Recto: Tax on road users can be used to fund elevated walkways and bike lanes

MANILA: Improved pedestrian mobility can be achieved with some of the P82.2 billion in unused road users' tax in highly populated parts of Metro Manila and other urbanized cities across the Philippines.

According to House Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto, the government should take this into account when planning its infrastructure program, highlighting that these “have been sidelined and waylaid” in the infrastructure agenda for years.

Motor vehicle registration fees, which as of the end of 2021 had an unspent balance of P82.2 billion, have been identified by Recto as a source that can fund these walkways for pedestrians.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) now administers collections for the Motor Vehicle Users Charge (MVUC), pursuant to an amendment to the law.

Recto now wants the DPWH to make bike and pedestrian ways “a pillar” of its projects.

“It is time to elevate wide pedestrian and bike lanes, whether ground-level or elevated, covered or not, to the league of major construction works,” Recto stated.

Recto noted that the Department of Transportation (DOTr) is now constructing safe pathways for those who are biking or walking.

“But I think DPWH should get into the act, because these projects fall under its mandate more than it does to DOTr,” he added.

Constructing elevated walkways in locations with a high percentage of pedestrians, according to Recto, will help decongest the roadways of cars and give people the option to walk short distances.

“Mas nanaisin ng mga tao na lakarin na lang ang isa o dalawang kilometro kung ito ay nasa ligtas at may bubong na elevated walkways (People are more willing to walk a kilometer or two if it is on safe and covered elevated walkways),” Recto said.

Recto lamented that the government's expenditure plans do not include these amenities.

“The policy bias is toward people who ride in cars, but not for people who walk or bike, when cost-wise catering to the latter uses fewer government resources,” he said. “If we have skyways for cars, why not raise walkways for people? If we’re building a subway, then we can surely build a pedestrian walkway above ground. If we have the money for multi-lane highways over hundreds of kilometers, how much more for a one-lane walkway that is three-kilometers long?”

Photo from Mayor Francis Zamora's Facebook page

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