THE Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19 (HPAAC) urged the public to celebrate National Bicycle Day on November 28, Sunday, by cycling on the national bike lanes from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.
“Active transport and open spaces are key to ending the pandemic,” said Dr. Antonio Dans, convenor of HPAAC. “We encourage local groups to initiate bike activities on National Bicycle Day.”
HPAAC, which has been pushing for transport safety in its dialogues with government agencies since convening in August 2020, said that cycling is a transport option that reduces the risk of Covid-19 transmission.
Although Metro Manila has been placed under Alert Level 2 and many workplaces now require physical reporting, public transportation still has yet to return to its pre-pandemic service capacity.
HPAAC warned that crowded, enclosed public transport vehicles are possible sites of Covid-19 transmission. The alliance of more than 160 medical groups and societies urged the public to consider cycling as a mode of transportation.
“Cycling will lessen the crowds on public transport and lessen the cars on the road, easing traffic,” Dans said. “Cycling is efficient and shortens travel time, which will result in more productive hours for workers. It also allows physical distancing, unlike most forms of public transport.”
He added: “Promoting active lifestyles through cycling will ease the burden of lifestyle diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, on our health systems.”
Dans welcomed the investments in active transport infrastructure that were made since the start of the pandemic, but pointed out the need to protect these active transport lanes.
“Biking in unprotected lanes can be life-threatening especially during rush hour. We hope we can continue to make these new ways of living with the virus more accessible to the public,” he
said. “The pandemic gives us an opportunity to transform our transport system into one that is pro-health, pro-environment and pro-poor.”
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