The onslaught of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide has put a lot of cities to a standstill, shuttering businesses, schools, offices, and other institutions. Transportation has also ground to a halt, especially evident here in Metro Manila. Getting around for personnel in concerned critical services has become quite difficult or near-impossible. The lowly bicycle is finding focus in terms of its importance in urban mobility as there is barely any public transportation running.

Bike on pedestrian overpass on C5

The entire island of Luzon has been placed in an “Enhanced Community Quarantine” (ECQ) by President Duterte. Modes of public transportation have stopped operation, from mass rapit transit (MRT) trains to public utility buses all the way to tricycles. Riding a bicycle, however, is finding renewed appeal to frontliners who still need to provide service to critical sectors like hospitals. Bikes inherently provide social distancing to those who use it. Using it also doesn’t need to rely on another person to bring you wherever you need to go.

Lend a hand to those who need to travel

It’s heartening to see that in times of crises like these, the Filipino bayanihan spirit blazes in the bike community. Life Cycles PH Community and Lend-a-Bike Project are communities that stepped up to offer their social media platform to connect willing biker-lenders to borrowers from critical industries. Cycling around as a hobby is not recommended anyway due to the community quarantine, so might as well make their bikes useful for those who really need to travel.

Empty road
An almost-empty Ortigas Avenue Extension. Roads look like this nowadays due to the Luzon-wide Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) set by the government.

You can see stories that people walk for several kilometers daily just to be able to continue providing service. These stories are quite surreal and saddening. It highlights the already-existing transport crisis that has been lingering for quite some time now. Here’s hoping that when this COVID-19 clears out, we can truly focus on improving our transportation system in the country — with bikes in mind as well.

Let us help these people by lending them a hand — in this case a bike — so that their energies may be more efficiently spent during this urgent time. We are super thankful to these people in the frontlines! 😊 One way to to extend our gratefulness is by sending out financial or logistical help. What more easier way to provide logistical help by lending them our bikes (and gear)! ♥️

Life Cycle PH feature on OneNewsPH news segment

Statement by MNL Moves

MNL Moves is a bike advocacy group in Manila. It aims to get more people to ride their bikes as alternative form of transport. It has released a statement in relation to the COVID-19 issue.

In particular,

… We call on decision makers to provide more parking spaces for bikes at essential establishments such as hospitals, supermarkets, groceries, banks, pharmacies, drug stores, food outlets, etc.

Bikes parked at a nearby convenience store
Bikes parked at a nearby convenience store

Going places by bicycle in these times is quite a good and necessary alternative. However, if anything, we do need more bike parking infrastructure. It has always been a dilemma even before COVID-19 arrived. Hopefully, establishments will find ways to provide bike parking as they are the primary ways of getting around. Likewise, local governments hopefully will enact bike parking ordinances (like that of Pasig City’s).

Closing

There is a silver lining in all of this that’s happening these days. A golden opportunity to improve the way we move manifests itself through an even heightened need to make use of our bikes. Who knows? Biking as a legitimate alternative mode of transport might finally get its long-overdue attention it deserves through COVID-19.

Keep pedalling safely! We’ll pedal through this dilemma together!