Learning from the Dutch

It’s not unusual for Filipinos traveling overseas to marvel—and with envy—at the efficient transport system in other countries. Who can blame them? They’re able to experience the privilege of having several public transport options that are integrated and connected when traveling abroad, while back home, they face horrendous traffic, crowded trains and buses, lack of last-mile connectivity, and road mayhem on the daily.

Transportation is always a prickly topic that a public official was recently subjected to social media lynching when he posted about how efficient Japan’s subway system is. Social media users were quick to point out that government officials have the power to effect change and not limit themselves to ruminating about how better off other countries are. Hopefully, this will not be the case with the group of Metro Manila officials who visited the Netherlands last week to study sustainable practices including its world-renowned bicycle system. These local executives should put their heads together to implement projects not only in their respective localities but in the metropolis that could serve as a model for other metropolitan areas. Otherwise, the trip will only end up as another costly junket of officials pampered by taxpayer money and who are long on wishful thinking but short on action.The three-day trip, sponsored by the Metro Manila Development Authority, was joined by the mayors of Muntinlupa, Pasay, Quezon City, Malabon, Valenzuela, San Juan, Navotas, Pateros, and Caloocan, and the vice mayor of Mandaluyong. The group was exposed to, among others, the bicycle network of the Netherlands, which has turned its main city Amsterdam into the bicycle capital of the world. The city has more bicycles than inhabitants—881,000 bicycles vs. 834,713 inhabitants according to an Amsterdam tourism website; last January, it opened the biggest bicycle parking facility that can store about 7,000 bikes.

Some of the projects could be replicated locally, one mayor said, but on a “smaller scale” as he didn’t see the biking population reaching Amsterdam’s level. Fair enough, starting on a smaller scale is good. After all, the Netherlands was not always a bicycle-riding country. According to a 2015 article by The Guardian, cyclists were under threat of being expelled from Dutch cities in the 1950s and ‘60s when the economy started to boom and people could already afford cars. Neighborhoods were torn down under the direction of urban policymakers to make way for motorized traffic. But with the growing volume of cars on the roads, the number of traffic-related casualties also increased in the early 1970s, with more than 400 children killed in traffic accidents in 1971 alone. (Last Thursday’s Commonwealth accident involving a bus that killed a 4-year-old boy should ring alarm bells.) This prompted several groups to mount protests that eventually led to the development of safer urban planning with people-friendly streets. Bicycle advocates also demanded more public space and, during the 1973 oil crisis, the then prime minister urged Dutch citizens to adopt a new lifestyle and get serious about saving energy. The government started car-free Sundays and by the 1980s, towns and cities began introducing measures to make their streets more cycle-friendly.

It will not be wrong to take inspiration from the Netherlands—the Philippines will not even be starting from zero because the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, which limited mobility, forced local governments to provide lanes for cyclists. Biking culture thrived for a time with more people turning to bicycles as their mode of transport despite making do with the temporary bike lanes that were carved out of existing roads. But when restrictions were lifted, things returned to normal with cars crowding the roads and bicycle lanes in many areas removed or reduced to a miniscule space that had to be shared with motorcycles. Instead of building on the momentum, many local governments found themselves yielding once more to car-centric policies, an irony for a country where more people own bicycles than cars. Per a Social Weather Stations survey conducted in April 2022, one out of four households nationwide own bicycles.

Policymakers should keep in mind that the idea is not to phase out cars but to build a better transport system and road infrastructure that would be inclusive and friendly to all users including cyclists, pedestrians, and regular commuters. The Department of Transportation, which has built 564 kilometers of protected bike lanes nationwide over the last three years, has committed to building 470 km more this year. But what happened to the proposed elevated bike lane and walkway on Edsa that was greenlighted by the National Economic and Development Authority in 2020? Will similar projects take a back seat now that the pandemic is over?

It took decades for the Netherlands to achieve its current status as a bike-friendly country but they had politicians who were willing to listen, take risks, change mindsets, and make policies work. Filipino politicians should have learned these from their trip and now is the time to put all that to practice.