Bicycles not allowed!

As is often said, for whatever good things that happen, there are always hitches that follow. And I found this to be true on the current interest in active transportation, specifically on biking (cycling). The COVID-19 pandemic has this one beneficial effect on society worldwide --the realization that biking is good, should be promoted and developed as a major mode of mobility. Bicycle sales multiplied and countries got serious in building biking infrastructure. But some sectors and establishments sadly lag behind.

Our government finally realized that biking and walking are important modes of mobility, and thus, the spending spree of billions of pesos for bike lanes. But these are mostly wastefully done, however, as the Commission on Audit will surely soon realize. Building lanes without regard as to where they are supposedly needed is a gross waste of public funds. With those funny bollards, most of which were already either stolen or destroyed in a few months, it makes our city look ugly!

But we who bike to work --yes, those of us who really bike as a means of transportation and not for other non-mobility purposes (hobby, leisure, exercise, sightseeing, etc.)-- are really grateful with the turn of events, and the sudden, vital importance given to active transportation. Unfortunately, others are not.

I biked to a hospital over the weekend to schedule a routine laboratory test, and guess what – I was not allowed to enter the parking lot! Apparently, bicycles and motorcycles are not allowed inside, only cars and other four-wheeled vehicles are. Now, why should this be? Why discriminate between those who own cars and those who don’t? Do hospitals exist only for those who own cars and shun away those who don’t? I ended up returning home and going back to the hospital driving a car. They readily let me in, of course, for a fee --the same client they prohibited less than an hour before, when I was on a bicycle. They prefer people with cars!

Promoting active transportation doesn’t stop at building bike lanes. What’s the use of bike lanes if you can’t even park your bike where you’re going? I don’t know if this was just this hospital or all hospitals in the city, but I can’t see the logic why clients can’t park their bicycles while others with cars can. And not just hospitals. Some time ago, I was also rejected entry into a university campus. Cars and motorcycles they allow; bicycles, no! Well, I know of another university here which does allow bikes and even have bike parking facilities. I don’t know for the rest.

Mobility is a public concern where the government has a duty to manage. If the government is serious in promoting active transportation like biking, then parking laws have to be amended to accommodate parking for bicycles. And it is especially true for places for public use --universities, hospitals, government institutions, malls, etc. It’s a direct rebuke of the concept of democracy, equality, and inclusivity when a country’s citizen is not allowed entry anywhere simply because he/she is on a bike and not in a car! Are we still a car-centric society?