CEBU, Philippines - "A board composed of government and private representatives is now being eyed to effectively manage the future implementation of bike lanes in Cebu City. To be called “Tindak” Board, the idea was unanimously agreed upon during yesterday’s meeting discussing the draft ordinance of Committee on Environment chairwoman Councilor Nida Cabrera. Tindak is a Cebuano word that means “to pedal”. The meeting was attended by Cabrera’s office staff members, City Traffic Operations Management executive director Rafael Christopher Yap and civil society organizations specifically the Movement for a Livable Cebu as well as biking enthusiast groups Critical Mass Cebu and Bike To Work Cebu. MLC was represented by its lead convenor Marc Canton and another convenor Rudy Alix while road sharing activist Ryan “Rye Kido” Noval also joined the meeting. Former city planning officer and now private environmental planning practitioner Elipio Bacalso also came. Noval volunteered to be part of the board to provide input from a bicycle rider’s perspective keeping the balance with government officials who will take care of the legal steps in accordance with local government code and related, necessary laws. During yesterday’s meeting at Cabrera’s office, the group helped out in finalizing the draft legislation to be called “The Tindak Lanes Ordinance.” The proposed ordinance aims to clearly cite roles of government, motorists, pedestrians and bike riders in the successful implementation of the bike lanes project. Regulations penalizing establishments and riders violating the ordinance were also discussed. Since the ordinance will eventually institutionalize bike lanes in private and public establishments, those who will be found to have violated will be fined P1,000 for the first offense, P3,000 for second offense, P5,000 for the third and revocation of permits for the subsequent offense. Violating bikers who will not heed the safety and legal provisions will also be fined P500 for first offense, P1,000 for second offense and P1,500 for third offense. Cebu City and its private partners are pushing for bike lanes as an alternative and eco-friendly mode of transportation." http://www.philstar.com/cebu-news/2013/07/10/963747/tindak-board-handle-bike-lanes?nomobile=1
Citom picks sites to set up bike racks "At least 24 areas in Cebu City have been identified as possible sites for bicycle racks to support a plan to put up bike lanes in some streets. The sites are public places, some government offices, and institutions, said Rafael Yap, Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) executive director. “These places (See Table) have a lot of visitors or clients so there’s a greater greater chance that the bike racks will be used,” Yap said. The clamor for bike lanes is coming from environment advocates, the Movement for a Livable Cebu (MLC) and bike enthusiasts. Yap said these groups would be consulted about potential sites for the proposed bike lanes. The list, he said, would be part of the feasibility study, which the Cebu city government will soon submit to the Department of Transportation and Communication to support the city’s request for funding assistance of the bike lane project. While Citom completes the feasibility study, Yap said he will sit down with MLC and bike enthusiasts to review a draft ordinance of Councilor Nida Cabrera seeking the establishment of bike lanes in selected streets. Cabrera said she wanted the proposed ordinance to be presented to the City Council next month. “It will just be pockets. We can immediately start implementation as soon as the DOTC gives us the money,” she said. REQUIREMENT Yap said that as part of a long-term plan, he would ask Councilor Cabrera to sponsor an ordinance that would require applicants for business permits to set up bike racks. Cabrera’s draft ordinance provides for the establishment of bike lanes and bike racks. Those who fail to comply with this requirement face a fine of P1,000 to P3,000. It also imposes a fine for drunk bikers and those not wearing safety gear, and for anyone who would try to obstruct the designated bike lanes. " Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/444433/citom-picks-sites-to-set-up-bike-racks#ixzz2ZWj0Yzmy Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook
‘BRT project still on track despite delays’ "CEBU City’s proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project will be resubmitted for approval in the third quarter of this year. Rafael Yap, operations chief of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom), said the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) will submit the city’s BRT project proposal to the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA). He also maintained City Hall’s position that the BRT and not the Light Railway Transit (LRT) system remains the ideal mass transport system for Cebu City. “Cebu City doesn’t have the necessary passenger volume to encourage that (LRT) kind of travel, according to the DOTC study,” he said in a speech before the Kiwanis Club yesterday. The NEDA board chaired by President Benigno Aquino III deferred approval of the Cebu City BRT project until there is evidence that the project is feasible, given the city’s narrow roads. The P211 million project will include a 16-kilometer stretch of road from Bulacao in the south to Talamban in the north passing by N. Bacalso Avenue, a portion of Osmeña Boulevard, N. Escario Street and Governor Cuenco Avenue. The BRT project is expected to be completed in two years and can be operational in late 2015 or early 2016, Yap said. “It’s a moving target date and despite the delay in project implementation it’s still within an acceptable level of delay,” said Yap. Yap is confident that delays in the project implementation will not hamper the national government’s loan application with the World Bank. “There are no indications that they are pulling out,” he said. After his presentation with the Kiwanis Club, Yap met the city’s bike lane proponents. The group that included Councilor Nida Cabrera, the council’s environment committee chairperson, still has to finish the bike lane feasibility study that they would submit to DOTC for funding assistance. Cabrera proposed to pass an ordinance declaring certain city streets as bike lanes. Other bike lane proponents include the Movement for Livable Cebu and the Critical Mass Cebu Bikers Organization. " Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/442031/brt-project-still-on-track-despite-delays#ixzz2ZWkKbCIC Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook
Some of the top-caliber Filipino lawyers who signed the Notice to Sue were noted litigation lawyers Sigfrid Fortun and Rolly Vinluan, Linda and Karen Jimeno of Metro Manila, Shanelle Salinas, Hector Teodosio and Norly Posecion of Iloilo and Gloria Estenzo-Ramos, Genevieve Tabada and Ben Cabrido of Cebu, and Jenny Ramos of Zamboanga.
LGUs, agencies urged to implement road-sharing "A NOTICE to sue was sent to Metro Cebu local government units (LGUs) in a bid by ecology lawyers to expedite construction of bicycle lanes and wider sidewalks. Ecology lawyers Antonio Oposa, Gloria Estenzo-Ramos, Genevieve Tabada and Ben Cabrido said the "Notice to Sue to Implement Road Sharing" was also sent to national government agencies. In a statement signed by 126 domestic and foreign lawyers, the proponents called for motorists and commuters or "car-less" people to equally share the road by half and for government to build a reliable and efficient mass transportation system. "Only two out of 100 people in the country own cars but 98 percent are not even given a proper sidewalk, bicycle lanes, (efficient mass transport system and space) for urban edible gardens," the statement read. They said the current transportation system is bogged down by the usual problems of traffic congestion, air pollution, expensive fuel, high fares and inefficient and polluting public utility vehicles (PUVs). The lawyers said the government failed to implement an existing law which directs national government agencies to reform a road system based on the principle that "those who have less in wheels must have more in roads." They said the failure of national and local governments to achieve this goal is tantamount to "ecological homicide." The demand letter was addressed to the Departments of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Climate Change Commission (CCC) headed by the Office of the President. In their statement, these lawyers said their notice gave these LGUs and agencies 30 days to comply with the law and implement the road sharing. "Instead of a car-based transportation mindset, we should shift to an efficient public transportation and non-motorized movement. It is not only clean and easy, it is also cost-free," the group said." - See more at: http://cebudailynews.ph/news/story/...o-implement-road-sharing#sthash.lPzsp9Cq.dpuf
I have tried not to be drawn into this debate again following your direct attack on me, which caused the previous thread to be moved out of public view. Also I'm not sure why you want to keep 'banging-on' about this issue when you yourself said you were no longer taking part in the debate. Anyhow: Okay so Cebu City is the test-bed for their efforts. Cebu City, however, occupies but a fraction of the land area of Metro Cebu and the boundaries between it and Talisay City to the south and Mandaue City to the north are really only known to city engineers. Implementing such a scheme in one small part of the metropolitan area is likely to have little beneficial effect. I agree - and that's one of the reasons my wife and I moved to Davao, to remove ourselves from all that noxious pollution and traffic jams. There's a very simple reason for that: there's no money to make such wide-sweeping changes. Furthermore - and similar to (say) Westminster - all/most of the land upon which city's buildings occupy is owned by rich families, buildings that are often built right up to the kerb. Does anyone seriously expect those families to permit the road widening which would be required to adopt this? Those families, if they were to agree, would demand huge amounts of compensation for the loss of revenue-earning real estate. Whereas what they're demanding would result in financial suicide. Which is the lesser of two evils? Those lawyers know full well that it is absolutely impossible for either Cebu City or the LGAs to comply with their demands within the time allowed. Therefore they will have to file cases at the Regional Trial Court in Cebu City where there is currently a lengthy backlog of cases due to the fact that there's a shortage of Judges. The case(s) won't be heard quickly, that's for sure; civil cases such as this have a very low priority in RTCs in any event. Were they to (eventually) win, it would be pyrrhic since the City and LGAs don't have the resources to comply. But the tax-payers will be the ones to pick-up the bill which could run into millions. Cost-free it certainly isn't. Such a scheme costs money and a lot of it. As for "efficient public transportation", the City government is trying to introduce its Bus Rapid Transportation (BRT) scheme. This might help to ease congestion a little but there are a number of problems its proponents must overcome. Not least of these is the very powerful Jeepney operators and drivers association which, understandably, is totally opposed; it has the power and ability to halt all Jeepney services nationwide, should push come to shove -- which it threatened a few years back over ever-increasing fuel prices and which led to a mandatory fuel rebate for all PUJs (Php 1.5 per litre discount). Also the BRT will only operate on a circular north-south route between (approximately) Cebu Doctors University in the north to the boundary of Cebu with Talisay; it will not operate on any cross-routes (ie east-west) at all. As you may know, Britain was the colonial power for a brief period in Philippine history. Had Britain not been required to relinquish the islands to Spain as part of the war settlement, the Philippines would be a completely different country today. In all likelihood there would be efficient mass transit systems in place in all its major metropolitan areas including (possibly) underground trains: we did that in Hong Kong, for example, whose cheap to ride underground system surpasses London's and, given the geology, far more difficult to construct. But we are where we are and the country's city roads are, by and large, narrow and most don't have sidewalks or the space in which to provide them. Where there are sidewalks, in Cebu say, they are unusable and many are actually very dangerous - but there's no money to repair them. However laudable this scheme is on an environmental front, it simply can not be put into practice.
