The Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta (PBA) Party-list plans to refile the proposed Bicycle Act in the 19th Congress should it win in the May 2022 elections.
“We filed this bill in the 18th Congress even before the pandemic started because we are of the firm belief that bicycle riding is a viable alternative means of transportation,” said PBA Party-list spokesperson Atty. Migs Nograles.
Aside from the institutionalization of bike lanes, the PBA Party-list’s proposed legislation mandates the creation of a bicycle park in all cities and municipalities where provisions for bicycles are present, including bicycle parking areas and similar infrastructure.
“Cycling not only promotes health and leisure, but will also provide an alternative solution to the high prices of fuel, increasing fares, traffic, noise and air pollution, and the ever-increasing cost of vehicles,” she stressed.
The PBA Party-list originally filed House Bill No. 2520, or the Bicycle Act of 2019, on July 23, 2019. Under the proposed legislation, all main roads and highways shall be provided with bicycle lanes or bikeways identified by an office to be created under the same bill, the Local Bikeways Office (LBO).
“The LBO, under the supervision of the City of Municipal Engineering Office, will be the agency which will be in charge of implementing the policies, rules, regulations pertinent to the Bicycle Act, including the registration of bicycles using the bikeways,” Nograles said.
The LBO shall also prepare plans, specifications, and manage the construction and maintenance of bikeways on all thoroughfares and roads.
The Davaoeña lawyer said cycling as a means of transportation is “important now more than ever especially in the context of a post-COVID new normal.”
“We want to provide a framework for a bicycle law on a national level so that commuters may find a cheaper and safer alternative to get to their destination as we slowly transition to the new normal,” she said.
Given the method of transmission of COVID-19, travelling in the open air has proven to be safer and biking will automatically enforce social distancing among the riders.
“The coronavirus pandemic has forced us to rethink most of the things we were used to doing before the pandemic. Given the method of transmission of COVID-19, travelling in the open air has proven to be safer and biking will automatically enforce social distancing among the riders, unlike riding in cars and other motorized public transportation,” Nograles added.
Aside from the institutionalization of bike lanes, the PBA Party-list’s proposed legislation mandates the creation of a bicycle park in all cities and municipalities where provisions for bicycles are present, including bicycle parking areas and similar infrastructure.
