Bike users climb to over 270,000 

By Chloe Mari A. Hufana, Reporter

THE NUMBER of cyclists increased to more than 271,000, based on a manual count across 18 areas between June and July 2024, led by Mobility Awards.

The Bilang Siklista 2024 Bicycle Count, released on Wednesday, manually counted 271,555 people on bicycles from June 3 to July 12, across 17 cities and 1 municipality.

This translated to an average potential saving of P348,929 to P727,714 in fuel costs per kilometer, the study noted. The amount of fuel savings also prevented about 25.32 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

In 2023, the bike count recorded 147,800 cyclists in 15 cities. This year, newcomers in the study included Butuan City, Cordova and Danao City.

The 2024 figure also showed an increase of 103.7% in bikers in Metro Manila, linked to the establishment of bicycle lanes; while Metro Cebu saw a 15% rise.

In its 2024 iteration, the study found that only 3% of cyclists in its cities were women, down 1% from 2023.

Mobility Awards Coordinator Arielle Celine L. Tabinga told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of the report launch in Quezon City that women have different trip purposes than men. Usually, women use bicycles to run errands while men use them for work.

“Potential contributors include safety concerns, especially in highly urbanized, dense, and car-centric cities with inadequate infrastructure, and prevailing societal norms that may discourage women from riding bicycles as transport,” the study said.

Ms. Tabinga said private firms are important in encouraging cycling and providing safer spaces for cyclists as they provide end-of-trip facilities, such as parking and repair stations.

“Let’s say you have bicycle lanes, but you don’t have end-of-trip facilities. You don’t have bike parking, and there are no shower rooms for cyclists. It’s not going to work,” she said in mixed English and Filipino.

“So, it really needs to be a holistic approach. It’s very important that we also engage the private sector and recognize the significant contributions they make in terms of improving and promoting active transport,” she added.

Now in its fourth year, the Bilang Siklista report urges national and local governments to prioritize infrastructure investment for bicycle lanes and routes, and the implementation of systematic monitoring to evaluate the effectiveness of cycling infrastructure investments.

The authors said their manual counting of bikers is not perfect but a “good start.” They also acknowledged some weaknesses, including the number of volunteers.