Ortigas Avenue now has a bike, motorcycle lane

MANILA: Ortigas Avenue now has a modified bike lane and a dedicated motorcycle lane, enabling riders from San Juan and neighboring cities to travel safely on the road.

"Ang iniisip natin ngayon yung kaligtasan ng mga nagbibisikleta lalo na ngayon panahon ng COVID-19, alam naman natin hindi pa rin full ang operation ng ating public transportation (What we’re thinking about is the  safety of the cyclists, particularly in this time of Covid-19 pandemic, as we know that public transportation is not in full operation yet)," said Mayor Francis Zamora.

According to Zamora, bollards have been installed to protect bikers and riders, and personnel (traffic enforcers, bike patrollers, and task force members) with body cameras have been deployed to the location in order to enforce local traffic ordinances along with health and safety protocols.

"Mayroon tayong mga itinalaga na mga traffic enforcer, mga San Juan police na magbabantay dito. Ang importante, tayo po ay naglaan sa kanila ng mga body camera (We deployed traffic enforcers and San Juan police personnel to watch over it. The important thing is we’ve provided them with body cameras)," Zamora said.

Traffic enforcers and Task Force Disiplina members are tasked to monitor traffic violations and the strict implementation of the quarantine protocols including wearing of face masks and shields as well as the city's anti-spitting ordinance, as part of efforts to curb local transmission of COVID-19.

Zamora says there isn’t an ordinance yet to punish motorists violating rules for the dedicated bike and motorcycle lanes. After a week, the city council will be asked to pass ordinances to penalize motorists violating the dedicated lanes.

"Since it’s still Day 1 (of implementation). We will observe first the flow. We will give chance to the people to understand and learn first na dito sa (that here in) San Juan mayroon tayong (we have) dedicated bike lane and dedicated motorcycle lane," added Zamora.

The mayor recommends penalizing violators with a Php 500 fine for the first offense and Php 2,000 for the second offense, and Php 3,000 for the third and succeeding offenses.

"Kung masyadong magaan ang multa, hindi ka matatakot iisipin na sige babayaran ko na lang. Kung mataas ang multa sasabihin na sige susunod na lang (If the imposed penalty is too light, you will not be afraid and just think to just pay the fine. If a higher penalty is imposed, people will be urged to comply)," Zamora said.

Zamora expectd the dedicated lanes to help solve the prevailing traffic issues in San Juan.

"We will observe how this works here in Ortigas. And if it works well we can always implement in other roads in San Juan," said Zamora.

Photos from Mayor Francis Zamora's Facebook page

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