Ayala Land advances ‘walkability’ and pedestrian connectivity
Ayala Land, the leading developer of sustainable estates in the country, has long been enhancing mobility in its developments by prioritizing pedestrians and public transit facilities in the design and master-planning of its estates and malls. To further promote connectivity, ALI has embarked on a ‘Let’s Walk’ campaign that highlights how walking around urban areas, not only eases traffic congestion but improves one’s level of fitness as well.
ALI’s information campaign promotes the use of the Makati Central Business District’s (CBD) ‘ walkable’ and open spaces. These include footbridges, underpasses and elevated walkways that allow pedestrians to get around the city rain or shine. The Makati CBD in fact has the country’s longest covered elevated walkway in the country, which spans 1,100 meters from Greenbelt to Makati Medical Center.
ALI’s network of connected walkways are a boon for the health- conscious, many of whom set goals of at least 10,000 steps per day. A walk from the Ayala Museum to the Ayala Triangle Gardens would already add 782 steps to one’s daily total. The distance from Greenbelt to Glorietta would total 1,115 steps, while a walk from Ayala MRT station all the way to Makati Medical Center would sum up to 2,493 steps.
Every day, more than 200,000 people already use the pedestrian facility network in the Makati CBD, and this is expected to grow as more covered walkways are being built around the city. The elevated walkway to Ayala Center alone serves more than 50,000 people daily. These facilities have allowed people to walk around more without having to cross through traffic.
The Company’s pedestrian and transit connectivity tenet is focused on three areas, namely pedestrian priority planning, the building of climate protected walkways, and providing for easy-to-access transit terminals. As a result, other estates such as Bonifacio Global City, Cebu Park District, Nuvali, Circuit Makati, Arca South, Alviera, Vermosa and Altaraza, among others, also feature pedestrian-friendly streets and incorporate public transit connections in their master plans.
“As sustainable developers, our goal in building is to make people’s lives better. One way we can achieve this is by providing opportunities for walking and transit connectivity to ease congestion within our estates,” said Anna Maria Gonzales, ALI Sustainability Manager.
ALI continues to track and identify metrics in pedestrian transit connectivity to monitor and improve its developments’ impact on all stakeholders. The Ayala Malls’ Easy Ride project is one such improvement that provides shoppers with convenient access to various modes of public transportation from any Ayala Mall.
Aside from building public terminals that house intra and intercity public utility vehicles, Ayala Malls’ Easy Ride has also partnered with the Department of Transportation (DoTr) to establish a Premium Point- to- Point (P2P) bus service that departs on fixed schedules and travels direct routes from terminal to drop- off point. This allows for shorter travel times and a more pleasant commuting experience for the riding public.
In Bonifacio Global City, ridership of the BGC bus transit system continues to increase as the fleet of buses is expanded to accommodate more passengers. The BGC bus operates 24 hours and is one of the first transit sys- tems in the Philippines to use contactless cards.
Ayala Land’s commitment to building sustainable communities has earned for it various citations both here and abroad through the years. The Company ensures that developments have minimal impact on the environment, and maximize on sustainability through four focus areas which, aside from pedestrian mobility and transit connectivity, also include site resilience, eco- efficiency (energy- water- conservation, waste and materials management, GHG emissions reduction) and local economic development.