Bicycle riders now welcome in Makati

A bike lane on the northbound side of Edsa from Gil Puyat (Buendia) Avenue to Magallanes in Makati City will be officially opened this week.

MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino said the two-way bike lane would be from the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Magallanes station up to the Buendia station.

He added that they would install bike racks so that people would be able to leave their bicycles as they go off to work.

The bike racks would be manned by MMDA personnel, Tolentino said. “They will give bikers tags for their bicycles [which they should show later] to claim their bikes.”

In line with the agency’s bicycle-sharing concept, around 24 bikes which can be used free of charge will be made available to the public, according to MMDA assistant general manager for operations Emerson Carlos.

Tolentino, in a radio interview, said that the new bike lane was in response to the clamor of people traversing the area on foot. “They say that it’s too far to walk [from Magallanes to Buendia and vice versa],” he added.

On the other hand, Traffic Engineering Center head Noemi

Recio said that the MMDA was working on setting up a bike lane in Commonwealth, Quezon City.

“Only small portions which are blocked by squatters remain unfinished. But we are fast-tracking the removal of these obstacles,” she added.

So far, according to Recio, the MMDA has installed warning devices on the portion of the bike lane from Quezon Memorial Circle to the University of the Philippines entrance.