BIKER-FRIENDLY. Cyclists make use of the bike lane along the busy Epifanio de los Santos Avenue in Quezon City on April 25, 2023. The Department of Transportation on Monday (Sept. 11, 2023) broke ground for the establishment of 76.70 kilometers of protected bike lanes across the cities of Lipa and Batangas City in Batangas and the cities of Antipolo, Cainta and San Mateo in Rizal. (PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler)

MANILA – The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Monday broke ground for the establishment of 76.70 kilometers of protected bike lanes across the cities of Lipa and Batangas City in Batangas and the cities of Antipolo, Cainta and San Mateo in Rizal.

The bike lanes, with a total approved budget of PHP151.7 million under the 2022 General Appropriations Act, are expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2024.

The project is part of the government’s Active Transport Program that aims to provide “sustainable and seamless” active transport not only in Region 4-A (Calabarzon) but also nationwide.

“Itong taong ito ay magkakaroon ng around 400-km of bike lanes sa bansa (This year there’s going to be around 400-km of bike lanes in the country),” DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista said during the groundbreaking in Lipa City.

The project has Class 2 — with physical separators and pavement markings — and Class 3 or shared roadway bike lanes.

The bike lanes to be installed in Batangas are the first in the province, while the new bike lanes in Rizal are an expansion and improvement of existing bike lanes.

“Next year nanghingi na kami ng additional budget para magkaroon ng additional bike lanes nationwide (We asked for an additional budget for even more bike lanes nationwide by next year),” Bautista said, citing the health and environmental benefits of cycling.

The agency is targeting to expand the protected bike lane networks to 2,400 km.

The use of protected bike lanes was implemented at the height of the pandemic in 2021, when there was limited mobility due to the pandemic restrictions.

The bike lane network augmented public transportation and helped people safely get to work during the pandemic.

Based on a 2020 survey from Social Weather Stations and Department of Health, 87 percent of Filipinos agree that roads in cities and towns will be better if public transportation, bikes, and pedestrians are prioritized over private vehicles. (PNA)