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Tag Archives: bike facilities
Quezon City’s bike ramps
This is a very late post on bicycle facilities. I took a few photos of the bike ramps Quezon City installed on the stairs of pedestrian footbridges in the city. I am sharing a couple of these photos here for reference.
The bike ramp allows one to roll his/her bicycle with relative ease up and down the footbridge. Otherwise or without the ramps, cyclists would have to carry their bikes up and down the stairs.
The landing for the the bike ramp at the foot of the stairs.
It’s quite obvious in the photos that the space along the stairs is quite constrained. Ideally, perhaps there should be two ramps – one for going up and another for going down. One ramp means one cyclist will have to wait for another or others to go up or down before proceeding to use the ramp. Perhaps this highlights the need to re-imagine the designs of footbridges. The current designs are not inclusive or equitable for all users. But whether footbridges are required in the first place is another matter.
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Recent transport features of fast-food restaurants
We went to a McDonald’s drive thru a couple of weeks ago to get some food before picking up our daughter at her school. We decided to go a new branch along the way from the office and found a new feature at the fastfood chain’s parking area – electric vehicle charging stations. There were two slots where e-vehicles can re-charge while owners eat at the branch.
Electric vehicle charging station at the new McDonald’s branch along Sumulong Highway (Mambugan, Antipolo)
Bike dining station – you can park your bike at one side and have a comfy seat while eating and drinking on the other side
The bike and dine is not a new feature but one that McDo has installed in many of their new branches and retrofitted old one with during the pandemic. Still, we hope they have this in and the charging stations in most if not all their standalone branches. Of course, other chains should follow suit especially rival Jollibee, which has more branches and an even wider network of companies (e.g., Chowking, Greenwich, etc.) under it. This will help in promoting both cycling and e-vehicles.
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Who can design bikeways?
I have read many comments about how bike lanes and other bike facilities are sub-standard or unacceptable because they were designed by non-cyclists. From an academic perspective and perhaps also from a point of view of someone who values empathy, the planning and design of bicycle facilities should not be so limited. The objective of education, and particularly for schools whose graduates become professionals like engineers, architects and planners, should be to have the latter be able to plan and design the most suitable infrastructure and facilities for all users. Suitability here should include equity considering the many elements involved for people of different gender, physical ability or disability, age, health conditions, etc. That said, it is the responsibility of agencies such as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to revise and update their design manuals and guidelines to ensure that these are according to International standards and mindful of the best practices in various cities and countries that are now very well documented.
Bike lane in BGC,Taguig City
Bike lane and jogging/walking lane in UP Diliman
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Bike lanes at the UP Diliman campus – Part 2
The bike lanes in UP Diliman are not limited to the Academic Oval. There are now also bike lanes along other major roads including Magsaysay Avenue, which is road immediately after the portal at the Asian Center and allowing direct entrance and exit via Katipunan Avenue (C-5). The bike lanes are along either side of Magsaysay Avenue and are of Class II – Type B (separated bike lanes) but there are no LED markers that are ideally placed along the delineation for the bike lanes.
Painted bike lanes along Magsaysay Avenue, which is the road behind Malcolm and Melchor Halls. To the left is the Department of Mechanical Engineering Building and the Computer Center. To the right is the Resilience Institute.
To the right is what used to be the Chemical Engineering Lab behind Melchor Hall. To the right is the Ipil and Yakal Dormitories.
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Bike-friendly fast food
While doing field work early this week, we decided to do a quick drive through for refreshments. As we queued for the drive through window, we came upon this recent addition to many fast food restaurants in light of the increasing popularity of cycling amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Here are a few photos of the Bike & Dine at McDonald’s along Rodeo Drive in Alabang.
Our first close look at the bike & dine section of a fast-food restaurant ironically was via the drive through of a restaurant.
McDonald’s bike & dine facility – many if not most of their newer branches have allocated space for bikers. These clearly show that such facilities or features can be included in the space layout and design of such restaurants.
Cyclists may park and secure their bikes on one side (left with a slot for a wheel) and sit to eat and/or drink on the other side of the table.
A close-up of the table, seats and bike slots
More and more establishments are now putting up bike facilities such as parking and bike & dine. We hope that these will help encourage more people to cycle while also proving that active transport is good for business.
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Caught (up) in traffic 