mayor hostile to bike and pedestrian improvements overhauled the METRO Houston board.
If cities want to encourage people to ride a bike or scooter instead of getting into a car, they will have to figure out how to fund it — or in other words, put their money where their carbon reduction goals are.”
Though we’re still a long way to achieving the bike and scooter shares they have in other countries such as the US, we should be wary about their experiences. The lessons learned here should already be in mind to those who will be setting up bike and/or scooter shares in Philippine cities. There is a demand for these facilities as people find cycling convenient and safer in some cities. However, LGUs need to invest more and commit to safer and more connected bicycle facilities in order to convince more people to use this active transport mode instead of motorized transport including motorcycle taxis.
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Mobility options in BGC
I haven’t been to Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig in a while. Unlike before (during the pandemic) when we could just stay at the condo some days to chill at our unit and explore BGC for lunch or dinner. We have high speed internet at our condo unit so we can work from there. I can do my lectures via Zoom and the wife could have her meetings online. Fast forward and we decided to have our unit leased so we couldn’t go there as frequently as before. The lease ended last month and we’re using the condo unit for ourselves while we refurbish the unit for future use, whether for our purposes or for leasing again.
It’s good to know that there are now active transport options for going around BGC. The previous bike share closed shop before the pandemic and it took a while for moovr to set up. Here are a few photos of the station near our condo.
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SPRINT principles for bicycles
Here is the link to how to improve your city’s or municipality’s bicycle facilities based on scores guided by the SPRINT principles: https://cityratings.peopleforbikes.org/create-great-places
SPRINT stands for:
S -Safe Speeds
P-Protected Bike Lanes
R-Reallocated Space
I-Intersection Treatments
N-Network Connections
T-Trusted Data
The site provides links and examples of good practices of actual bike projects in the US. Many of these can be replicated or adapted to Philippine conditions. These are something that the active transport section of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) should look into and perhaps provide a reference for developing and improving bicycle facilities in the country.
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Caught (up) in traffic 