DPWH builds pedestrian underpass "THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is starting to build a scenic pedestrian underpass under the multi-million peso diversion bridge connecting the side of the Iloilo Esplanade I to the other side across the Benigno Aquino Jr. highway popularly known as the diversion road. The diversion road is currently undergoing a road widening to accommodate eight lanes of roads and pedestrian overpasses. DPWH Regional Director Edilberto Tayao reported to Senator Franklin Drilon and Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog the ongoing underpass construction as part of the Esplanade expansion. Esplanade I was already completed at the 1.2-kilometer Dean Efrain B. Treñas Boulevard, and construction is ongoing at the Esplanade II project from the Medical City area up to the barangay ecopark in Barangay San Pedro, Molo. Tayao said the underpass project will be completed early next year to add more accessibility the Esplanade Park, currently the exercise haven and leisure area of this city. (Lydia C. Pendon)" http://www.sunstar.com.ph/iloilo/local-news/2013/07/01/dpwh-builds-pedestrian-underpass-290221
Manila's Central Heritage District - what could be! "Here's what a renovated and expanded Rizal Park could look like in the context of a revivified Manila Central Heritage District. Rizal Park can gain10-15% more canopy cover from planting trees around the western green (formerly Burham Green) in front of Manila Hotel and the reduction internal paved areas. The park would benefit from improved pedestrian (and bike) connectivity via ramped overhead bridges and elevated greenways (ala New York's High Line) shown in the rendering (orange). People (and bikes) can get from Taft avenue to the Quirino grandstand without waiting to cross a street. The same can be done from the Ermita district across to Intramuros and all the way to the Pasig River and even across two proposed new pedestrian/bike bridges spanning the Pasig between the Del Pan and Jones bridges. Note the golf course has given way to a pubic park (as is being done to municipal golf courses in the US since a parks serves millions of citizens starved for open space while a golf course serves hundreds). Note too the connectivity of the Intramuros and Rizal Park to the City Hall/Mehan Garden/Post Office cluster via bridges. This would link the district with the LRT Station. Finally the South Harbor area (in light orange) is up for redevelopment - which ideally should be an inclusive type of development that could be mixed use but one that provides all levels of residential development...not just high end units. Vehicular public transport (electric or lpg) should also be part of the district's circulation ...and we hope that the planned elevated highway connectors for container vans be built so these don't have to cross through the district anymore. All of these interventions and improvements can be implemented as investments in urban redevelopment ...that will generate increased real estate and sales tax income for the city from new locators, increased tourist and visitor spending at restaurants and destinations, increased public visitorship of the several museums in the area... sustained real estate values for the district and surrounding areas ... but the greatest benefit will be the increased access of citizens to open green space that improves their health, provides free recreation for children, improves everyone's sense of well being, and inculcates a sense and pride of place! Share if you have any more ideas to add to these or comments about the proposals." Taken from : "S.O.S. Manila Bay: Save our Sunset! No to Reclamation of Manila Bay" https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152076249914488&set=p.10152076249914488&type=1&theater
Give us our share of the road "Fed up with smoke belching cars, traffic gridlock, and never-ending fuel price hikes, a group of lawyers issued a “Notice to Sue to Implement Road Sharing” in the country. This move cooked up by inimitable Cebuano lawyer for the environment Antonio Oposa Jr. is an eye-opener. The notice to sue, signed by 26 lawyers and backed by 28 renowned international environmental lawyers, cited the need to correct a social injustice. An injustice that is based on the fact that for every 100 Filipinos, only two own or drive cars to go from point A to B. But this two percent virtually have exclusive access and control of the country’s roads. The lawyers in issuing the notice to sue is reminding the government (including the local government in Cebu) of the policy that calls for the transformation of the road system to favor efficient public transportation and non-motorized transportation such as walking and bicycling (Executive Order 774, Sec. 9 and Administrative Order 254). The wisdom of giving access to 98 percent of Filipinos to proper sidewalks, bicycle lanes and good public transportation system is not debatable. The right to travel as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1986 Constitution covers all and not just for those who can afford to own cars or have access to drive one. The Notice to Sue also stated that air pollution coming from motor vehicles is tantamount to ecological homicide and already touches on the right to life. A recent study by the University of San Carlos indicates that 70 percent of air pollution – in the form of carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides – in Cebu City are from mobile sources. Ecological groups in Cebu City have long advocated for dedicated bike lanes in city roads. Sadly, the proposal has been sleeping in the City Hall. Perhaps, the most expensive in the road sharing advocacy is the establishment of a good mass transportation system. In Cebu, proposals for modern mass transport system – be it Bus Rapid Transit or Light Railway Transit or both – are long overdue. Funding for the establishment of good public transportation system should not be a problem. If corruption is plugged and political will mustered, it is doable. With the notice to sue, expectations are high for Cebu will lead the way in institutionalizing road sharing." Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/453029/give-us-our-share-of-the-road#ixzz2aBlcnKxz Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook
