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On the Pasig River esplanade project
My news feed was full of articles on the Pasig River esplanade, or at least the recently completed section at the Manila Central Post Office building. This is a proof of concept type of project that hopes to be expanded or extended to cover both sides of the river much like the Iloilo River Esplanade project. If you are wondering what the section looked like before the project, here are two posts I wrote in 2012 that features a lot of photos of the Muelle del Rio:
These were way before the fire that damaged the Post Office building. However, even at that time, there were already calls for the renovation, even repurposing of the Post Office building. Such projects or proposal draw inspiration from Singapore where old buildings have been preserved and many repurposed (e.g., how about the Post Office building transformed into a hotel?). Perhaps such will breathe life and lead to a revival of this part of Manila?
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On bike lanes network development – examples in the US
I am sharing this article on the best new bike lanes in the United States:
Haggerty, M. (January 12, 2024) “The Best New U.S. Bike Lanes of 2023,” People for Bikes, https://www.peopleforbikes.org/news/the-best-new-u.s.-bike-lanes-of-2023 [Last accessed: 1/23/2024]
Quoting from the article:
“Even for the most ardent naysayers, it’s difficult to deny that the landscape of bicycling in America is transforming (although not as quickly as many of us would like to see). While we have yet to see any U.S. cities emerge with truly bold citywide plans for bike networks as we’ve seen in places like London, Paris, and Bogota, many are (slowly) beginning to envision a future where cycling takes center stage. Although there remains a substantial amount of work ahead of us to cultivate a safe and comfortable environment for people of all ages and abilities to ride bikes in the U.S., it’s well worth pausing to commemorate the significant infrastructure victories U.S. cities achieved in 2023.”
The quote above also applies to us in the Philippines where there are still few examples of safe and comfortable bike lanes. I shared the same article on my social media page asking aloud if there’s something like this in the Philippines. I am aware of the Mobility Awards but that’s supposed to cover everything on mobility and particularly walking and cycling. The list is about bike lanes and touches on the various designs (note that in the US, while there are federal guidelines, most if not all states and cities would have their own that they use for planning and design of bicycle facilities). It would be nice to have our cities develop guidelines while also referring to the minimum standards in the DPWH Guidelines. Of course, the challenge is to come up with good if not the best designs and not just comply with the minimum.
If there was an award for best new bike lanes in 2023, I think Quezon City will have several nominees and even win the award with one. Picture above is the bike lane along Katipunan Avenue/C5.
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Solar road studs for Ortigas Avenue Extension bike lanes
The bike lanes along Ortigas Avenue Extension now have solar road studs for these to be more visible at night time or when it is dark. Following are photos of the bike lanes at night.
While the studs enhance the visibility of the bike lanes and perhaps also the safety of cyclists, the latter is not assured. The bike lanes are not protected and physical barriers like those installed along Quezon City roads are most effective in ensuring the safety of cyclists against motor vehicles. The solar studs do not deter motor vehicle drivers from encroaching on the bike lanes so they appear to have minimal impacts on safety.
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Westbound bike lane along Ortigas Avenue Extension, Cainta, Rizal
I was not able to post these photos of the westbound bike lane along Ortigas Avenue Extension immediately after I shared photos of the eastbound bike lane. The bike lanes, as can be seen from the photos, are painted green.
Bike lane past Valley Golf and STI
Bike lane approaching Brookside (Sunset Drive) with the CK Square as a landmark
Still a big issue for bike lanes is the presence of electric and communication poles/posts that have not been relocated after so many years since Ortigas Avenue had been widened.
Bike lane across from Tapsi ni Vivian
These photos were taken before the solar studs were installed to delineate the bike lanes and make them more visible at night or when its dark.
Also, challenges and concerns for cyclists are parked vehicles and those maneuvering from the various establishments along the road. This photo pretty much captures those two concerns – a parked UV Express van and a truck maneuvering out of a store occupying the bike lane.
Cyclist pedaling along the bike lane approaching the Shell Gas Station (where there is also a McDonald’s)
Bike lane in front of the Ortigas Hospital just outside the Brookside Gate 1 and near Cainta Junction
More photos of the bike lanes soon!
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Want Less Traffic and More Parking? Start Charging for It!
Here’s a quick share of an article on parking:
Source: Want Less Traffic and More Parking? Start Charging for It!
From the article:
“like most urban issues, parking is not an isolated problem. If smart parking programs are implemented but road design and policies still encourage motor vehicle use, the efficiency of parking programs will be limited by the intrinsic political and physical nature of each location. Nevertheless, free parking is a nuisance and a massive cost to the public, especially lower-income individuals, causing congestion and ultimately reducing mobility. Research shows that charging for parking makes the most out of parking spaces in a given area, and makes the process of maintaining parking fairer by charging its users instead of everyone indiscriminately.”
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29th Annual Conference of the TSSP
The Transportation Science Society of the Philippines (TSSP) held its 29th Annual Conference today, December 7, 2023. Following is the program for the conference, which featured a panel discussion in the morning and technical sessions in the afternoon.
This was the first mainly face-to-face or in-person conference for the society since 2019. Previously, the conferences were online. As reported in the concluding part of the program, there were 84 participants who showed up at the venue while there were 30+ participants who were online via Zoom.
