Pasig Transport, in partnership with Bicycle Friendly Philippines, gave free bike lessons to more than 40 Filipinos on Emerald Avenue Saturday.
“A big motivator to get it going quickly was the fast increase in fuel prices due to global crises,” Rob Siy of Pasig Transport told GMA News Online in an email interview.
Photo: Pasig Transport Facebook Page
“But more than that, we’ve always thought that teaching more people how to ride a bike is a critical part of building the constituency for sustainable transportation,” he added.
According to Siy, one of the biggest hurdles for more cyclists is the mere fact that a lot of people still don’t know how to ride a bike. During the lesson, students were taught how to balance, pedal, balance, and basic hand signals.
More than 40 people showed up last Sunday, March 19, 2022. “Some were kids brought by parents who weren’t sure how to teach them. Some people were interested in exercising, others were interested in learning so that they could learn to commute by bicycle. People young and old came for all sorts of reasons. It just goes to show how cycling can be good for so many things,” Siy said.
Because of the positive reception and better than expected turnout, Pasig Transport plans to continue the lessons. “We’re trying to see about doing it at least once a month, maybe more,” Siy said. “But we rely on volunteers for this, so right now, it’s about finding time for people and perhaps resources that will make the volunteers’ mornings worth it. But we definitely want to do more of this in the future.”
Besides the free bike lessons, Pasig will be aggressively planning and implementing other initiatives for better mobility of people in the city.
