Walking is the most basic form of mobility. It is the first and last mile that we take toward any destination. Walking is free and good for our health as well as for our environment. It then should follow that any mobility plan should prioritize walking. Unfortunately, that is not the case. How our laws are intended, how our cities are set up, and how the general psyche of our populace is conditioned—walking is undoubtedly a dangerous activity. We might as well be walking dead when we go out and exercise this basic right in the street jungles of Metro Manila.
Look at the sidewalks in all our cities (Fortunate for you if you can find one). And if indeed there is one found, it is too narrow, overtaken by vendors, converted as transport terminal, parking area, or worse, barangay hall or police station. Yes, we do have the wide city sidewalks comparable to Hong Kong and Singapore, even elevated ones; but these are mostly in the business districts or more affluent neighborhoods. It is as if adequate and safe walking spaces are only for those who have much in life, and not for everyone; as if it’s a privilege and not a right.
Thus, people are forced to walk on the road, risking life and limb, while fighting for space against motorists. And it is definitely not a fair game. Though government policies are in general for the preservation of human life, hence pedestrians, current realities are stacked in favor of motorists. Take the case of jaywalking that in reality confine pedestrians to a limited number of “safe” lanes at the intersections, often encroached by vehicles. In one study, pedestrian lane accidents (at 26 percent) are almost equal to those in midblock (25 percent). We do have pedestrian overpasses, but in most locations, these are underutilized because of their bad design and location. Available walking spaces are converted to stalls and terminals with permits issued by city authorities. To make it worse, pedestrians get the full effect of a polluted environment as anti-pollution laws are yet to be implemented. How about the death of a pedestrian hit by a vehicle in our streets? The family gets a thousand dollars equivalent in monetary compensation, compared to a thousand-fold of that amount in other countries.
But maybe worse is our convoluted general bias against pedestrians. We see this behavior among motorists that blow their horns on people crossing the streets, or worse, speeding drivers even when they see pedestrians at the crossroads. We need to admit that we still do not have an egalitarian transport environment where all classes of society have equal access to mobility. The ones who can afford have their cars—and the roads. Pedestrians are marginalized, whether we admit it or not.
When the pandemic hit early this year, there was the promise of constructing walkways and green lanes with crowded mass transport being discouraged and avoided. Months later, the expected increase in pedestrians happened, but still few ample walkable areas. This is understandable as budgets have yet to be approved and infrastructure needs time to construct. But what could have been done at minimal cost would be to close select roads to motorized vehicles and convert them to dedicated walk lanes.
Achieving a pedestrian priority mindset will not come overnight. And it will take more than a village to achieve this. It should begin with government pushing and sincerely enforcing policies that ensure pedestrian mobility as a primordial concern. This needs to be applied in all future road infrastructures—whether public or privately initiated. Education will definitely play a crucial part. Children must be taught road safety and the value of human life. And we as elders need to be their reliable models, off as well as on the road. We have no choice. To resolve the problem of mobility, we need to go back to the basics and provide the proper walking environment—in the structures, laws and attitude inculcated in all of us. Otherwise, we will always have around us the almost walking dead, not just during Halloween.
Thomas “Tim” Orbos was formerly with the DOTr and the MMDA. He has completed his graduate studies at the McCourt School of Public Policy of Georgetown University and is an alumnus of the MIT Sloan School of Management. He can be reached via e-mail at thomas_orbos@sloan.mit.edu