{"id":9951,"date":"2020-08-15T14:24:57","date_gmt":"2020-08-15T06:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/?p=9951"},"modified":"2021-12-01T20:38:57","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T12:38:57","slug":"protected-bike-lanes-key-to-liveable-cities-edsa-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/press\/9951\/protected-bike-lanes-key-to-liveable-cities-edsa-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"Protected bike lanes key to liveable cities: Greenpeace joins EDSA bike lane initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

QUEZON CITY, Philippines<\/em> \u2014 Protected bike lanes are essential for building better, more liveable cities. This is what Greenpeace wants people to appreciate as it takes part in the \u201cShare the Road\u201d exercise on August 15-18, 2020. <\/p>\n\n

\"\"
Protected Bike lanes along Edsa. In cooperation with Bikers United Marshals, MMDA and Greenpeace, these protected bike lane will run along the highway of EDSA starting Aug 15, 2020 from 6am to 10am.
\u00a9 Jilson Tiu \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

The environmental organization joins biking advocates, supported by key government agencies, as they provide frontliners and other bikers with pop-up bike lanes along EDSA for the next four days. The group is calling on Metro Manila mayors to advance protected bike lanes as part of a comprehensive plan to put people at the center of city planning.<\/p>\n\n

The \u201cShare the Road\u201d initiative in EDSA is the second wave of the event, which was first organized at Commonwealth Avenue by Biker\u2019s United Marshalls (BUM). The bike lanes will be set up at six stations along the highway\u2019s southbound side, from Aurora Boulevard to Magallanes.<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace Southeast Asia executive director Yeb Sa\u00f1o sees the activity as an opportunity for people to appreciate the far-reaching benefits of establishing a cycling lane network along main roads.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cBike lanes are not just for bikes and bikers, but for everyone living and working in cities,\u201d he said. \u201cWith the right planning, they could provide pedestrians and commuters with safer, wider room to move even at a busy road like EDSA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace believes that because of urban planning that has prioritized motor vehicles running on fossil fuels, the resulting air pollution has made our cities unhealthy for ordinary citizens[1]<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cGlobally, cities account for 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions<\/a>[2]<\/sup>, a great part of it is from fossil fueled transport. Cities that provide more opportunities for active mobility such as biking and walking will create less need for cars,\u201d Sa\u00f1o said. \u201cThis means less air pollution, and a huge opportunity for climate mitigation,\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Moreover, protected bike lanes are an important component in planning a healthier, greener design for our cities. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cImagine Metro Manila not just with bike lanes, but with more trees, more green public spaces, and more room for everyone to breathe,\u201d Sa\u00f1o said. \u201cThis is what we want to see when we ask for liveable cities, for a better normal beyond this pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Fortunately for biking and environmental advocates, there is growing interest in the government to make permanent, safe bike lanes happen.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe are starting with the issuance of the Joint Administrative Order that will guide the NGAs and LGUs in the implementation of active transport projects and policies, signed by the Departments of Health (DOH), Transportation (DOTr), Interior and Local Government (DILG), and Public Works and Highways (DPWH),\u201d said Engr. Eldon Joshua Dionisio of the DOTr. The agency is a participant in the event, along with the aforementioned signatories. <\/p>\n\n

He added: \u201cMeanwhile, the Department Order on the Guidelines and Protocols on Active Transport and Light Mobility Vehicles will ensure the safe usage of our bike lanes and maintain order on the road to protect our cyclists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace supports these developments, but for the sake of the people banking on a future with people-centric roads, the group hopes the government will soon produce a concrete plan for permanent bike lanes.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe fact that we got this far is proof that collective citizen action can disrupt public discourse and influence our leaders to do right by its people,\u201d Sa\u00f1o said. \u201cTherefore, we must remain steadfast in calling for this and other solutions that will improve our quality of life\u2014not just in Metro Manila, but in the whole country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\n\n

Note to Editors:<\/strong>
<\/p>\n\n

Note to Editors:<\/strong>
[1]<\/sup>Last February, a Greenpeace report<\/a> detailed that air pollution from fossil fuels is attributed to cause an estimated 27,000 premature deaths per year in the Philippines.

[2]<\/sup>UN Environment Programme, \u201cCities and Climate Change\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Media Contact:<\/strong>
Angeli Cantillana, Communications Campaigner
angeli.cantillana@greenpeace.org<\/a>
+63 998 595 9733<\/p>\n

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Protected bike lanes are essential for building better, more liveable cities. We joined biking advocates and key gov’t agencies in providing frontliners and other bikers with pop-up bike lanes along EDSA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":9956,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2],"tags":[],"p4-page-type":[14],"class_list":["post-9951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society","category-sustainability","p4-page-type-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9951"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11191,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9951\/revisions\/11191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9951"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=9951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}