Better Move: Encourage the Use of Bicycles

Why Ride a Bike?

"Driving a Car Burns Fuel and Saves Fat
Biking Burns Fat and Saves Fuel"

In chess as in life itself, when you find a good move it is always best to find a better one. With the herculean traffic mess we are all in right now, it is indeed a better move to encourage the use of bicycles! It is great for the health, the environment and for the country. There is no doubt about that. But the way things are getting, it seems that this particular activity is still awaiting that much-needed support from everyone concerned. Years ago, there had been plans of putting up bicycle lanes on major thoroughfares that were supposed to be "connected", "integrated" and "safer".  With what I am seeing right now, those plans are still to be implemented. I just hope that those plans for the benefit of the biking public will not be entirely shelved.

Scenes: 18th Tour of the Fireflies 2017

Each time I travel along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City (notoriously described as the "killer highway"), I see a lot of cyclists as if trying to play survivor in the midst of vehicles mostly with "why would I care attitude". But, each time I see a cyclist either off to work or embarking to any other destination while literally fighting for life in this highway, I feel some sort of confirmation that there is still hope for this country. Imagine if half of the cars on the road were bicycles, traffic congestion will be miraculously solved. Instead of the ineffective vehicle reduction scheme being implemented, it is a better move to simply encourage the use of bicycles by reducing its inherent dangers posed by errant drivers and the lack of bike lanes

Again, imagine if just half of the vehicles on the road were bikes; if there are bicycle lanes that continuously connect one major thoroughfare to the other with barriers for safety, more people would definitely go out and bike; if only there is a bicycle lane similar to that in EDSA along Commonwealth Avenue that is "continuously connected" or "integrated" to other major highways, more people would be encouraged to ride a bicycle instead of taking a monthly amortized vehicle riddled with maintenance costs and parking problems to work.

With this in mind, we need to support advocacies that promote the use of bicycles just like the recently concluded Tour of the Fireflies which is now on its 18th year reckoned from its humble beginnings in UP NCPAG.

Roads are definitely meant to be shared!