BAGUIO CITY– The Cordillera office of the Land Transportation Office (LTO-CAR) underscored the proposed identification of roads that could be installed with bike lanes for alternative modes of transportation during the new normal is within the jurisdiction of local government units in close coordination with concerned government agencies that are in charge of major infrastructures in the country.
LTO-CAR regional director Francis Ray Almora said that based on the previous director of President Rodrigo R. Duterte, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade was designated to oversee the proposed installation of bike lanes along EDSA only, while similar concerns in other parts of the country will have to be coursed through local governments.
He added the national inter-agency task force for the management of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases identified bicycles as alternative mode of transportation where the put up of bike lanes in roads that are feasible to accommodate the same will also be allowed.
The LTO-CAR official claimed that bicycles do not qualify to be registered based on the definition of motor vehicles under the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 4136 or the Land Transportation code of the Philippines.
According to him, the agency fully supports the identification of bicycles as an alternative mode of transportation during the community quarantine and the upcoming new normal because of the restrictions imposed on mass public transportation, particularly on the 50 percent occupancy, that warrants individuals to look for other modes of transportation to be able to move around.
Earlier, the LTO-CAR had been receiving inquiries on whether or not there is a standard design for bike lanes and what are the roads that are feasible for the put up of the bike lanes.
Director Amoral explained that such inquires could well be addressed by the local governments and concerned government agencies that are in charge of major infrastructures as the same is already outside the jurisdiction of the agency.
He said that the agency does not interpose any objection to the identification of bicycles as an alternative mode of transportation because it is environmentally-friendly due to the absence of emissions and also encourages individuals to be involved in physical fitness that contribute to the efforts of the government in empowering people to be healthy.
A number of local governments in the different parts of the region are now coordinating with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on the possibility of identifying the roads within their areas of jurisdiction that are feasible for the put up of bike lane pursuant to the guidelines that were crafted for the said purpose.
Almora cited that the agency will simply pursue its mandate to look after the regulation of the operation of the transport industry in the region to ensure that motorists will be guaranteed safe and convenient travel to their desired places of destination inside and outside the region, especially during the community quarantine and the new normal, to prevent the occurrence of incidents that will compromise the safety of life and limb.
By Hent
You might also like:
