Bikers who attended the City council session celebrate after the council approved their bike lane ordinance. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
“It’s time for shared bike lanes in Cebu.”
Wearing shirts that bore this slogan, a throng of biking enthusiasts broke into applause and cheered as the Cebu City Council finally approved on third and final reading a proposed ordinance mandating the establishment of shared bike lanes in selected roads in the city.
The ordinance, dubbed as the Tindak Sugbo Lanes Ordinance, also seeks to create a Tindak Sugbo board which will be headed by the mayor or his representative while the head of the City Council committee on environment will be the vice chairperson.
The board is tasked to determine which areas and roads will have shared priority bike lanes. The proposed areas will have to undergo City Council approval.
Councilor Nida Cabrera who authored the ordinance said there is an increasing number of people who use bicycles in going to work, school or for physical fitness and that the city should support them.
Under the ordinance, bikers will be given priority in designated lanes, which can still be used by motorized vehicles if there are no bikers using it.
Councilors Noel Wenceslao, Gerry Carillo and Mary Ann Delos Santos, who earlier raised concerns on the idea of shared lanes did not object to the passage of the proposed ordinance at yesterday’s session.
But Wenceslao suggested that the board should also look into the possibility of establishing off-road bike lanes as part of their functions.
For his part, Carillo pushed for the possibility of establishing dedicated bike lanes.
Commercial establishments and areas for public use will also be required to install bike racks. Business permits of violators will not be renewed.
Bike licenses are also required for each biker after paying fees at the City Treasurer’s Office.
Among the prohibitions are — obstructing the shared lanes, biking under the influence of alcohol, doing exhibitions on the lanes, and for motor vehicles to drive less than three feet from a biker.
Penalties for violations include P500 for first offense, P1,000 on second offense and P1,500 on third offense.
The Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) will be the main implementing and enforcement office of the ordinance.
Sought for comment on the ordinance, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said he will first study the ordinance before signing it.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
