DOTR, SM launch Active Transport Manual

THE Department of Transportation (DOTR) and partner SM Group launched on Wednesday the so-called Active Transport Manual, which spells out guidelines to promote road safety, courtesy and etiquette, as it has completed more than half of the government’s P1.1-billion bike lane network in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao.

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said his group aims to finish the whole bike lane network by end-2021. The road network aims to promote active transport means as the pandemic continues to pose a threat to the industry.

“We recorded 55 percent or a total of around 296 kilometers of bike lane network established with pavement markings, bollards, curbs and solar studs. Our goal is to complete the total bike lane network length in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao to almost 535 kilometers before the year ends,” Tugade said during the launch of the Active Transport Manual.

According to Transport Assistant Secretary for Road Steve Pastor, the government is spending P1.3 billion to develop active transport facilities, of which P1.1 billion was allotted for the establishment of bike lanes.

“For Metro Manila, we allotted more or less P800 million and we have 340 kilometers here. For Metro Cebu, with 140 kilometers, around P150 million, and another P150 million in Metro Davao, which equates to 160 kilometers of bike lanes,” Pastor said.

The government has been promoting active transport since the second half of 2020, as the pandemic forced the public transport sector to cut their capacities to minimize the risk of spreading Covid-19.

Tugade noted that the bike lanes will persist even after the pandemic has been curbed.

“We will not stop this program even if the pandemic ends,” he said.

Department of Health Director Beverly Lorraine Ho noted that promoting active transport will help reduce the growing number of Covid-19 cases in the country.

“Active transport will help us move more people across our cities and municipalities safely and promote economic recovery, by reducing the risk of Covid-19 transmission through a well-ventilated and physically distanced means of travel for our frontliners and essential workers,” she said.

This, she added, promoted better health, as exercise helps in boosting the immune system as well as preventing common lifestyle diseases such as hypertension and diabetes.

For its part, Move As One Coalition lauded the decision of the government to promote active transport, noting that this is a crucial first step to the “emergence of a new and powerful mindset about our planet, our health, and our choice.”

ROY DOMINGO THE Light Rail Manila Corporation said on Monday the LRT-1 would no longer suspend operations on April 24 to 25 since majority of its planned maintenance works were completed ahead of schedule.the operator previously announced that the train line would be closed in the last two weekends of April to complete rehabilitation works on its trains, stations and other systems. The engineering team did their best to accelerate and compress activities through improved planning and coordination, officials said.