“My two favorite things in life are libraries and bicycles. They both move people forward without wasting anything.” – Peter Golkin
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Bicycles are human powered vehicles, typically featuring pedals, a seat, two wheels and a frame. The energy required to cycle at low to medium speeds is roughly the same as the energy required to walk.
Cycling, the activity of riding bicycles as a mode of transportation, is becoming increasingly popular in the Philippines. Recent data indicated that 36% of households own at least one bicycle. This trend reflects a growing reliance on bicycles for transport, especially during the recent pandemic, when many opted for cycling as a safer alternative.
Recently, the MNL Moves carried out the largest citizen-led bicycle count in the country from July to September, covering 180 locations across 15 cities. Philippine Star reported that Metro Manila consistently reported the highest bicycle traffic in the country.
Quezon City recorded a daily average of 19,232 cyclists over seven count days, followed by Taguig with 16,607, Mandaluyong with 14,354, Marikina with 11,363, and Pasig with 10,410. In the Visayas region, Mandaue noted 6,753 cyclists, while Iloilo City had 4,716. Davao City topped Mindanao with 3,506.
On July 20, 2021, the local government of Davao City officially launched the 54.74-kilometer Metro Davao Bike Lane Network, which spans 14 different road sections throughout the city. In support of this initiative, the regional office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) placed bollards along various segments of these bike lanes.
“Our objective is to help bikers feel safer while on the road and to encourage more people to use bicycles as an alternative mode of transport,” said Dean Ortiz, DPWH-XI spokesperson. “With more people using bikes, pollution will be decreased thereby creating a healthier environment for Dabawenyos.”
In acknowledgment of Davao City’s commitment to developing bike lanes and promoting a bike-friendly environment, the city received a Silver Award at the Mobility Awards in 2021.
In recent years, many cities around the world are taking bicycles seriously. The Washington, D.C.-based Earth Policy Institute has recognized this phenomenon: “In the year 2000, world bicycle production climbed to 101 million, more than double the 41 million cars produced.”
The figure is soaring. Revenue in the bicycles market is projected to reach $69.23 billion in 2024, reports Statista. Revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate of 1.62% resulting in a projected market volume of $73.82 billion by 2028. By that time, bicycle market unit sales are expected to reach 138.30 million bicycles.
On why bicycles are getting popular, the Earth Policy report, written by Lester Brown and Janet Larsen, surmised: “Sales of bikes are soaring because they provide affordable mobility for billions of people, increase physical fitness, alleviate traffic congestion, and do not pollute the air or emit climate-disrupting carbon dioxide.”
Worldwatch Institute, also based in Washington, D.C., reported: “Advances in cycling infrastructure, marketing programs, financial incentives, and zoning are being leveraged to increase cycling rates in more and more cities.
“Not since the automobile hijacked transportation planning decades ago has the bicycle had so many arguments, and allies, for claiming its natural niche in urban transportation ecosystems,” wrote Gary Gardner, author of the report.
A half-century ago, it was widely expected that automobile production would quickly exceed that of bicycles. Indeed by 1965, car production, which had been growing rapidly since World War II, was poised to overtake bicycle production.
But the forecast never happened. Mounting environmental concerns slowed the growth in car output and accelerated that of bikes. Between 1969 and 1970, bike sales jumped from 25 million to 36 million.
According to Brown and Larsen, the bicycle’s principal attraction was its affordability among consumers. “With cars costing easily 100 times as much, the bicycle offers mobility to billions of people who cannot afford a car,” the two authors explained. “The widely affordable bike attracted 960 million buyers during the 1990s, compared with 370 million for the car.”
Another plus factor: The bicycle also reduces the amount of land – which continues to dwindle due to increasing numbers of people – that needs to be paved. Six bicycles typically can fit into the road space used by one car. For parking, the advantage is even greater, with 20 bicycles occupying the space required for a car.
Another attraction of the bicycle is that it does not contribute to the air pollution, which are caused by solid and liquid particles and certain gases that are suspended in the air. Most of these particles and gases can come from car and truck exhaust.
“Ambient (outdoor) air pollution is causing fine particulate matter which result in strokes, heart diseases, lung cancer, acute and chronic respiratory diseases,” says the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO).
One of the gases that most vehicles produce is carbon dioxide, the primary culprit of global warming. “A bicycle commuter who rides four miles to work five days a week in the United States avoids 2,000 miles of driving and about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per year,” Gardner wrote. “This amounts to nearly a 5 percent reduction in the average American’s carbon footprint.”
Land scarcity is also driving the world toward the bicycle, particularly in densely populated Asia, where half of the world’s population lives. In heavily populated areas of Japan, the bicycle plays a strategic role. In Tokyo, where 90% of its workers commute by rail, 30% use a bicycle to reach their local rail station.
Bicycles are also used to transport goods. In rural Africa, where women use bicycles to transport farm produce to market, the resulting market expansion has reportedly raised farm output.
Bicycles are gaining popularity in industrial countries because they provide the much-needed exercise. With half or more of adults now overweight in countries like the United States, Russia, Germany, and the United Kingdom, obesity is one of the world’s leading public health problems.
In fact, more than one billion people in the world are now living with obesity, global analysis suggests. Obesity rates among children and adolescents worldwide increased four times from 1990 to 2022, while obesity rates among adults have more than doubled.
Bicycles are also good for people with diabetes. “Fighting diabetes can be as easy as riding a bicycle,” said webMD.com. “Whether you use a stationary one or hit the road, 30 minutes a day 3 to 5 times a week can get your heart rate up, burn blood sugar, and help you lose weight without hurting your knees or other joints.”
“As cities worldwide struggle with pollution, as carbon-reduction strategies become urban-focused, as obesity rates rise in rich and poor countries, and as municipal budgets are squeezed by growing demands for services, the bicycle is increasingly embraced as a multi-pronged solution by city halls worldwide,” Gardner pointed out.
Meanwhile, the Davao City government urges bicycle riders to adhere to the safety standards outlined in the Bicycle Ordinance and Traffic Code of Davao whenever utilizing the bicycle lanes.
These safety standards encompass the requirement to wear a helmet, headgear, or any protective head covering, as well as the use of reflectors, headlights, rear lights, or any warning devices that must be affixed to the bicycle or the rider for their safety during nighttime.
In addition, the City Transport and Traffic Management Office has also called upon all drivers of cars and other motor vehicles to refrain from driving or parking in the designated bicycle lanes to ensure the safety of cyclists.
To end this piece, the words of H.G. Wells are apt: “Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.”
