Cyclist Jack Yabut is on a perilous and likely futile crusade to help the Philippine capital beat “Carmageddon,” but even if his campaign fails—he will have saved time on his own commute.
Traffic in the megacity of 12 million people has reached crisis levels this year, as record car sales have added to long-term problems of decrepit railways, a stunted road network and a law-of-the-jungle driving culture.
In response to the worsening traffic, President Benigno Aquino recently deployed extra police to some of Manila’s worst choke points with orders for them to force recalcitrant drivers to obey laws.
But, with relatively little infrastructure spending under way, Aquino has been widely seen as otherwise helpless in trying to ease what enraged commuters and the national press have branded “Carmageddon.”
Cycling has barely featured in the discussion of remedies but Yabut, part of a growing community of daredevil bike riding advocates, believes that is a mistake.
“Cycling offers an immediate solution to the traffic and pollution problems,” Yabut, 55, told AFP after dodging trucks and buses while riding along Edsa, one of the city’s most important and gridlocked roads.
While commuters in cars or on overcrowded buses regularly spend more than two hours travelling just 15 kilometers (nine miles) along Edsa and its arteries, Yabut does that in under 30 minutes.
“It seems crazy to me to be stuck in traffic when you can cycle so much more quickly.”
But, for most drivers, cyclists such as Yabut are the crazy ones.
Cycling fatalities are common, and tens of thousands of people have signed online petitions calling for authorities to improve road safety conditions for bike riders.
“It is very dangerous,” acknowledged Yabut, a father-of-two and president of cycling advocacy group The Firefly Brigade.
Advocates are lobbying for bike lanes, which are nearly non-existent, as well as to educate drivers that cyclists have the right to share the roads.
“Opening bike lanes is one part of it. But the bigger effort is changing people’s perceptions and attitudes,” Yabut said.