A paper entitled “Assessment of Pedestrian Facilities in Major Cities of the Philippines indicates that in Metro Manila 77.5% of travelers spend more time walking to their schools or places of work, as opposed to their time on some kind of transportation whether it’s mass transit, public transportation or private vehicles. In Metro Manila, this means that a good portion of daily travelers face real hazards from grossly inadequate pedestrian infrastructure.
The daily plight of Filipino pedestrians, particularly in Metro Manila and the country’s other big cities is brought to light in a new video by the Move As One Coalition and TBWA\SMP. The purpose of the video is twofold: To compel the powers that be to build better pedestrian infrastructure so Filipinos of all ages and abilities can walk safely through Philippine cities; and to urge citizens to elect public officials who will work hard to realize this goal. Despite the reality of most Filipino daily travelers, the priority when it comes to the design of mobility infrastructure is the decongestion of vehicular traffic.
Scattered all over Metro Manila are poorly conceived, and even more poorly built examples of pedestrian infrastructure that are more like death traps that expose pedestrians, particularly persons with disabilities, the elderly, pregnant women, and small children to excessive and unnecessary risk.
Sidewalks along major roads corral pedestrians into very narrow spaces to ensure that vehicle flow is not affected, as seen in the sidewalk under the MRT-3 Ortigas station. The infamous Mount Kamuning forces would be crossers to endure a long and steep climb, while being completely exposed to the elements be it the blazing sun, rain, or strong winds, this on top of EDSA pollution.
Even at the ground level, there are lights at pedestrian crossings of 4 lane roads or wider that allow only 5 seconds for crossing. The PWD ramp at the Philam station foot bridge is so steep that even a very fit person will have difficulty pushing a PWD in a wheelchair up it.
The result of this is that pedestrians are at great risk of being hurt or killed by speeding vehicles on our country’s roads. More than 57,000 pedestrians in Metro Manila were hit by vehicles from 2005 to 2015, according to Thinking Machines.
Such poorly designed infrastructure is highlighted in a video produced by TBWA\SMP. The video is the award-winning agency’s effort to get Filipinos to stop tolerating the government’s disregard of pedestrians, while encouraging smart voting during the coming elections, for candidates who will take real steps to improve the plight of pedestrians, particularly the elderly, the disabled, pregnant women and children.
The Move As One Coalition affirms the need for public officials who will work to realize the declaration in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 that “pedestrians and cyclists will be accorded highest priority in the hierarchy of road users.”
The video has been viewed 122,000 times. It can be viewed here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1618263035454631
