Home » Posts tagged 'active transport' (Page 3)
Tag Archives: active transport
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?
–
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.
–
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.
–
Quezon City’s bike lane barriers
Here’s a first look at Quezon City’s new bike lane barriers along Katipunan Avenue (C-5). I took these photos while crawling towards Ateneo Gate 3 on my way to the office.
The same or similar barriers/planters have been installed along other major roads including Commonwealth Avenue. This is part of Quezon City’s commitment to building a bikeway/bike lane network and a worthy investment to encourage more people to take up cycling especially for work and school trips. The barriers serve to protect cyclists from motor vehicles thereby enhancing safety along these roads. Hopefully, other LGUs will follow suit and invest in active transport facilities.
–
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/
–
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.
–
On walking and running for health
Here is a quick share of an article on walking and running from the New York Times:
On walking and taking the stairs
With the increasing popularity of active transport, people still forget that biking is not the only mode being referred to by the term. Walking is the most basic form of transport for us and there are many creative ways to encourage walking even if it is indoors like in an office building, a school building or a shopping mall. Here is a photo of the stairs at one mall with encouraging words for those taking the stairs instead of the escalators or elevators. It only takes 30 minutes of walking everyday to gain the benefits of a more active lifestyle.
My daily walks take me up and down the hilly roads in our neighborhood. I attribute to these walks my relatively effortless climbs to the 4th floor of our school building where my office is. Our elevator has been out of commission for some time now so we are all forced to take the stairs to our lecture rooms and offices. These I refer to as ‘stairmaster’ exercises, which is included in my daily routine so it adds to my step count as well as being recorded for the flights of stairs I take each day. I attest to this routine to improving my health and well-being, and highly recommend this to those who are able to do so.
–
Incorporating bike lanes along local roads – an example in Taguig City
I have not used an old route that we usually take to go to BGC from our place in Antipolo. This is via the Manila East Road, Highway 2000, Barkadahan Bridge and C6. From C6, we usually take Ruhale instead of Seagull Avenue as the former provided a shorter route towards Levi Mariano Avenue and C5. So it was only last weekend that I was able to see the improvements along Ruhale Street and how bike lanes were incorporated along this road. I am sharing the following photos showing a two lane road and Class 2 bike lanes.
The green pavement markings indicate an intersection or driveway.
Noticeable are the electric posts that remain along the bike lanes. These need to be transferred so they will not pose danger to all road users.
More electric posts along the bike lanes
Bike lanes in front of an industrial establishment
Close-up of a post in the middle of the bike lane.
Bike lane across another industrial establishment. Again, note the green pavement marking across the driveway of the establishment.
Bike lanes along a predominantly residential area along Ruhale.I would consider this as a good practice example that can be replicated elsewhere. Of course, it is not perfect and as shown in the photos, there is much room for improvement including the transfer of electric posts that pose as hazards to all road users. The bike lanes are wide enough that installing bollards for the perception of physical protection vs. motor vehicles can be considered. Ruhale is generally a low speed, low volume road so perhaps the current state with no barriers would be enough for now. Also, we need to appreciate that these are already gains or wins in as far as active transport is concerned. A few years ago, this would not have been implemented by national or local governments.
–
A real battle of Katipunan – the search for a transportation solution
Is it obvious that I was alluding to the classic match-ups of the two major universities – Ateneo De Manila University and the University of the Philippines Diliman – that are located along Katipunan Avenue for the title of this article? That is deliberate on my part as there is a ‘real’ battle along Katipunan Avenue, and it does not involve sports.
Following is a recent article from the Philippine Collegian that reports on the current state of traffic along the corridor:
https://phkule.org/article/971/private-cars-mainly-to-blame-for-katipunan-traffic-transport-experts
I have written before and many times about transport and traffic along Katipunan Avenue. This road has been part of my daily commute since 1988 when I was admitted to UP Diliman as a B.S. Civil Engineering major. Back then Katipunan was not as wide as it is now, especially along the section between UP Diliman and the MWSS complex. That section only had 2 lanes then. What is not a wide center island with large, old acacia trees used to be the frontage of MWSS. So now you can probably imagine how much land was ceded by MWSS for road widening.
I also wanted to write about Katipunan in part as a sort of farewell to the former MMDA Chair and Marikina Mayor Bayani Fernando (BF), who recently passed away. Much of how Katipunan looks like and the traffic situation today can be traced to what transpired during his time at MMDA. I will refrain from writing about this and him for now. I am actually thinking of writing a series about BF and his time as Mayor in Marikina, as MMDA Chair, and his brief stint as DPWH Secretary. This short article will do for now.
Caught (up) in traffic 