MANILA, Philippines — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said on Wednesday that it is still studying proposals to modify the motorcycle and bicycle lanes along the stretch of the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa).
According to MMDA Chairperson Romando Artes, one reason why there were proposals to remove the bike lane was due to the small number of bike users traversing it daily.
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“Marami po kasi kaming proposal ganoon din po ang DOTr (Department of Transportation) na narereceive na underutilized po ang bike lane […] sa amin pong datos 1,500 lang ang nagbibisikleta na gumagamit ng Edsa bike lane everyday,” Artes said during the Kapitan sa Manila Bay Forum.
(We have many proposals that are received, along with the DOTr, that the bike lane is underutilized […] according to our data, only 1,500 bike users use the Edsa bike lane every day.)
The official continued that there were also proposals to convert half of the bike lane into a motorcycle lane to make it more convenient for motorcycle users and prevent accidents.
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“Kung makiikita niyo po yong lane configuration isang lane po yan, hinati sa gitna, yung kalahati ginawang exclusive bike lane, kaya naiwan yong kalahati na hindi po nauutilize […] Bakit hindi na lang gumawa ng motorcycle lane sa kalahati na hindi naman nauutilize,” he added.
(If you can see the lane configuration, it’s one lane split in half; the half was converted into an exclusive bike lane, so the other half was not utilized. There are proposals on making a motorcycle lane for the other unutilized half.)
“We’ll study it one road at a time,” Artes added.