There were a couple of awards at the conference. These were the Best Paper Award and the Best Presentation Award. The Best Paper Award, based on the scores garnered from the blind review of the papers went to:
Maria Belen Vasquez and Jun T. Castro of UP Diliman for their paper entitled “Exploring Travel Patterns of Mobility of Care in Guiuan, Eastern Samar: Assessment of Gender and Sociodemographic Factors Using Spatial Analysis”
There was a tie for the Best Presentation Award. The two were Ms. Vasquez for the presentation of the paper on the Mobility of Care in Eastern Samar, and Mr. Erris Sancianco for the presentation of a paper he co-authored with Noriel Christopher Tiglao, Niki Jon Tolentino, Gillian Kate Hidalgo, Mary Joy Leanda, and Lester Jay Ollero entitled “Evaluating the Fuel Efficiency and Eco-Driving Potential of the EDSA Carousel using On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) and Mobile Crowdsourcing“. These papers will likely find their way to the Philippine Transportation Journal’s next issue.
Though it was not announced, a likely venue for the next conference will be Vigan, Ilocos Sur in the Northern Philippines. The likely host will be the University of Northern Philippines, the premier state university in that province. Previously and most recently, the conference was held in Cebu City (hosted by the University of San Jose-Recoletos) in 2019 and before that in Cagayan De Oro City (hosted by Xavier University) in 2018. TSSP was already organizing the 2020 conference when the pandemic struck and the country went on a lockdown. That conference was supposed to have been held in Baguio City in Benguet, and to be hosted by St. Louis University.
More information on the conference may soon be found at the TSSP’s official website: https://ncts.upd.edu.ph/tssp/
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On reimagining our streets
We start the last month of the year by sharing this article on complete streets:
Robertson, D. (November 15, 2023) “Safe streets are global—and it’s time for the U.S. to catch up,” Smart Growth America, https://smartgrowthamerica.org/safe-streets-are-global-and-its-time-for-the-u-s-to-catch-up/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=03b04320-4eeb-4bf5-9b12-71ec2a960421 [Last accessed: 12/1/2023]
To quote from the article:
“The examples mentioned here are exemplary cases, but demonstrate that the future of mobility need not follow the same dangerous status quo. They prove that with a combination of public and political will to the commitment of the prioritization of people over cars, we can produce the results we care all about.”
While the article is on complete streets, there is a very quotable section that referred to the situation in Japan:
“Anyone who wants to register a car in Japan today must prove that they have a private place to park it. This shifts the economic burden of providing parking from the public to drivers, and also ensures that supply of parking will not grossly outpace demand.”
There are many opportunities for the complete streets concept to be applied in the Philippines. A few have already been implemented but there should be more especially in light of the gains from the development of bike lanes networks in many LGUs that started during the COVID-19 pandemic. As for parking, perhaps the Japanese example should be adopted and implemented to curb car-dependence.
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Why College Campuses Make Ideal Models for Cities
I recently read this article on college campuses being models for cities. Of course, this refers to campuses or perhaps university towns that have developed in the US. These appear to be microcosms of cities or what cities should be. I can imagine this for the UP Diliman and UP Los Banos campuses. There are others that are similarly structured but most universities and colleges in the Philippines may not even have full campuses like UP including those in the University Belt in Manila. Many are practically just buildings. Others that have land like UST and Ateneo do not have the residential areas like UP’s that would make the campus a town in itself.
To quote from the article:
“Universities and other educational institutions make the lives of their students easier by placing amenities close to student housing so they can travel on foot or by bicycle to reach their destinations. This design encourages human interaction and improves quality of life.
The same can be done for cities and towns. Urban planners can look to college campuses for inspiration, borrow the features that enable this lifestyle, and incorporate them into city design. Such a holistic approach will make it preferable to travel on foot, make sustainable transport more accessible, and create thriving local economies.”
Eastbound bike lane along Ortigas Avenue Extension, Cainta, Rizal
I recently posted about the newly painted bike lanes along Ortigas Avenue Extension between Cainta Junction and Valley Golf in Cainta, Rizal. Here are more photos of the bike lanes along the eastbound direction of the avenue.
Just past Cainta Junction and across from a gas station. The bike lane marking here though should have been for a driveway due to the service station.
Bike lane approaching the Ford dealership
Bike lane in front of the Ford dealership along Ortigas Ave. Ext.
An unusual discontinuity in front of a vacant lot
Another discontinuity
The broken lane markings are supposed to be for driveways and approaches to intersections like this section at a gas station. This was the appropriate marking for the station in the first photo.
Car parking are a concern for cyclists as they often encroach on the bike lane.
Approach to an intersection (J.G. Garcia Street) across from Brookside Subdivision gate
Approach to intersection with Huners ROTC Street and just before STI.
I will share photos on the westbound bike lane along the same section in the next post.
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Bike racks at SM City Taytay
I have written before about the bike facilities at SM malls. Their new malls and expansion projects already have provisions for bike parking in addition to motorcycle parking despite the building code not having provisions for these. I write about another example, this time in Rizal province. SM City Taytay has bike racks installed at the basement parking. I am sharing the following photos for reference.
Hand rail/hanger type racks
Bollard style racks
Grid style racks
I’m not sure what went into the decision, if there was any, to provide different types or styles of racks for bicycle parking. To some, it looks like an afterthought rather than a planned approach to bike parking. Still, the facilities appeared to be highly utilized so that means people are taking their bikes to the the mall and it appears that most of these are customers rather than mall personnel. SM has been quite vocal and active in promoting their involvement in active transport (i.e., mostly about cycling) and their malls have included bike parking as an integral part of their facilities. Hopefully, they will continue to support cycling and develop better facilities to encourage bike use.
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Caught (up) in traffic 